What is Oddiyana?
[[File:East-Hem 100bc.jpg|thumb|300px|13. Oddiyana shown in a map of eastern hemisphere within [[Pakistan]].]] '''Oddiyana''', also '''Uddiyana''', was a [[History|historical]] region which is considered important in the development and spread of [[Vajrayana|Vajrayana Buddhism]]. In [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] traditions, it is viewed as a Beyul, a legendary [[Heaven|heavenly]] place.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-epU7NHNCOQC&dq=tucci+swat+odiyana&pg=PA258|title=Studies in the Buddhistic Culture of India During the 7th and 8th Centuries A.D.|last=Joshi|first=Lal Mani|date=1977|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-0281-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>‘Uḍḍiyāna and Kashmir’, pp 265-269 ‘The Śaiva Exegesis of Kashmir’, in Mélanges tantriques à la mémoire d’Hélène Brunner. Tantric Studies in Memory of Hélène Brunner, Collection Indologie 106, EFEO, Institut français de Pondichéry (IFP), ed. Dominic Goodall and André Padoux, 2007.)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Uddiyana|url=https://www.visitswatvalley.com/uddiyana/|access-date=2023-12-21|website=Swat|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A_FyEAAAQBAJ&q=Oddiyana+Pakistan|title=The View from Malakand: Harold Deane's 'Note on Udyana and Gandhara'|last1=Morgan|first1=Llewelyn|last2=Oliveri|first2=Luca Maria|date=2022-06-02|publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-80327-208-5|language=en}}</ref> [[File:Statue of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) at Pema Osel Ling near Santa Cruz, CA.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Padmasambhava]].]] [[Padmasambhava]], an eighth-century [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] master and founder of the [[Nyingma|Nyingma school]], is believed to be born in Oddiyana. He had a crucial role in introducing [[Buddhism]] to [[Tibet]]. Siddha Garab Dorje, the founder of Dzogchen school, is also associated with this region.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A dictionary of Buddhism|last1=Keown|first1=Damien|last2=Hodge|first2=Stephen|last3=Jones|first3=Charles|last4=Tinti|first4=Paola|date=2003|publisher=Oxfor