The Son Bhandar Caves (also known as the Swarn Bhandar Caves) are two man-made caves carved into the base of the Vaibhar Hills 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 ...

in the state of

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 ...

. Based on the dedicatory inscription found in the largest cave — which uses

Gupta script The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)Sharma, Ram. '' 'Brahmi Script' ''. Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002 was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcon ...

of the 4th century CE — the caves are generally dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE, although some authors have suggested the caves could actually go back to the period of 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 ...

, possibly as early as 319 BCE. The main cave is rectangular with a trapezoidal entrance and a

vaulted ceiling In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

, reminiscent of the structure of the earlier

Barabar Caves The Barabar Hill Caves (Hindi बराबर, ''Barābar'') are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, dating from the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), some with Ashokan inscriptions, located in the Makhdumpur region of Jehanabad distric ...

. The quality of the

polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and the finish are nevertheless much inferior to that of the Barabar Caves. The stone of Son Bhandar is also much less hard than the

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 ...

of the Barabar caves, and therefore did not require the same degree of effort and technique.Gupta, The roots of Indian Art, B. R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1980

Dedicatory inscription of the 4th century CE

An inscription in the rock at the entrance of the cave in Gupta characters of the 4th century CE mentions the construction of the cellar by a

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 ...

Muni Muni may refer to: Municipal * A common US abbreviation for municipal, municipal services, and the like *Municipal bond *Municipal Bridge, the former name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky *"Muni", slang for a mu ...

("wise man") named Vairadeva. This inscription has led scholars to date the cave to the same period of the 4th century CE.: Son Bhandar cave inscription

According to Gupta, however, this inscription may be ambiguous and, for him, might only mean that the cave was the subject of re-development work at that time. For this reason, he tends to date the cave on the basis of its similarities with the caves of Barabar (general shape, trapezoidal entrance door, polishing, although extremely limited) to the time of

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

(260 BCE), or even a little earlier, making it the possible precursor of all artificial caves in India such as the

. Le Huu Phuoc also entertains the possibility, to challenge the traditional idea that stone mirror-polishing techniques were imported from the Near East. The consensus, however, favours the traditional datation of 2nd to 4th century of our era, based on the epigraphic evidence. The ancient

Saptaparni Cave Saptparni Cave, also referred to as Sapta parni guha (Saraiki) or sattapaṇṇi guhā (Pali), literally Seven-leaves-cave (cognate with sapta, sept), is a Buddhist cave site about southwest from Rajgir, Bihar, India. It is embedded in a hill. T ...

, a natural cave dating back to the days of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, 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 ...

, is only a few kilometers away.

Main Cave

The cave dates were built during rule of

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 ...

during 319 to 180 BCE. The ''Chaumukha'' (quadruple) idol discovered inside the cave has a domical top and the stela on each side shows a

dharmachakra The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र; Pali: ''dhammacakka'') or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle o ...

. Each side has carvings of animal representing the symbol of respective tirthankar -

Ajitnatha Ajitanath (lit. invincible) was the second ''tirthankara'' of the present age, ''avasarpini'' (half time cycle) according to Jainism. He was born to King Jitashatru and Queen Vijaya at Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku dynasty. He was a liberated soul w ...

with two elephants flank the wheel,

Sambhavanatha Sambhavanatha was the third Jain ''tirthankara'' (omniscient teaching god) of the present age ( Avasarpini). Sambhavanatha was born to King ''Jitari'' and Queen ''Susena'' at Sravasti. His birth date was the fourteenth day of the Margshrsha ...

with two monkeys,

Shantinatha Shantinatha was the sixteenth Jain tirthankar of the present age (Avasarpini). Shantinatha was born to King Vishvasena and Queen Aiira at Hastinapur in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date is the thirteenth day of the Jyest Krishna month of the ...

, with two deers and

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 ...

with chawri bearer on each side and flying garland-bearer over the head. This idol dates back to 7th—8th century CE. File:Son Bhandar cave outside.jpg, Outside of the cave. File:Son Bhandar cave entrance.jpg, Trapezoidal Entrance File:Son Bhandar cave shrine Rajgir.jpg, Inside the cave, with votive Jain stele. File:Son Bhandar Jain votive stele.jpg, The Jain stele. File:Son Bhandar polished surface.jpg, Partially polished surface . File:IA Son Bhandar cave.jpg, Volume map of the main cave. File:Son Bhandar cave plan.jpg, Plan the main cave and the second small cave next to it.

Second cave

The second cave, adjacent to the main cave, is largely destroyed, but it has some beautiful Jains reliefs. This cave dates back to the 3rd and 4th century AD. The relief sculpture includes carving 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 ...

in the cave wall. Son Bhandar Cave 1 and Cave 2.jpg, Main cave and second cave in the background. Son Bhandar second cave.jpg, Facade of the second cave. Son Bhandar second cave sculptures.jpg, Inside wall of the second cave, with sculptures. Son Bhandar sculptures.jpg, Jain sculptures of the second cave. Son Bhandar Jain sculptures.jpg, Jain sculptures of the second cave.

References

Citation

Sources