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Description and Chronology of Caves
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lozenges. All the deities are seated in vamalalitāsana and are four-armed, as the deities on the shaft of stambha śākhā. All the deities, except one, seem to hold a sword in the right upper hand. The male figures are in various attitudes such as dancing, hands raised up, holding fruit or hands in varada. The lintel with three compartments has a figure of seated Jina in the central compartment and male attendants in the side ones. The door fittings are in the form of a round grooves on each side, on the ceiling and a square groove on the floor. The sidewall of the door also has a square groove at the centre.
The hall is 7m wide at the back and 6.5m at the front and is 5.5m deep. The ceiling is 2.83m high. In the middle of the hall, there are two pillars with corresponding pilasters in the sidewalls and also the back and the front walls. The pillar has a square base with square mouldings and a triangular plate, shaft rising in a square block surmounted by octagonal portion, round portion with octagonal band in the middle, octagonal band, square block, octagonal band, round portion, three kumuda mouldings divided by antarpatta and carved with triangular plate in the front, karnika and ghata shaped capital. The brackets are rolled with snake-hood (Fig. 55b). The pilasters on the back wall has a low square base, shaft rising in square block surmounted successively by a square block carved with a triangular plate, two square bands, square portion topped by three kumuda mouldings carved with triangular plate, tripatta kumuda and ghata shaped capital. The brackets are rolled with snake-hoods (Fig. 55c). The pilasters on the sidewalls and the front wall have a square base, plain square shaft with a triangular plate in the middle and rolled brackets with snake-hoods. On the ceiling runs a stone beam between all the pillars and the pilasters.
Along the back wall of the hall runs a bench. The benches beyond pilasters are a little higher than those near the shrine doorway. The bench to the right of the right pilaster is 0.6m wide and is 0.8m high. The bench to the left of the left pilaster is approximately 0.5m wide and 0.53m high. The bench in the front of the shrine is 0.62m wide and is 0.33m high.
The shrine doorway is plain with plain mandaraka.
The shrine is 3m by 2.5m and the ceiling is 2.34m high. There is a throne with the throne back carved on the back wall. The throne is 2m by 1.25m and is 0.38m high
Cave V
This cave is three storied. Above the third storey is carved a kalaśa, which gives the appearance of sikhara of a temple (Plate 118). But unlike previous caves, this cave is architecturally crude and rough. The fronts of upper stories are open. There is no uniform plan followed. The cave is not properly squared or comered, while the doorways are simple openings and the pillars are massive and plain. But there are a few icons carved in situ.
Lower storey
It has a verandah and a hall (Fig. 56a). The verandah is around 6.91m wide on the back and 5.56m on the front. It is 1.8m deep on right and 1.52m on the left. The ceiling is 2.16m high. It is open in the front with two pillars. The pillars have a square block
