At a little distance from the main road to Puri and Konark from Bhubaneswar lies Dhauli hill on the bank of the river Daya. This place symbolizes the place where the famous Mauryan Emperor Ashoka felt a change of heart after witnessing the blood and gory that his eventual victory caused in the Kalinga war, dating back to the 3rd century BC.The shanti stupa at Dhauli along with the construction of a monastery called Saddharma Vihar Lalitagiri, to commemorate the legendary choice of Ashoka marking the victory of mystical peace over mundane kingdom and luxuries.