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Description and Chronology of Caves
161 two main plateaus of the hill. The general way of getting up to the first plateau is from the village. The path winds through the village, up a steep slope for about a quarter kilometre, to a small ledge. Above this ledge comes a second slope surmounted by the lower scarp. The scarp is climbed through a large cleft, which is very narrow and almost perpendicular. This cleft is called 'daravāzā.' About half way up the daravāzā, on the left side is excavated a cave, which is numbered II by Cousens. This cleft was paved in with broad steps, but with the passage of time it is in bad shape and so the climb is difficult. Through this daravāzā, one reaches the first plateau. There is a little pond here. In the upper cliff, below the topmost plateau, just above the pond is excavated Cave I. It is at the height of about 600m above the plain.
These caves were briefly mentioned by Burgess without referring to the sect they belong (1877: 20). A short description was provided by Burgess and Cousens (1897: 46), while later on similar account was repeated (Cousens 1931: 47). In last two accounts, the caves were recognised as Jaina. Naik (1947) and Fergusson and Burgess (1880), somehow, do not mention this site.
Although Cave I was considered a Jaina excavation (Cousens, 1931: 47), on the close inquiry it was discovered that the cave actually belongs to Natha seci. The main icon of Matsyendranatha, seated in ardhapadmāsana with a fish below, was mistaken for Arhanatha, the 18th tirthankara, whose lanchhana is also fish (Shah 2000-01). This cave, therefore, has been not included here.
Description
This northeast-facing cave is excavated high in the scarp and can be reached by climbing a few blocks of stones kept as steps besides the four steps cut in the rock (Plate 105).
The cave has a closed verandah and a hall, which also serves as a shrine. It is a very irregular excavation (Fig. 47).
The verandah is enclosed and is about 5.5m wide and 2.08m to 2.53m deep. The door leading to verandah is plain and measures 1.98m by 1.94m. There is a 0.44m wide wall at the right end of the door, running across the width of the verandah. This wall is made of loose slabs. It does not touch the ceiling, but is a little below the lotus carved on the ceiling. The purpose and date of this wall is difficult to determine. But it is definitely built quite recently. This wall separates the right portion of verandah till the hall doorway, from the rest of the verandah. This walled portion is 2.2m wide and 2.08m to 2.28m deep. There is about Im high and a narrow gap in the constructed wall, near the back wall of the verandah, which provides entry to the walled portion. But one has to climb a low wall and squeeze in to enter. Some part of the front of the wall is not walled upto the ceiling and thus allows one to peep in the walled portion.
In the back wall of the verandah, at the right end is a niche. It is Im wide and 1.12m deep. It was perhaps used to keep some objects.
The ceiling of the verandah is not uniformly high. It is slanted towards the right. It is around 2m high. In the centre of the ceiling is carved a lotus within a square. The square is 1.35m by 1.25m. It has three circles. The innermost circle is carved with two layers of petals. The outer one has 16 large rounded petals; inner one has 16 smaller pointed petals and in the centre is a disc (Fig. 48a).
