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Description and Chronology of Caves
189 In front of the cave is a loose slab of mandaraka of doorway. It is flanked by kirtimukhas.
Cave IX
This cave has a verandah, hall and a shrine (Fig. 60a). It is in very bad shape as the rock has weathered away. It is a crude excavation with rough floor and ceiling.
A flight of three steps with parapet walls leads to the verandah, which is im wide along the back and 4.6m along the front. It is lm deep. The ceiling is 2.22m high. The verandah is enclosed with a very low wall with pillars flanking the entrance. 1: is very damaged. It has a shaft with square bock surmounted by octagonal portion, scure block, round portion topped by a round moulding and rolled brackets (Fig. 60b).
The hall doorway has four sakhas. It is similar to the doorways in Cave VIII. Here on the lintel, there is a seated figure of Jina, though damaged. The mandarak 1 s flanked by kirtimukhas, while the chandrašila is not carved. The door fittings are in the form of a round groove, on each side, on ceiling and the doorsill. There is a groove on the each sidewall of the door.
The hall is 3.4m wide along the back and 2.4m at the front. It is 3.35m deep on the right and 3.39m on the left. The ceiling is 2.26m high. There runs a bench long all sides of hall. In the left corner, near the back wall is carved a throne. It is very damaged, but a trace of wheel flanked by elephants and lions can be made out.
The doorway to the shrine is a large plain opening. The shrine is 1.67m wide along the back and 1.47m at the front. It is 0.84m deep on the right and 0.8m on the left. The ceiling is 2.27m high. It has a niche in each sidewall. The niche on the right sidewall is 0.47m by 0.31m and 0.3m deep, while the niche on the left sidewall is 0.46m by 0.33m and 0.3m deep. On the back wall of the shrine are three grooves in horizontal l ne.
In front of the cave, there is a tank like excavation. It is around 3.25m by 3m. It is difficult to determine the depth as it is filled with debris and is overgrown with vegetation. It is difficult to determine the purpose of this excavation. It is too close to the cave to be used as water tank. If it remains filled with the water, the entry to the cave would be difficult.
Cave X
This cave is just a room (Fig. 60c). It is 4.78m wide along the back and 4.3m at the front and 6.11m deep along the right and 6.38m on the left. The ceiling is 2.37m to 2.45m high. The cave must have been closed in the front with a low wall on each side of an opening. The opening is about 0.23m wide. The wall on the right has completely disappeared and is now reconstructed. The ceiling is not smooth, as the rock has weathered away.
In the centre, there are four pillars with corresponding pilasters on the sidewalls. There are stone beams on the ceiling between all the pillars and the pilasters. All the pillars have now been reconstructed. Only the trace of pilasters can be made out. The extant portion of the pilasters suggest that they must have had rolled brackets with snakehood.
