Jajpur: A nine-day International Guru Padmasambhava Conference is set to take place from December 28, 2026, to January 5, 2027, at the historic Udayagiri Buddhist site in Odisha’s Jajpur district.
Organised with support from the Light of Buddhadharma Foundation International (LBDFI), the grand event is expected to draw around 2,500 Buddhist scholars, monks, and researchers. International delegates from over 20 countries, including Thailand, Bhutan, South Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the USA, China, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka, will gather to celebrate and deliberate on the legacy of Guru Padmasambhava, widely revered as the “Second Buddha”.
According to Wangmo Dixey, Executive Director of the LBDFI India branch in Bodh Gaya, Guru Padmasambhava had deep historical ties to ancient Odisha (historically identified in several traditions as Oddiyana). He taught at the ancient Pushpagiri Mahavihara, and epigraphic evidence, specifically an inscription deciphered on the back of the Avalokiteshvara statue at Udayagiri’s entrance, suggests his sacred relics were preserved in a casket at the site. Living during the 8th century, Padmasambhava was an adept of the Yogācāra tradition who also taught at Nalanda University.
Historical researcher Suvendu Bhuyan noted that Padmasambhava traveled to Tibet around 749 AD, spent roughly five decades there, established Tibet’s first monastery at Samye, and laid the foundation for Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism in the Himalayan realm.
Scholars further highlight that Tibetan historian Taranatha and classic texts emphaside Oddiyana as a major centre of Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings.
The conference will feature a diverse lineup of academic seminars, documentary films, cultural performances, photographic exhibitions, and scholarly debates. Participants will also take field excursions across the famous “Diamond Triangle” of Odishan Buddhism, comprising Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, and Udayagiri, as well as nearby heritage sites like Langudi and Kaima. A key preparatory meeting was recently convened at Udayagiri to oversee logistics, attended by local dignitaries including Barchana MLA Amar Kumar Nayak, Jajpur District Collector Ambika Prasad Mishra, and senior law enforcement officials, the TOI reported.
