Introduction (Nalini)

7/27/2019 Introduction (Nalini)

1/36


2/36


3/36

A. Cunningham noticed these caves firstand published them in ASI reports for theyears 1862-65.

The next good study of these caves was

made by V.H. Jackson (1926) in a papertitled Notes on the Barabar Hillspublished in the Jr. of Bihar and Orissa.

In the same year A. Banerjee Shastri

made a specific study of one of thesecaves in a paper titled The Lomas RishiCave Faade and published in thesame Jr.


4/36

The caves date from the reign of Ahoka,and the subsequent reign of his owngrandson Dasaratha.

At Barabar hills, near Gaya, there are somecaves with barrel-shaped ceiling, using withplain doorways and polished interiors, butwith a sculptured faade.

At Dhauli in Odisha the frontal part of anelephant has been carved out of a rock.

Of the 4 caves in Barabar hills 3 werededicated by Asoka who is identified in theinscriptions as Priyadarsin (the beloved ofthe gods), while the 3 in the Nagarjuni hillsbear inscriptions of Dasaratha.


5/36

BARABAR NAGARJUNI SITAMARHI

GROUP GROUP GROUP

(4 Caves) (3 caves) (1 Cave)1.Lomas Rishi 1.Gopi 1.Sitamarhi

2.Sudama 2.Vapi

3.Visvakarma 3.Vadatika

4.Karna Chaupar


6/36


7/36


8/36

Left incomplete but for its sculptured faade which isquoted as the earliest example of Indian art and

architecture in stone. Faces to the south and 2 chambers, outer one

measures 9.86m x 5.18m and the inner one measures4.33m x 5.18m.

It is significant to note that only the outer chamber

was polished, the inner one was not as it remainedincomplete. The doorway is marked by 2 converging jambs. The

opening is therefore trapezoidal. Low relief frieze within the recessed portion below the

arch. Having a crocodile or Makara at each end, the frieze

is divided into 4 panels, each containing 2 elephants& a stupa.

A contemporary epigraph is absent but one of 5thcentury of an Anantvarman Maukhari is there.


9/36


10/36


11/36

The trapezoidal doorway is marked by 2 sloping sidesor jambs shown through a sunken rock-cut recess,1.98m sq. and 61 cm deep.

2 chambers, outer one rectangular and measures9.98m x 5.94m and the inner chamber is roughlycircular in plan ,and measuring about 5.79m-6.07m in

diameter. The roof of the former is vaulted, 2.06m high at sides

and 3.73m high at the centre, while that of the latter ishemispherical.

This inner chamber imitates a circular thatched hut

with a trapezoidal entrance. Both the chambers are highly polished. A number of carved pillar fragments have been

found.


12/36


13/36


14/36

To be exact, the cave was hollowed out ofa large boulder of granite.

The outer chamber, in fact a portico, sinceis was cut straight back from the rock andfully open from the front measures 4.27m x2.54m.

The inner chamber was intended to becircular, but it remained unfinished.

The outer chamber or portico, however is

highly polished and fully finished. The floor contains 4 socket-holes meant

apparently timber framing.

Asokan inscription- Khalatika mountains.


15/36


16/36


17/36

Faces to the North since its located on the oppositeof the outcrop.

Inside the chamber, along the western end, there is alow rock-cut platform, raised 38cms from the floor

level and measuring 2.29cm x 76 cm. The entire cave bears lustrous polish, except from the

platform. As usual the doorway has sloping or converging sides

or jambs cut into the rock.

On the right jamb of this entrance is an inscriptionwhich, though defaced, has 5 lines and refers to thededication of the cave that was called Supiya & thehill was called Khalatika as also Pravaragiri.


18/36


19/36


20/36


21/36


22/36

It was tunneled out of the southern face of thehill at a height of about 15-16m above theground level.

It is therefore approached by a steep flight ofsteps.

It consists of a single rectangular chambermeasuring 13.95m x 5.84m.

Interestingly enough the 2 ends of the chamberare semi-circular. Thus, on plan, it is eliptical.

Its roof, as in Barabar caves, is also vaulted. Itis completely polished.

Anatvarmans inscription records that theprince caused an image of Katyayani to beinstalled in a cave.


23/36


24/36


25/36

Acc. to Cnningham Vapi stands for well

because of a deep one nearby. This is located on the northern side of the hill

in a low rock ridge and it too consists of asingle rectangular chamber like the Gopicave.

The chamber measures 5.11m x 3.43m.

Significantly enough it has a small porch inits front.

As usual the doorway has sloping jambswhile the ceiling is vaulted.

The cave and the porch are thoroughlypolished.


26/36


27/36

It is inside a narrow defile and adjacentto the Vapi cave.

The cave measures only 5.10m x 3.43m.

The significant feature to note here is: thewalls are curved right from their rise fromthe floor, consequently the height of thechamber at the centre was reduced to2.34m just as it was in the Vapi cave.

As usual the trapezoidal doorway ismarked by converging jambs.


28/36


29/36


30/36

The cave has been carven from a bigboulder and is smaller in size than otherMauryan caves.

Being only 4.91m long, 3.43m broad &2.01m in internal height.

As usual the doorway is trapezoidal &narrow, the top of the entrance being only

33cms wide & the door-sil 63cms wide.

The ceiling, it is significant to note is semi-eliptical in shape & not vaulted as such.


31/36

1. Viswakarma2. Sudama3. Lomas Rishi

4. Kondivte5. Bairat (Architectural

temple)6. Guntupalle

7. Tulja8. Bhaja

The order is notstrictlychronological,Bhaja may even beearlier thanKondivte.


32/36

The clue to their function, besides their being

primary monasteries, is located in the portico,the hut and the bench respectively. The portico-type cave might have been used

for public function and private audience, thehead monk along with his principle disciples

might have sat in the portico for discoursingwith the laity sitting or standing in the largeopen area in the front.

As against this, the Sudama must have been aprivate affair, used as a priory for the head ofthe order as well as the principle disciples.

The Karna Chaupar, might have served as achapel, meant exclusively for the monks.


33/36

Functionally, the Lomas Rishi might alsohave similar to the Sudama, a hut for thehead of the order and a hall for the rest of

the monks. The necessity for the 3 Nagarjuni caves

must have arisen due to the growingpopularity of the Ajivikas in the Mauryanpalaces where they appear to have been

the favourites of the queens who regardedthem as astrologers and sooth-sayers.

These caves were primarily the viharas orthe monasteries for the monks.


34/36

These caves or rock-cut chaityas representabout half-a-century of building activity.

The architects of the Mauryan court, so far asthese caves are concerned, merely copied instones what they saw before them constructedin wood, bamboo & clay.

Barabar caves inspired the early caves ofwestern India.

It can be arranged in evolutionary manner but

may not be unilinear, e.g. Kondivte should bethe earliest but that may not be the case. In fact within 50 years several forms were

experimented side by side.


35/36

Brown, Percy 1960. Indian Architecture(Buddhist and Hindu). Bombay: D.B.

Taraporewala & sons. Agrawal, V.S. 1965. Indian Art. Prithvi

Prakashan.

Gupta, S.P. Roots of Indian Art.

Huntington, S.L. The Art of Ancient India:Buddhist, Hindu and Jain.


36/36

Documents

Introduction (Nalini)