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Description and Chronology of Caves Description
Cave III has a hall, an antechamber and a shrine (Fig. 65a). The hall is 8.3m wide along the back and 8.1m at the front. It is 7.6m deep along the right and 7.5m along the left. The ceiling is 2.67m high. It is enclosed by dwarf walls with kakşāsanas and backrests in the front. The backrests to left are destroyed. The outside of the backrest is carved with two round pilasters alternating with the plain bars (Fig. 65b). There are dwarf pillars on these low walls (Plate 136). The pillar on left has disappeared, while the right pillar is destroyed in the upper parts. It has a shaft with a square block surmounted by an octagonal portion, square portion, octagonal band and round portion, the portion above which is destroyed.
There are four pillars and corresponding pilasters in the hall with stone beams running between the pillars on the ceiling. The floor between the pillars is raised to around 0.1m. The southeastern pillar is present only in the lower portion, while the other pillars are dilapidated. There is a half pilaster in both the corners, near the back wall of the hall. The pillars have base with jagati, padma, antarapatta, kumuda and prati and a triangular plate on each face. The shaft above the base rises in a square block, a round portion, an octagonal portion carved with petals and a square block carved with various figures and designs. Above the shaft are two round mouldings, karņikā and another broader round moulding with a triangular plate carved with an intricate floral design, on each face, karnika, double tati and phalaka supporting four-armed brackets with a single roll and a snake-hood (Fig. 650). The square block on the shaft has different designs and figures on each pillar as well as each face of the same pillar. The eastern face of the southwestern pillar is preserved only on the right side. It has two seated figures, each in a separate compartment. Both the figures are seated in padmasana. The figure on the right is four-armed, with the lower arms in a dhyāna mudra and the upper hands raised up. The objects in the upper hands are not clear. The figure on the left is of a Jina. The western face of the northwestern pillar has five compartments. In the left compartment is a male figure seated in maharajalilasana with indistinct object in the hand. The northern face of this pillar has another figure of a seated Jina (Plate 137). The pilasters in the sidewalls have a square shaft surmounted by a square block, kalasa, taţi, squarish kumbha with a decorative median band and brackets as in the pillars. The shaft is carved with various designs on the different parts. On the kalasa and tāti is a triangular plate, carved with an intricate design. The pilasters on the back wall are staggered with bases as in the case of pillars, square shaft surmounted by kalasa, karņikā, tāți and brackets as in pillars.
There are twenty niches in the hall, eight in each sidewall (Plate 138) and four in the back wall. There is another much smaller niche in the right corner. The niches are formed by a kapota rested on the pilasters. Above the kapota is an intricately carved torana. The niche in the corner does not have törana arch above. The niches do not have separate pilasters, but the central pilaster is common between two niches. Thus, two niches are formed by three pilasters. On the kapota are half circular plate in the centre and a quarter circular plate on the sides. These are carved with various intricate geometrical and floral designs in some cases. All these niches are uniform in size and placement and are empty. Each is around 0.78m by 0.54m and 0.4m deep and is around 1.3m from the floor.
