DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0033
Chap. II.
ORISSA CAVES.
9
CHAPTER II.
JAIN A CAVES.
CONTENTS.
Orissa Caves—Badami and Aihole—Dharasinva—Ankai—Elura.
The Jains, like the other sects, excavated cave-dwellings or
bhikshugrihas for their recluses ; but the nature of their religion
did not require large assembly halls like the chaityas of the
Buddhists. They naturally followed the fashion of the other
contemporary sects, to which indeed all India was accustomed.
We find them, consequently, excavating caves in Orissa and at
Junagadh or Girnar in Gujarat, as early as the 2nd century B.C.,
and at later dates at Badami, at Patna in Khandesh, at Elura,
Ankai, and elsewhere.1 And before entering upon the character-
istic examples of the later Jaina Architecture, it may be as well,
at this stage, to give some account of the cave architecture of
the sect.
Orissa Caves.
The Orissa caves have already been referred to, as they were
long mistaken as a group of Buddhist excavations.2 They are
probably as old as anything of the kind in India and, unless
some of the Bihar excavations were Jaina, they are the earliest
caves of the sect. The oldest and most numerous are in the hill
on the east called Udayagiri; the more modern in the western
portion designated Khandagiri. The picturesqueness of their
forms, the character of their sculptures and architectural details,
combined with their great antiquity, render them one of the
most important groups of caves in India, and one that is most
deserving of a careful scientific survey. The accompanying
plan (Woodcut No. 265) will help the reader to understand
their arrangement.
What we know of the age of the older caves here is principally
derived from a long inscription on the front of one of the oldest,
1 Buddhist and Jaina caves are known all over India as lenas.
2 Ante, vol. i. p. 177.
ORISSA CAVES.
9
CHAPTER II.
JAIN A CAVES.
CONTENTS.
Orissa Caves—Badami and Aihole—Dharasinva—Ankai—Elura.
The Jains, like the other sects, excavated cave-dwellings or
bhikshugrihas for their recluses ; but the nature of their religion
did not require large assembly halls like the chaityas of the
Buddhists. They naturally followed the fashion of the other
contemporary sects, to which indeed all India was accustomed.
We find them, consequently, excavating caves in Orissa and at
Junagadh or Girnar in Gujarat, as early as the 2nd century B.C.,
and at later dates at Badami, at Patna in Khandesh, at Elura,
Ankai, and elsewhere.1 And before entering upon the character-
istic examples of the later Jaina Architecture, it may be as well,
at this stage, to give some account of the cave architecture of
the sect.
Orissa Caves.
The Orissa caves have already been referred to, as they were
long mistaken as a group of Buddhist excavations.2 They are
probably as old as anything of the kind in India and, unless
some of the Bihar excavations were Jaina, they are the earliest
caves of the sect. The oldest and most numerous are in the hill
on the east called Udayagiri; the more modern in the western
portion designated Khandagiri. The picturesqueness of their
forms, the character of their sculptures and architectural details,
combined with their great antiquity, render them one of the
most important groups of caves in India, and one that is most
deserving of a careful scientific survey. The accompanying
plan (Woodcut No. 265) will help the reader to understand
their arrangement.
What we know of the age of the older caves here is principally
derived from a long inscription on the front of one of the oldest,
1 Buddhist and Jaina caves are known all over India as lenas.
2 Ante, vol. i. p. 177.