Ukkalā
v.l. Okkalā.– A district (janapada) in the region identified with modern Orissa.¹ The merchants Tapassu and Bhalluka were on the way from Ukkalā, when a certain deva, an erstwhile relative of theirs, advised them to visit the Buddha at Rājāyatanamūla, near Uruvelā, and to offer food to him, which they did.² They were on the way to Majjhimadesa.³ According to the Theragāthā Commentary ⁴ there were caravan drivers of a city called Pokkharavatī (probably a town in Ukkalā). Their destination was evidently Rājagaha, for we find them visiting the Buddha there after the first discourse and hearing him teach.
The men of Ukkalā, together with those of Vassa and Bhañña, are represented as being deniers of cause and effect, deniers of reality (ahetuvādā, akiriyavādā, natthikavādā).⁵
The Mahāvastu ⁶ places Ukkalā in the Uttarāpaṭha and mentions Adhisthāna as the place from which Tapussa and Bhalluka hailed.
The Mahābhārata ⁷ mentions the Ukkalas several times in lists of tribes.
¹ CAG., p.733. ² Vin.i.4. ³ J.i.80. ⁴ ThagA.i.48 f.
⁵ A.ii.31; S.iii.72; M.iii.78; Kvu.60; AA.ii.497; see also KS.iii.63, and GS.ii.34, n.3.
⁶ Mtu.iii.303. ⁷ E.g., in Bhīsmapārvan ix.365; Drona iv.122.