A soothsayer, Pandit Siva Sankar, who has assumed international fame and is now a globe trotter, came with four German scholars - Rainer Barth, Gerold Jernej and two others - to show them the ‘Incredible Odisha’.
Gerold Jernej, who is a great Buddhist scholar and has specialised in Bajrajan Buddhism, was astounded to know that Guru Padmasambhaba’s birthplace is in Odisha. He has gone through the book ‘Padmasambhaba of Odiana- Odisha’ authored by former Utkal University of Culture Vice-Chancellor Dr Bimalendu Mohanty.
At a meeting held here recently, Rainer Barth and Jernej shared their experiences of visits to several places in India and said they never knew about the rich Buddhist heritage of Odisha. Presiding over the meeting, Dr Mohanty told them about lalitgiri, Udaygiri, Ratnagiri, Dhauli and other Buddhist sites in Odisha. Among others, former Utkal University of Culture Vice-Chancellor Narendra Kumar Mishra and Mahabodhi Society, Odisha secretary Sourendra Mohapatra were present.
The Germans also showed keen interest to know more about Buddhist sites in Odisha. They too desired to meet KIIT and KISS founder Dr Achyuta Samanta, who has established an International Centre for Buddhist Studies and Research in Bhubaneswar.