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MONUMENTS & SCULPTURE 300 B.C. TO A.D. 300
(PART II
Svargapuri) of Cave 9 (plates 23 and 24) of the Udayagiri hill, it is known that this storey owed its origin to the piety of the chief queen of Khåravela. Again, two of the cells of the ground floor (locally called Manicapurt) of this cave were dedicated by Mahärāja Kūdepa (or Vakradeva) and Kumāra (prince) Vadukha (Uvadukha). Kūdepa appears to have been a successor of Khåravela as the excavation of caves generally started from the top, the upper floor with the dedicatory inscription of Khāravela's queen appearing to be earlier than the ground floor.
While most of the caves were excavated during the régime of the Mahāmeghavāhanas (first centuries B.C. and A.D.), some might have had an earlier origin. Not a single cave of this period was meant to be a shrine, all of them having been designed as the dwelling-retreats (viharas) of the Jaina recluses. That the cells were planned as dormitories is proved by the sloping rise of the floor at the rear end, extending from one side-wall to the other, to serve the purpose of a running pillow. In much later periods some of these dwelling-cells were converted into shrines with minor alterations and additions of the reliefs of the Tirthankaras.
Not planned with a systematic layout (fig. III), the monastic retreats were excavated at different heights. The excavators saved both labour and expense by following the configuration of the rock and connecting different units by rock-cut steps wherever necessary. A predilection was towards excavation near the top of the ledge or boulder, probably to relieve the load over the caves, the sandstone of the hill being of a brittle variety.
Meant for the residence of Jaina ascetics, who were noted for their selfmortification, the caves provided little amenities. The height of most of the caves, including the exceptionally large Raņi-gumphà (Cave I, plato 25) of the Udayagiri hill is too low for a person to stand erect. The remaining ones are only slightly more than the height of a man. Some of the caves are too narrow for a person even to stretch. The door-openings are invariably small, and one has almost to crawl to enter the cells through them. The cells were not provided with niches. The only places where scriptures and articles of bare necessity could be kept are the rock-cut shelves across the side-walls of the verandah. The interior of the cells is austerely plain, but in important instances their façades and the brackets supporting the ceilings of the verandahs are decorated with carvings and sculptures (plate 33).
A fully-developed monastery presents one or more cells preceded by a common verandah, the latter having a levelled ground for the courtyard in
