Where is Odyana?

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 17 Jan 2003, Jaldhar H. Vyas wrote:

> Of these, Kamakhya is the celebrated temple in Assam (Kamarupa,) Purnagiri
> is in U.P. near the Nepali border and Jalandhar is in Punjab.  But where
> is Odyana?  Judging by the location of the others, it should be somewhere
> in North India but I've been unable to find out exactly where.  Does
> anyone know?
>

Let me dredge up an old topic for a moment.  I unexpectedly came across
some more information about this in of all places, the discount book bin
of a supermarket.  There was a book which was a popular account of Tibetan
Buddhism by Prof. Robert Thurman of Columbia University who is one of the
worlds leading academic experts on the topic as well as one who has
undergone the traditional training.  In this book he was talking about
Padmasambhava the legendary founder of Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism) saying
he was a contemporary of Shakyamuni Buddha but born in a lotus (the
literal meaning of Padmasambhava) in Oddyana
_which_is_in_modern_Afghanistan_. [Emphasis mine.] As this was not a
scholarly book there wasn't any further references etc. but it makes sense
because of the Tantric connection, the location in relation to the other
pithas, and we know that area was culturally part of India at that time.


--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/