Bhubaneswar, a city of temples, also has amongst the earliest rock-cut shelters. These caves, in the two hills of Udayagiri and Khandagiri, are just off the main city of Bhubaneswar.
Built somewhere around the 2nd century BCE by King Kharavela these ancient rock cut caves on the Kumari mountain range were built for the Jain monks and offered them a place to stay and meditate.
In keeping with Jainism’s insistence on great austerity many of the caves are so small that a person can’t stand straight. Of the over 100 built originally only 33 survive – 18 in the Udaygiri hill and 15 in the Khandagiri hill. The caves are largely empty chambers and inscriptions are in Brahmi.
In Udayagiri (Hill of Sunrise) some caves (Gumphas) are even two storied monasteries with beautiful sculptures and entrances. Modern scholars are of the opinion that the Udayagiri cave complex was also a theatre complex.
In Khandagiri, there are Gumphas with inscriptions of the time and the use of natural colour pigments. Ancient Jain motifs such as Swastikas and serpents, sculptures depicting 9 Jain Tirthankaras or seer-sages are found, as also a relief depicting a number of Hindu deities.
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