The Dhank Caves are located near Dhank village near

Upleta Upleta is a city and tehsil in the Rajkot district of the state of Gujarat, India. It contains within it two towns and 49 villages. Geography Upleta is located at . It is about from Dhoraji, in the Rajkot district of Gujarat, on the banks of the ...

Rajkot district Rajkot district is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Gujarat. Located in Saurashtra peninsula, Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is the third-most advanced district in Gujarat and the fourth most po ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. They were chiseled out of a calcareous sandstone outcropping during the regime of the

Western Satraps The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India ( Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh ...

. The caves are influenced by

Buddhist 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 ...

and

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 ...

cultures. The

cave includes figures of Adinath,

Shantinath 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 ...

and Pārśva. These are considered to be the earliest Jain sculptures in

Kathiawad Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it i ...

Details of Jain Carvings

This caves were carved in the seventh century A.D. and have a plain style of carving. This is one of the earliest rock cut cave of Gujarat. This place is also known as Dhankgiri and about 48 km of Junagadh in north west direction. on western side of the hill there are three niches. One niche is facing the door and another two are situated on either side of it. The door facing niche contains some Jain Images in

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 ...

and meditation posture. Most of Savior sculpture do not contain a clear cognizance or symbol of

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 pass ...

but according to H. D. Sanklia this image represents Rishabhnatha. On either side of Jina two whisk bearers are depicted and Jina is sitting on a lion throne or Simhasan. There are two another mediation posture images of

saviors containing two whisk bearers on either side with serenity and tranquility on face. Triple canopies were depicted over the head of Jina. One of these image is depicted with Deer cognizance attributed to 16th Lord

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 ...

. One well preserved image of 23rd TIrthankara Parshvanatha is depicted in kayotsarga posture with long limbs parallel to body and cobra hood canopied. An image of Jaina yakshi ambika is also carved here who contains an infant in her arm and another with mango bud. from the ongoing discussion it is clearly evident that Dhank caves are attributed to Jainism and dwellers of these caves were Jain. Burgess did not say anything about the date of the Dhank caves but according to scholar H.D. Sanklia these caves could be hailed from third century AD after examining the Jaina sculpture's Style and Iconography. This cave is attributed to Digamabar Jain. There is second set of caves nearby known as Jhunjhurijhar caves having small rock cut rooms and baked bricks pillars.

References

External links

* Jain rock-cut architecture Buddhist caves in India Buddhist monasteries in India Caves of Gujarat Indian rock-cut architecture Former populated places in India Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Caves containing pictograms in India Tourist attractions in Rajkot district 3rd-century Jain temples Monuments of National Importance in Gujarat Jain caves in India {{India-struct-stub