Siddhachal Caves are Jain cave monuments and statues carved into the rock face inside the Urvashi valley of the

Gwalior Fort The Gwalior Fort commonly known as the ''Gwāliiyar Qila'', is a hill fort near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. The fort has existed at least since the 10th century, and the inscriptions and monuments found within what is now the fort campus ind ...

in northern

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India. There are the most visited among the five groups of Jain rock carvings on the Gwalior Fort hill. They were built over time starting in the 7th-century, but most are dated to the 15th-century CE. Many of the statues were defaced and destroyed under the orders of the Muslim Emperor

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...

of the

Mughal dynasty The Mughal dynasty ( fa, ; ''Dudmân-e Mughal'') comprised the members of the imperial House of Babur ( fa, ; ''Khāndān-e-Āl-e-Bābur''), also known as the Gurkanis ( fa, ; ''Gūrkāniyān''), who ruled the Mughal Empire from to 1857. Th ...

in the 16th century, while a few repaired and restored after the fall of the Mughal dynasty and through the late 19th century. The statues depict all 24 Tirthankaras. They are shown in both seated Padmasana posture as well as standing

Kayotsarga Kayotsarga ( , pka, काउस्सग्ग ) is a yogic posture which is an important part of the Jain meditation. It literally means "dismissing the body". A tirthankara is represented either seated in yoga posture or standing in the kayo ...

posture, in the typical naked form of Jain iconography. The reliefs behind some of them narrate scenes from the Jain legends. The site is about from the South-East Group of

Gopachal rock cut Jain monuments Gopachal rock-cut Jain monuments, also called ''Gopachal Parvat'' Jaina monuments, are a group of Jain carvings dated to between 7th and 15th century. They are located around the walls of the Gwalior Fort, Madhya Pradesh. They depict Tirthankar ...

and about northwest of the

Teli ka Mandir Teli ka Mandir, also known as Telika Temple, is a Hindu temple located within the Gwalior Fort in Madhya Pradesh, India. Dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Matrikas, it has been variously dated between the early 8th and early 9th century CE. It is an ...

within the Gwalior Fort. The Siddhachal Jain collosi cave temple is one of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

's ''Adarsh Smarak Monument'' along with other monuments in the Gwalior Fort.

Location

The Siddhachal collosi cave temples are located inside fortifications of the Urvahi valley, a part of the fort of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, immediately below the northwestern walls of the fortress. The Gwalior city and the fort is connected to other Indian cities by major highways NH 44 and 46 (Asian Highway 43 and 47), a railway station and airport (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

: GWL). It is located near other historic Hindu and Jain temples from the medieval era.

History

The Siddhachal cave temples are a part of nearly 100 Jain monuments found in and around the Gwalior city, all dated to be from the 7th to 15th century. The Siddachal colossi are near the Urwahi road, and most are dated to be from the 15th century, built in an era when Delhi Sultanate had collapsed and fragmented, a Hindu kingdom was back in power in Gwalior region and before

had ended the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

and replaced it with his Mughal dynasty. The inscriptions found near the monuments credit them to the Tomar kings, and they range from the 1440 to 1453 CE. The Siddhachal Caves were complete by about 1473 CE. Some 60 years after they had been completed, the statues were defaced and desecrated around 1527 when the Emperor Babur ordered their destruction.Gwalior Fort: Rock Sculptures
A Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of India, pages 364-370, Quote: "In 1527, the Urvahi Jinas were mutilated by the Mughal emperor Babar, a fact he records in his memoirs". Babur explained in a memoir, The Jain cave temples within the Gwalior Fort were, however, not destroyed, just mutilated by chopping off the faces, the sexual organs and their limbs. Centuries later, the Jain community restored many of the statues by adding back stucco heads on the top of the damaged idols.

Description

The Siddhachal Caves are rock-cut monuments with Jain collosi. They are found on both sides of the slope of the Urwahi road in the fort, along the Urwahi valley. The monuments include many caves, small reliefs on the walls, as well as 22 colossi. The largest of these are for

Rishabhanatha Rishabhanatha, also ( sa, ऋषभदेव), Rishabhadeva, or Ikshvaku is the first (Supreme preacher) of Jainism and establisher of Ikshvaku dynasty. He was the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time in Jain c ...

(Adinatha), identifiable by the bull emblem carved on the pedestal under his foot, with a height of . Other colossi include a seated

Neminatha Neminatha, also known as Nemi and Arishtanemi, is the twenty-second ''tirthankara'' (ford-maker) in Jainism. Along with Mahavira, Parshvanatha and Rishabhanatha, Neminatha is one of the twenty four ''tirthankaras'' who attract the most devo ...

(shell icon on his pedestal),

Parshvanatha ''Parshvanatha'' (), also known as ''Parshva'' () and ''Parasnath'', was the 23rd of 24 ''Tirthankaras'' (supreme preacher of dharma) of Jainism. He is the only Tirthankara who gained the title of ''Kalīkālkalpataru (Kalpavriksha in this "Kal ...

with serpent cover over his head and

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 ...

(lion icon on his pedestal).Gwalior Fort
Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle, India (2014)

Gallery

File:7th to 15th century Siddhachal caves Gopachal, Jain tirthankaras in Gwalior fort, 1885 photo.jpg, View of the caves below the fort in 1885 File:Jain Temple Fort Gwalior - panoramio.jpg, Jain Temple Fort Gwalior - panoramio File:Gwalior-escultures5.jpg, Gwalior-escultures5 File:Jain Tirthankar statues (16131403190).jpg, Jain Tirthankar statues

References

Citation

Sources

* {{Jainism topics Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh 7th-century Jain temples Tourist attractions in Gwalior Jain rock-cut architecture Colossal Jain statues in India Jain caves in India