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śramaņa, Vol 58, No. 4/October-December 2007
the state of Gujarat. According to James Burgess these caves are very simple just as caves at Junagadh, Talājā and Dhanka. Most of the caves at Sāņā are very much in dilapidated condition. On the top of the hill remains of a foundation with large-size bricks have been unearthed. At a height of 37 meter there is one cave namely Bhīmcorī. Near this there is a Caityagrha measuring 6x9 meters with height of 4 meters. Its roof is flat. It has no circumambulatory. Inside the Caityagpha there is a simple stūpa having no decoration of any sort. There are also two small Caityagshas in the rooms near this.
H.D. Sankalia suggests that these rock-cut caves are of Jaina faith. U.P. Shah has opined that they belong to Buddhism. These caves do not oblige us with any symbols of either faith. Thus it is difficult to say who were the occupants of these caves.
Both Burgess and Sankalia consider that the very caves might have been carved out in the beginning of the Christian era. But the large-size bricks found on the top of the hill, flat roof of the Catiyagrha and such other structural material indicate that these caves were constructed during the second century A.D. Bāvā Pyārā Caves
These caves are situated on the eastern outskirts of the city of Junagadh. Near these caves at present there is one monastery known as “Bāvā Pyārāno Matha”. For the sake of convenience according to archaeological tradition these caves are named after this present monastery. Burgess has given an elaborate description with illustrations. Later on Sankalia has also described these caves in detail. Hence no need arises to describe them again. Therefore, here we will discuss the problems pertaining to its date and occupancy.
Who the occupants were of these caves, I feel, is not easy to decide. Burgess has opined that these were originally excavated for Bauddha Bhikṣus but later on may have been occupied by Jaina Munis. The conclusion he drew, on the question of occupancy on the basis of the fragmentary inscription found from these caves, as there is a mention of one of the Jaina technical terms, namely, Kevala
| SR No. | 525062 |
| Book Title | Sramana 2007 10 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shreeprakash Pandey, Vijay Kumar |
| Publisher | Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi |
| Publication Year | 2007 |
| Total Pages | 230 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Sramana, & India |
| File Size | 7 MB |