Udaigiri Caves are situated in Vidisha district of Madhy Pradesh. Udaygiri is 11 km from Sanchi & 60 km from Bhopal. The area is served by Betwa & Bes rivers. During and after monsoon Udaigiri gets lush green cover & is pleasant to look at. Land is fertile & friendly to inhabitants. This might have led to Vidisha becoming a ancient centre of trade, cultural & religious activities. There were Buddhist Viharas in nearby Sanchi. King Bindusara had deputed his son Ashoka as a governer of Vidisha who later became Ashoka the Great. In fact Ashoka wed Vidisha Devi here who was a daughter of wealthy merchant of Vidisha.
2. A couple of km from Udaigiri is a stone pillar made by Greek ambassador Heliodorus deputed by King Antialcidas of Texla in about second century BC. Heliodorus is said to have started following Vaishanvism & made a Vishnu Temple as well which has however disappeared. The Pillar still stands & is locally known as Kham Baba.
As per a few inscriptions, the caves relate to Chadragupta II period that is 4th and 5th centuries. Further, caves were in religious use till 10th century. After advent of 11th century invaders the caves seem to have lost importance & merged in to the nearby jungle.
3. In 1870 Alexander Cunningham reported about ten caves to Archeological Survey of India. He mentioned these to be related to second century BC to fifth century AD which aroused the interest of historians.Subsequently ten more caves were discovered.
4. Udaigiri is a hill which rises 350 feet above ground and is approx 2.5 km long. There are 20 caves here of which two are dedicated to Jainism & the rest have Shiva, Shakti & Vishnu statues or engravings. These are not natural caves but carved ones with depth ranging from three to seven feet. The statues are mostly worn out or defaced or broken. Besides aggressors & vagaries of nature some blame is also shared by quality of stone here. The sand stone here is said to have less resistance to the elements.
5. Noons here are hot and there is no retaurant around, take care. We reached here in afternoon & no guide was available. Caves have no electric illumination so visiting early recommended. About 200 meters from ticket window there is a small museum which provides complete info about the individual caves which are numbered 1 to 20. It may be mentioned that caves with similar name 'Udaygiri Caves' are located in Rajgir, Bihar and near Bhuvneshwar, Odisha also.
Some photos:
Related photo blog posts on Sanchi, Heliodorus Pillar and Bijamandal in Hindi, are as under:
1. साँची के स्तूप - 1/2
2. साँची के स्तूप - 2/2
2. A couple of km from Udaigiri is a stone pillar made by Greek ambassador Heliodorus deputed by King Antialcidas of Texla in about second century BC. Heliodorus is said to have started following Vaishanvism & made a Vishnu Temple as well which has however disappeared. The Pillar still stands & is locally known as Kham Baba.
As per a few inscriptions, the caves relate to Chadragupta II period that is 4th and 5th centuries. Further, caves were in religious use till 10th century. After advent of 11th century invaders the caves seem to have lost importance & merged in to the nearby jungle.
3. In 1870 Alexander Cunningham reported about ten caves to Archeological Survey of India. He mentioned these to be related to second century BC to fifth century AD which aroused the interest of historians.Subsequently ten more caves were discovered.
4. Udaigiri is a hill which rises 350 feet above ground and is approx 2.5 km long. There are 20 caves here of which two are dedicated to Jainism & the rest have Shiva, Shakti & Vishnu statues or engravings. These are not natural caves but carved ones with depth ranging from three to seven feet. The statues are mostly worn out or defaced or broken. Besides aggressors & vagaries of nature some blame is also shared by quality of stone here. The sand stone here is said to have less resistance to the elements.
5. Noons here are hot and there is no retaurant around, take care. We reached here in afternoon & no guide was available. Caves have no electric illumination so visiting early recommended. About 200 meters from ticket window there is a small museum which provides complete info about the individual caves which are numbered 1 to 20. It may be mentioned that caves with similar name 'Udaygiri Caves' are located in Rajgir, Bihar and near Bhuvneshwar, Odisha also.
Some photos:
 |
| 1. Lord Ganesha. This magnificent carving is said to be one of the earliest Ganesha reliefs. There is a long groove over the niche which suggests that it might have had stone slab shades |
 |
| 2. Ground level cave with pillars. Some sort of mandap might have been there on these pillars. |
 |
| 3. Entry and decorative carvings |
 |
| 4. Solar dial |
 |
| 5. Said to be a Jain Cave shuttered now |
 |
| 6. Shell script - शंख लिपि. |
 |
| 7. There are lots of these Shell scipts here. This script is yet to be deciphered |
 |
| 8. This place has largest depository of shell script |
 |
| 9. Vishnu / Narsimha |
 |
| 10. Narsimha and Dwarpals |
 |
| 11. Durga - Mahishasurmardini |
 |
| 12. Ganesha & Dwarpal? |
 |
| 13. Vishnu |
 |
| 14. Kartikeya |
 |
| 15. Climb up is facilitated with steps & railings |
 |
| 16. Ticket window and a view of hill |
 |
| 17. Stepping down the hill with Tawa Cave on the left |
 |
| 18. This Pillar is supposed to be a part of a temple built in Chandrgupta II times which is no more visible now |
 |
| 19. Beautiful & perhaps the best macho presentation of Varaha as saviour of earth. The earth or Bhudevi was dragged into Rasatal or the cosmic ocean by demon Hiranyakshya. Vishnu appeared as Varaha or the wild boar in third avtar to rescue the Bhudevi. Shown here with muscular body, broad shouldered with powerful posture with his left foot firmly planted on Sheshnaga. |
 |
| 20. Varuna the Lord of Oceans with a Kalasha in his hands |
 |
| 21. Yaksha in the heavens overhead. Ganga on Makara & Yamuna on Kachchapa descending from the heavens & going towards Varuna |
 |
| 22. Rescued Bhudevi, Brahma over the head and Shiva on Nandi |
 |
| 23. Varaha wears a Kanthmala with lotus over the head |
 |
| 24. Varahi on the left holding a lotus which is over the head of Varaha |
 |
| 25. Sheshanaga with thirteen hoods seeking forgiveness. Thick & large garland Vaijayanatimala worn by Varaha as a mark of victory |
 |
| 26. King Chandragupta II or someone else? Opinions are divided |
 |
| 27. Devtas, saints, Yakshas, Ganas, kings paying respecs |
 |
| 28. Lush green Vidisha. On the left of this pavement about a km ahead is a village and you can guess the economic status of residents. On the right of this way is the hill Udaygiri. |
Related photo blog posts on Sanchi, Heliodorus Pillar and Bijamandal in Hindi, are as under:
1. साँची के स्तूप - 1/2
5 comments:
https://jogharshwardhan.blogspot.com/2019/02/udaygiri-caves-mp.html
Simply superb
Thank you Sunil
Good to know the details, captures are very nice.
Thank you Jytirmoy Sarkar
Post a Comment