The Barabar Hill Caves (Hindi बराबर, ''Barābar'') are the oldest surviving
rock-cut caves in India, dating from the
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
(322–185 BCE), some with
Ashokan inscriptions, located in the
Makhdumpur
Makhdumpur is a town in the Bihar state of India.It is a major town of Jehanabad district and ''Patna-Gaya Corridor''.World Famous Barabar Hills/Barabar Caves tourist region is 10 KM South-East of Makhdumpur proper city.
Demographics
According ...
region of
Jehanabad district
Jehanabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. Jehanabad town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Jehanabad district is a part of Magadh Division, and is located on the confluence of two small riv ...
,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, north of
Gaya
Gaya may refer to:
Geography Czech Republic
*Gaya (German and Latin), Kyjov (Hodonín District), a town
Guinea
* Gaya or Gayah, a town
India
*Gaya, India, a city in Bihar
**Gaya Airport
*Bodh Gaya, a town in Bihar near Gaya
*Gaya district, Bi ...
.
These caves are situated in the twin hills of Barabar (four caves) and Nagarjuni (three caves); caves of the -distant Nagarjuni Hill are sometimes singled out as the Nagarjuni Caves. These rock-cut chambers bear dedicatory inscriptions in the name of "King Piyadasi" for the Barabar group, and "Devanampiya Dasaratha" for the Nagarjuni group, thought to date back to the 3rd century BCE during the Maurya period, and to correspond respectively to
Ashoka (reigned 273–232 BCE) and his grandson,
Dasharatha Maurya.
The sculptured surround to the entrance to the
Lomas Rishi Cave is the earliest survival of the
ogee shaped "
chaitya
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...
arch" or
chandrashala that was to be an important feature of
Indian rock-cut architecture and sculptural decoration for centuries. The form was clearly a reproduction in stone of buildings in wood and other plant materials.
The caves were used by
ascetics
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
from the
Ajivika sect, founded by
Makkhali Gosala
Makkhali Gosala (Pāli; BHS: Maskarin Gośāla; Jain Prakrit sources: Gosala Mankhaliputta) or Manthaliputra Goshalak was an ascetic teacher of ancient India. He was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and of Mahavira, t ...
, a contemporary of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
, the founder of Buddhism, and of
Mahavira
Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...
, the last and 24th
Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passag ...
of
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...
. The Ajivikas had many similarities with Buddhism as well as Jainism. Also present at the site are several rock-cut Buddhist and
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
sculptures and inscriptions from later periods.
[
Most caves at Barabar consist of two chambers, carved entirely out of ]granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, with a highly polished internal surface, the "Mauryan polish
Mauryan polish describes one of the frequent characteristics of architecture and sculptures of the Maurya Empire in India (325 to 185 BCE), which gives a very smooth and shiny surface to the stone material, generally of sandstone or granite.The roo ...
" also found on sculptures, and exciting echo effects.
The caves were featured – located in a fictitious Marabar – in the book '' A Passage to India'' by English author E. M. Forster. These were also shown in the book ''The Mahabharata Secret
''The Mahabharata Secret'' is the debut novel by Indian author Christopher C. Doyle and was released on 21 October 2013 by Om Books. The story follows Vijay and his friends, as they try to decipher a series of clues which would lead them to a dev ...
'' by Indian author Christopher C. Doyle.
Caves at Barabar Hill
Barabar Hill contains four caves: Karan Chaupar, Lomas Rishi, Sudama and Visvakarma.[ Sudama and Lomas Rishi are the earliest examples of rock-cut architecture in India,][ with architectural detailing made in the Mauryan period. Similar examples include the larger Buddhist ]Chaitya
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...
, found in Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
, such as in Ajanta and Karla Caves
The Karla Caves, Karli Caves, Karle Caves or Karla Cells, are a complex of ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut caves at Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra. It is just 10.9 Kilometers away from Lonavala. Other caves in the area are Bhaja Caves, P ...
. The Barabar caves greatly influenced the tradition of rock-cut architecture in the Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
.
* Lomas Rishi cave has an arch-like shape facade that imitates contemporary timber architecture. On the doorway, a row of elephants proceed towards stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circumamb ...
emblems, along the curved architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
.
* Sudama cave was dedicated by Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka in 261 BCE. The arches of Sudama cave have bow shape. The caves consist of a circular vaulted chamber with a rectangular mandapa
A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture.
Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...
.
* Karan Chaupar (Karna Chaupar) consists of single rectangular room with polished surfaces, contains inscription which could be dated to 245 BCE.
* Visva karma cave, reachable by ''Ashoka steps'' hewn in the cliff, consists of two rectangular rooms.
Lomas Rishi cave
The cave of Lomas Rishi is probably the most famous of the caves of Barabar, because of its beautifully carved door. It is on the southern side of Barabar granite hill, and is adjacent to Sudama cave, which is on the left. Lomas Rishi consists of two rooms: a rectangular room measuring 9.86x5.18m, and a circular, semi-hemispherical room 5m in diameter, which is accessed from the rectangular room by a narrow rectangular passage.
This cave has an arched facade that probably imitates contemporary wooden architecture. On the periphery of the door, along the curve of the architrave, a line of elephants advances in the direction of stupa
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circumamb ...
emblems. This is the characteristic form of the "Chaitya
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...
arch" or chandrashala, to be an important feature of architecture and sculpture in the rock for many centuries. It is clearly a stone reproduction of wooden buildings and other plant materials. According to Gupta, Lomas Rishi's immediate successors are the Kondivite
The Kondivite Caves, also Mahakali Caves, are a group of 19 rock-cut monuments built between 1st century BCE and 6th century CE.
This Buddhist monastery is located in the eastern suburb of Andheri in the city of Mumbai (Bombay) in western Ind ...
and Guntupalli caves.
Lomas Rishi has no Ashoka inscription, perhaps because it has never been completed due to structural rock slide problems. It is generally considered, however, that it was also created around 260 BCE, like the other caves, because of the similarity of the internal structure and the degree of finish of the rock, the walls being perfectly polished, with the exception of the vault whose digging was interrupted. It has a much later inscription of Anantavarman above the entrance, from the 5th century CE.
File:Sudama and Lomas Rishi entrances.jpg, Entrances of Sudama Cave, and further, Lomas Rishi Cave, Barabar Hill.
File:Barabar Caves inside Lomas Rishi.jpg, Unfinished interior (floor and ceiling) of Lomas Rishi cave. The rocky bumps left in the state on the ground appear in the farther left corner.
File:Barabar Caves - Lomas Rishi Cave Inscription (9224609385).jpg, Inscription of Anantavarman above the entrance, 5th century of our era.
File:IA Development of the Chaitya arch.jpg, Development of the Chaitya
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...
Arch from Lomas Rishi Cave on, from a book by Percy Brown.
According to Gupta, the theory that Lomas Rishi would not have received Ashoka's inscription because it was in a state of incompleteness, is undermined by the fact that the cave of Vivaskarma, another cave of Barabar, although it is not finished, was nevertheless consecrated by Ashoka.[Gupta, The Roots of Indian Art", p.211-215] The consecration of a cave could therefore be done in the course of work. This could induce that Lomas Rishi, with its bas-reliefs, is actually posterior to Ashoka. Gupta actually believes that Lomas Rishi is posterior to both Ashoka and his grandson Dasaratha, and would have been built at the end of the Maurya Empire, under the reign of his last Emperor Brihadratha, and abruptly halted in 185 BC with the assassination of Brihadratha and the coup d'état of Pushyamitra Sunga, founder of the Sunga dynasty. Pushyamitra Sunga is also known to have persecuted Buddhists and Ajivikas, which would explain the immediate cessation of work. According to Gupta, the abrupt interruption of the works is suggested by the lack of finishing, even approximate, of the ground, with for example the abandonment in the state of some pikes of the rocks which would have required only a few minutes of chipping to be removed in order to obtain a fairly regular floor.
Questions of date and religious affiliation
Ashoka dedicated the caves of Sudama and Visvakarma to the ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
s called " Ajivikas" in the 12th year of his reign, when his religious evolution towards Buddhism was not yet fully completed.[ The precise identity of the Ajivikas is not well known, and it is even unclear if they were a divergent sect of the ]Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
or the Jains
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
.
Later, Ashoka built the caves of Lomas Rishi (without dated inscription, but posterior to Sudama on architectural grounds) and Karna Chopar (19th year of his reign), at a time when he had become a firm advocate of Buddhism, as known from the Edicts of Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expres ...
.[ It was initially thought that Karna Chopar may have been dedicated to the Buddhists, based on a former reading of the inscription at the entrance of the cave, corrected by Harry Falk in 2007: the new reading shows that Karna Chopar too had been dedicated to the Ajivikas.] Since Lomas Rishi has no dedicatory inscription, it has been suggested that it may had been dedicated to the Buddhists. The affiliation of Lomas Rishi to Buddhism, although unproven, would be coherent with the fact that the architecture of the gate of Lomas Rishi became a reference for the development of the Chaitya
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...
arch in Buddhist cave architecture for the following centuries, whereas the Hindus or the Jains caves essentially did not follow this architectural example.[ This would also mean that the decorated gate of Lomas Rishi was a Buddhist invention, which was emulated in Buddhist architecture in the following centuries.][ After the Barabar caves, the earliest known rock-cut Buddhist monasteries date to the 1st century BCE in the Western Ghats in western India, such as the ]Nasik Caves
The Nasik Caves, or Trirashmi Leni (''Trirashmi'' being the name of the hills in which the caves are located, ''Leni'' being a Marathi word for caves), are a group of 23 caves carved between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE, though a ...
.
Sudama cave
The Sudama cave is located on the southern side of Barabar granite hill. It is close to Lomas Rishi, and on its left. It consists of two rooms: a rectangular room measuring 9.98x5.94m, and a semi-hemispherical room 6m in diameter, which is accessed from the rectangular room by a narrow rectangular passage. This is probably the first cave in the group to have been dug. This cave was dedicated by Emperor Ashoka in 257 BCE (12th year of his reign) as evidenced by an inscription in Brahmi using his protocol name (Priyadarsin, "He who brings joy") found in the entrance of the cave, whereas the cave of Lomas Rishi did not receive a dedicatory inscription:
The ceiling of the Sudama cave is arched. The cave is composed of a circular vaulted chamber and a vaulted room with the rectangular form of mandapa
A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture.
Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...
. The interior walls of the cave represent a technical feat: they are perfectly flat and polished granite surfaces, creating a mirror effect. On the other hand, the plane surfaces reverberate the sound, creating a very pronounced echo phenomenon. This characteristic is common to all the caves of Barabar, and, by amplifying the vibrations and the harmonies, seems to be favorable to the songs of the monks.
All of Barabar's caves share this interior polished appearance to a greater or lesser extent, with the exception of Lomas Rishi Cave, which, although designed on the same model, is only half-finished for its interior.
File:Sudama and Lomas Rishi entrances.jpg, Entrance of Sudama Cave in the forefront, Barabar Hill.
File:Sudama cave entrance.jpg, Entrance to the Sudama cave.
File:Barabar Caves - Sudama Cave Entrance (9224604879).jpg, Entrance corridor of the Sudama cave.
File:Barabar Caves - Inside Sudama Cave (9227379552).jpg, The interior wall consist in perfectly polished granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
surfaces (visible reflection).
Karan Chaupar cave
Karan Chaupar, also known as Karna Chaupar, is on the northern side of the Barabar granite hill. It consists of a single rectangular room with polished surfaces, 10.2x4.27m in dimensions. It contains an inscription of Ashoka dating from the 19th year of his reign, about 250 BCE, located outside, immediately to the right of the entrance. Initially, it was thought from E. Hultzsch's 1925 translation, that Ashoka's inscription from Karna Chopar Cave does not mention the Ajivikas, and seems rather to refer to the Buddhist practice of retirement (vassavasa) during the rainy season. In addition, the inverted swastika with upward arrow at the end of the inscription (
) would be more of a Buddhist character. All this suggested that this cave was planned for Buddhist monks. However, Harry Falk has recently shown with a new reading that the cave was indeed dedicated to the Ajivikas.
Traditional reading of the inscription:
This reading of the inscription has been corrected by Harry Falk in 2007, who after cleaning the stone and inspecting it read:
In particular, Falk reconstructs the last line as 𑀲𑀼𑀧𑀺𑀬𑁂𑀔𑀆𑀚𑀺𑀯𑀺𑀓𑁂𑀳𑀺𑀤𑀺𑀦𑀸 (''Su kha (Ajivikehi) dinā''), which means "Supriyekṣā was given to the Ājivikas".
The cave has a rock-cut bench at one end, probably to sit or sleep.
In the entrance hall an inscription from the Gupta period mentions "Daridra Kantara" ("The Cave of the Beggars"). A mound decorated with later Buddhist sculptures is also near the entrance, another element which suggested the belonging of this cave to the Buddhists.
File:Karna Chopar cave inside view.jpg, Interior
File:Karan Chaupar cave inscription of Ashoka.jpg, Dedicatory inscription by Ashoka to the Ajivikas.
File:Barabar caves inscription.jpg, Inscription from the Gupta period (in the background) mentioning "Daridra Kantara" ("The Cave of the Beggars")
File:Barabar caves outside.jpg, Buddhist reliefs on the outside
Visvakarma cave
The Visvakarma cave, also called Viswa Mitra, is accessible by the "steps of Ashoka" carved into the cliff. It is a hundred meters and a little east of the main granite hill . It consists of a rectangular room entirely open to the outside, a sort of elongated porch, and an unfinished semi-hemispherical room: the rectangular space measures 4.27x2.54m, and the circular room is 2.8m in diameter . One goes from the rectangular room to the half-hemispherical room by a narrow trapezoidal passage. On the floor of the porch, four holes were made, which are thought to allow the cave to be closed with a wooden picket fence.
The cave of Visvakarma was offered by Ashoka to the Ajivikas in the year 12 of his reign, about 261 BCE:
Visvakarma cave, despite the fact that it is not finished, was nonetheless consecrated by Ashoka. This somewhat questions the theory that Lomas Rishi's cave would not have received Ashoka's inscription because it was in a state of incompletion. This could justify that Lomas Rishi, with his bas-reliefs, is actually posterior to Ashoka, as late as 185 BCE. This does not explain, however, why Visvakarma, consecrated in 260 BCE, has been interrupted, in the absence of a significant problem in the rock, whereas 7 years later Ashoka dedicated Karan Chaupar cave, perfectly finished, a short distance from there. Visvakarma is also the only cave that does not have "historical" inscriptions after Ashoka.
File:Barabar caves stairs.jpg, The "Ashoka stairs" leading to Visvakarma.
Vivaskarma cave BL.jpg, The entrance and internal passage.
File:Barabar caves Vivaskarma cave Ashoka inscription.jpg, Dedicatory inscription by Ashoka.
Piyadasi in Brahmi script (name of king Ashoka in his inscriptions).jpg, "Piyadasi", honorific name of Ashoka, in Brahmi script
Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' o ...
.
Nagarjuni Caves
The nearby caves of Nagarjuni hill were built few decades later than the Barabar caves, and consecrated by Dasaratha Maurya
Dasharatha Maurya () was the 4th Mauryan emperor from 232 to 224 BCE. He was a grandson of Ashoka The Great and is commonly held to have succeeded him as the imperial ruler of India. Dasharatha presided over a declining imperium and several t ...
, Ashoka's grandson and successor, each for the Ajivikas sect. They are 1.6 kilometers east of the Barabar Caves. The three caves are:[
* Gopika (Gopi-ka-Kubha), on the southside of the hill, excavated by the king Dasharatha grandson of Ashoka, according to an inscription.
* Vadithi-ka-Kubha cave, on the northside of the hill, located in a crevice, and devoted to Ajivika followers by Dasharatha.
* Vapiya-ka-Kubha cave, on the northside of the hill, also devoted to Ajivika followers by Dasharatha.
]
Gopika cave
Also called Gopi or Gopi-ka-Kubha or simply Nagarjuni, Gopika cave is the largest of all the caves of the Barabar complex (). It consists of a single large oblong room of 13.95x5.84m. The two ends of the room have the particularity of being circular, contrary to the other caves. The cave lies on the south bank of the hill, dug by King Dasharatha grandson of Emperor Ashoka, according to the inscription that was engraved above the front door:
The cave also has the " Gopika Cave Inscription" in the entrance corridor, dated to the 5-6th century CE.
File:Gopika cave outside.jpg, Front of the cave
Photos
File:Dasaratha Maurya inscription on entrance of Gopika cave.jpg, Dedicatory inscription by Dasaratha Maurya, grandson of Ashoka, on top of the entrance. Circa 230 BCE.
File:Gopika cave inscription of Dasaratha Maurya.jpg, Transcription of the inscription by Dasaratha Maurya.
File:Barabar Caves - Cave Entrance with Dorjee (9227649922).jpg, Entrance corridor, polished walls with the Gopika Cave Inscription of the 5th century CE.
Vadathika and Vapiyaka caves
These two caves are a little higher on the north side of the hill, 300m as the crow flies (). Although small, they are very beautiful, perfectly carved, caves.
* Vadathika Cave. It is located in a crevasse in the rock. It consists of a single rectangular room sized 5.11x3.43m, with a porch at the entrance of 1.83x1.68m. This cave was consecrated by Dasharatha Maurya, the grandson and successor of Ashoka, for the sect of Ajivikas.
The cave also has a much later Hindu inscription, the Vadathika Cave Inscription
__NOTOC__
The Vadathika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscriptions in Gupta script found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya distri ...
.
* Vapiyaka Cave, also called "Well Cave" from the meaning of its name . It consists of a single rectangular room of dimensions 5.10x3.43m. This cave was also dedicated to the Ajivikas sect by Dasharatha, with an inscription equivalent to that of the cave of Gopika. This cave also has a beautiful vaulted hall, entirely made of perfectly polished granite. It has an inscription identical to its neighbor, except for the name of the cave, as well as a number of short inscriptions of the Gupta era.
Dasaratha_Maurya_inscription_on_entrance_of_Vadathika_cave.jpg, Dasaratha dedicatory inscription on top of the entrance of Vadathika cave. 3rd century BCE.
Vapiyaka cave entrance.jpg, Entrance of Vapiyaka cave.
5th or 6th century Vadathika Cave Inscription, Sanskrit, Shaivism, Anantavarman, Gupta script, Ancient Om symbol 2.jpg, Vadathika Cave Inscription
__NOTOC__
The Vadathika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscriptions in Gupta script found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya distri ...
, 5-6th century CE.
Technology
The caves were carved out of granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, an extremely hard rock, then finished with a very nice polishing
Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or by applying a chemical treatment, leaving a clean surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material accordin ...
of the inner surface, giving a mirror effect of a great regularity, as well as an echo effect. [Ashoka in Ancient India by Nayanjot Lahir]
/ref> This large-scale polish is reminiscent of polishing on smaller surfaces of the Maurya statuary, particularly visible on the pillars and capitals of the Ashoka pillars.
Commenting of Mauryan sculpture, John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
once wrote about the "extraordinary precision and accuracy which characterizes all Mauryan works, and which has never, we venture to say, been surpassed even by the finest workmanship on Athenian buildings".
;Import
This remarkable and large-scale polishing technique, and in many ways without parallel, seems nevertheless to have been derived from polishing techniques in Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
statuary, the stone-working techniques having spread in India after the destruction of the empire by Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
in 330 BC and the displacement of Persian and Perso-Greek artists and technicians.[Maharashtra, Marg Publications, 1985,]
Pdf
"The surface of the walls are polished to a mirror-like finish, an exclusive feature of Mauryan architecture and sculpture, first derived through the media of Achamenid art after the disintegration of the Persian Empire in AD 330 and the dispersal of skilled Persian and Perso-Greek artisans " This know-how seems to have disappeared again after the Maurya period, none of the later caves such as the Ajanta caves having this characteristic of polished surfaces.
The very act of digging artificial caves in the rock, of which the Barabar caves represent the oldest case in India, was probably inspired by the caves dug in the rock of the Achaemenids, as is the case in Naqsh-e Rostam
Naqsh-e Rostam ( lit. mural of Rostam, fa, نقش رستم ) is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran. A collection of ancient Iranian rock reliefs are cut into the ...
.["But it is also likely that the predilection towards a cave and rock-cut tradition was stimulated by an Achaemenid model, such as the royal tombs at Naksh-i-Rustam. Thus, like other aspects of Maurya culture, the cave excavations may have been the result of both indigenous and foreign elements." in "The Art of Ancient India: Buddhist, Hindu, Susan L. Huntington Jain, Weatherhill, 1985, ] It seems, however, that in India there had been an ancient tradition of ascetics using caves.[Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Romila Thapa]
/ref>
;Local development
According to Gupta, the polishing of rocks could have a local origin, citing the existence of polishing technologies of the neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
, as visible in various stone tools such as axes. There is, however, no trace of evolution from these neolitical tools to polished stone architecture, and the Barabar caves are essentially a sudden technological break with no local history, suggesting the import of these techniques from another culture. Nor are there any known examples of stone architecture in India before the Maurya period.[Gupta, The roots of Indian Art, p.194-] According to Gupta, the Son Bhandar Caves could be such an intermediate step, although relatively unique, and subject to questioning its chronology, since it is generally dated to the 2nd-4th centuries of our era.
Inscriptions by Ashoka (circa 250 BCE)
The Ashoka inscriptions of the Barabar Caves were engraved during the 12th year and the 19th year of Ashoka's reign (about 258 BCE and 251 BCE respectively, based on a coronation date of 269 BCE), for the dedication of several caves to the sect of the Ajivikas, a sect of ascetics, which flourished at the same time as Buddhism and Jainism. The words "Ajivikas" were later attacked by the chisel, probably by religious rivals, at a time when the Brahmi script was still understood (probably before the 5th century CE). However, the original inscriptions being deep, they remain easily decipherable.
The Ashoka inscriptions in the Barabar Caves are part of Ashoka's " Minor Rock Edicts", and appear in the three caves named Sudama, Visvakarma and Karna Chopar. Lomas Rishi, meanwhile, has no Ashoka inscription (only an inscription of Anantavarman above the entrance, 5-6th century CE), perhaps because she did not never been completed due to structural rock slide problems.
;Ashoka and the construction of the caves
In addition to the inscriptions indicating that they were made in the 12th year of Ashoka's reign (250 BC), it is generally considered that the construction of the Barabar caves itself also dates from his reign. The fact that the cave of Vivaskarma was not consecrated by Ashoka during the 12th year of his reign, but only seven years later, argues for the hypothesis of a gradual construction of the caves under Ashoka. Similarly, the fact that the caves on Nagarjuni Hill were not consecrated by Ashoka but by his successor Dasaratha, suggests that these caves were only built after the reign of Ashoka.
Inscriptions by Dasaratha Maurya (circa 230 BCE)
Dasaratha Maurya
Dasharatha Maurya () was the 4th Mauryan emperor from 232 to 224 BCE. He was a grandson of Ashoka The Great and is commonly held to have succeeded him as the imperial ruler of India. Dasharatha presided over a declining imperium and several t ...
, Ashoka's grandson and regnal successor, wrote dedicatory inscriptions in the three other caves, forming the Nagarjuni group (Gopika, Vadathi and Vapiya caves) of the Barabar hills. It is generally considered that their construction dates from his reign.
The three caves were offered to the Ajivikas upon the accession to the throne of Dasaratha, confirming that these were still active around 230 BCE, and that Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
was not the exclusive religion of the Mauryas at that time.
The three caves are also characterized by an extremely advanced finish of the granite walls inside, which again confirms that the technique of "Mauryan polish
Mauryan polish describes one of the frequent characteristics of architecture and sculptures of the Maurya Empire in India (325 to 185 BCE), which gives a very smooth and shiny surface to the stone material, generally of sandstone or granite.The roo ...
" did not die out with the reign of Ashoka.
Hindu inscriptions of the 5-6th century CE
Several Hindu inscriptions of the Maukhari king Anantavarman of the 5-6th century CE also appear in the caves of the Nagarjuni group, in the same caves where the dedicatory inscriptions of the grandson of Ashoka, Dasaratha
Dasharatha (Sanskrit: दशरथ, IAST: Daśaratha; born Nemi) was the king of the Kosala kingdom and a scion of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. He ruled from this capital at Ayodhya. Dasharatha was the son of Aja and Indumati. He had ...
, are also located: the Gopika Cave Inscription and the Vadathika Cave Inscription
__NOTOC__
The Vadathika Cave Inscription, also called the Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription of Anantavarman, is a 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit inscriptions in Gupta script found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the Barabar Caves group in Gaya distri ...
, as well as an inscription of Anantavarman above the cave entrance of Lomas Rishi. There are also a number of short inscriptions from the time of the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
, generally inscribed in the entrance halls, and distributed in almost all the caves. Only the cave of Vivaskarma has received no inscriptions subsequent to his dedicatory inscription of Ashoka.
File:Barabar Caves - Lomas Rishi Cave Inscription (9224609385).jpg, Inscription of Anantavarman above the entrance of Lomas Rishi.
File: 5th or 6th century Vadathika Cave Inscription, Sanskrit, Shaivism, Anantavarman, Gupta script, Ancient Om symbol 2.jpg , Inscription of Anantavarman in the cave of Vadathika.
File: Barabar caves short Gupta inscriptions.jpg , Short inscriptions from the era of the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
, spread in almost all the caves.
Related caves
There is another cave with the structure and polishing qualities of the Barabar caves, but without any inscription. This is the Sitamarhi Cave, 20 km from Rajgir
Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...
, 10 km south-west of Hisua, also dated of the Maurya empire. It is smaller than the Barabar caves, measuring only 4.91x3.43m, with a ceiling height of 2.01m. The entrance is also trapezoidal, as for the Barabar caves.
Finally, the Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
Son Bhandar Caves in Rajgir
Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...
, generally dated to the 2nd-4th centuries CE, nevertheless share a broad structure reminiscent of the caves of Barabar and some small areas of irregular polish, which leads some authors to suggest that they may actually be contemporary to, and even earlier than, the Barabar caves, and would conveniently create a precedent and an evolutionary step to the Barabar Caves.
Access by means of transportation
The monument is accessible by the Barabar hill road which connects to the Barabar-Panari-Diha Road which is further connected to NH-83 Patna-Gaya Road (west) and SH-4 (east), via the Belaganj Barabar Road.
There are no direct public transport connections, as the nearest bus and/or railway stations are located more than 15 km away in Jehanabad, Gaya
Gaya may refer to:
Geography Czech Republic
*Gaya (German and Latin), Kyjov (Hodonín District), a town
Guinea
* Gaya or Gayah, a town
India
*Gaya, India, a city in Bihar
**Gaya Airport
*Bodh Gaya, a town in Bihar near Gaya
*Gaya district, Bi ...
and Makhdumpur
Makhdumpur is a town in the Bihar state of India.It is a major town of Jehanabad district and ''Patna-Gaya Corridor''.World Famous Barabar Hills/Barabar Caves tourist region is 10 KM South-East of Makhdumpur proper city.
Demographics
According ...
. Furthermore, Gaya Airport
Gaya Airport is an international airport serving Gaya, Bihar, India. This airport is 12 kilometres south-west of Gaya and 5 kilometres away from the temple city of Bodh Gaya, from where Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment.
Overview
Gaya ...
is located to the south and Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport
Jayprakash Narayan International Airport is an international airport serving Patna, the capital of Bihar, India. It is named after the independence activist and political leader, Jayprakash Narayan. It is the 14th busiest airport in India. To ...
in Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
(80 km away).
Hindu statuary
Outside the caves on the top of the hill, about 600 meters away (), are located the Hindu temple of Vanavar Shiv Mandir and many examples of small Hindu statuary.
File: Barabar Caves - Staircase on other Side of the Hill (9224812247).jpg, Path leading to the Hindu Temple.
File: Barabar Caves - Ganesh (9224773047).jpg , Statues of Ganesh
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is ...
.
Barabar Caves - Durga (9224559087).jpg , Statue of Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around co ...
.
Barabar Caves - Broken Temple Statues (9227541324).jpg, Fragments of statues.
Barabar Caves - Lingas Carved in Rock (9227549322).jpg, Linga
A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...
carved in the rock.
File: Barabar Caves - Temple Statue (9224728119).jpg , Temple statue.
See also
* Kumhrar
* Edicts of Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expres ...
* List of colossal sculptures in situ
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Detailed notes on the Barabar Caves and its use as Marabar Caves in E. M. Forster's ''A Passage to India''
an
description by Wondermondo
{{Magadh Division topics
Caves of Bihar
Buddhist caves in India
Buddhist sites in Bihar
Caves containing pictograms in India
Maurya Empire
History of Bihar
Indian rock-cut architecture
Jehanabad district
Archaeological sites in Bihar
Buddhist monasteries in India
Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India
Former populated places in India
4th century BC in India
3rd century BC in India
3rd-century BC religious buildings and structures
4th-century BC establishments in India
Tourist attractions in Bihar
Mauryan art