Jaina Rock Cut Caves In Western India Part 01

Author(s): Viraj Shah
Publisher: Agam Kala Prakashan

Page 67

Description and Chronology of Caves
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stūpa on account of its size and shape. Though Jainas used to worship stupas as the remains at Mathura suggest, none of the known Jaina cave site has yielded any evidence of stupa worship. Even if we assume that this cave was originally Buddhist, owing to the occurrence of the stupa, its placement raises a few problems. In early period a Buddhist cave was excavated either as a chaitya, where a stupa was carved inside the cave or as a vihara, where the cells were cut for the monks to reside. In later period, the concept of a chaitya-vihara was introduced, where the place of worship and the place of residence. were merged in a single excavation. But now the object of worship was the icon of the Buddha. None of the known Buddhist chaitya-vihara of the period has a stupa outside the cave, though a number of late sites such as Panhale-Kaji, Kondivte, Kanheri and Pale have stūpas in the forecourt and on top of the caves (Deshpande 1986: 122). Most of these stūpas are loose and stylistically different. The structure at Dharashiva could have been a pedestal, on which a loose chaumukha was placed; though it is very unlikely considering the size of the structure. It could have been the base for mānastambha, but again the size of the structure indicates it to be quite unlikely. Thus, it is difficult to determine the nature and purpose of the structure. The gable-shaped roof and a passage in the ceiling of the front aisle in Cave II also do not have any parallel.
As pointed out by Jain, these caves are mentioned in the Apabhramsha text, 'Karakanda cariu' in the context of the exploits of king Karakandu (Jain H. 193-4-35: 15). The text is dated to around middle of 11th century (Mirashi 1971: 41). More or less similar account is also found in the Sanskrit text 'Brihatkathakośa'. It was composed in 931-32 CE (Upadhye 1943: intro. 122). According to Upadhye, the composer of the text, Harishena, is the first author to describe these caves. It is difficult to say how much historical data these texts contain. Karakandu is a legendary saint-king, who is venerated by both Buddhists and Jainas. However, there are no references of Karakandu in Digambara Jaina literature. He is considered to be one of the Pratyekbudhhas by the Buddhists. He is supposed to have flourished prior to Buddha and Mahavira, in the period between 8th to 4th centuries BC (Jain 1934-35: 7). The portion describing the caves was obviously added when the existence of the caves came to be known. The one fact that emerges very clearly from both the accounts of the caves is that at least by 10th century CE these caves were forgotten and perhaps were known only to the local people. When they were 'rediscovered', a legend grew around them owing to their ancient nature. However, these accounts present some problems. None of the loose icons present in these caves can be dated prior to 12th century. So, it is difficult to identify the icon 'buried in the anthill' and brought to the cave by Karakandu, as it has to be a loose icon. Again, it is difficult to say how much truth there is in the story of the cave getting flooded on account of breaking a 'knot' on the throne of the icon. Nevertheless, the mention of these caves in the literary texts and their association with a highly venerated, legendary person, speak of the sanctity, popularity and also the antiquity of these caves in the 10th-11th centuries CE.
AMBEJOGAI, AMBEJOGAI TALUKA, BEED DISTRICT (18° 41′N; 75° 24′E)
Outside the town of Ambejogai, to its northeast, three caves have been excavated along the banks of river Jayanti. Two of the caves are Saivite, while one is Jaina. To the south