Jaina Rock Cut Caves In Western India Part 01

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

Page 69

Description and Chronology of Caves
Left Excavation
43
It is similar to the right one. The verandah is 6.8m wide and 1.6m deep. The ceiling is 2.1m high. There is a bench along the front wall, one on each side of the entrance. The bench to the right is 2.45m long, 0.72m to 0.68m wide and 0.45m high. The bench to the left is 2.3m long, 0.76m to 0.58m wide and 0.38m high. There are two pillars and two pilasters in front, similar to those in the verandah of the right excavation. The verandah is closed is by a low wall running between the pillar and pilaster on each side.
In the back wall of the verandah is the shrine. The doorway leading to the shrine is 1.4m by 0.8m. There are two plain sakhas, now extant only in the upper part. The lower part of the door is destroyed. The shrine is of similar dimensions as the shrine of the right excavation. On the back wall is carved a seated figure of Parsvanatha. This excavation is badly damaged due to weathering of rock and remains filled with water.
Main Excavation
It has a half-enclosed verandah or hall, a cell in the right sidewall of the hall and three shrines in a row, in the back wall of the hall (Plate 15). A step measuring 2.21 to 2.07m by 0.98 to 0.85m leads to the hall.
The verandah is 12.3m wide along the back and 11.7m wide in the front. It is 4.5m deep. The floor is very uneven. The ceiling is around 2.35m high. The pillars are arranged in two rows. The front row has two pillars and two pilasters, while the back row has four pillars. There runs a stone beam on the floor between the pillars and pilasters of each row. The shafts of the pillars of the front row are reconstructed. The rest of the pillars are badly damaged, but whatever remains suggest that all the pillars and pilasters were like the pillars in the verandahs of the side excavations. Only the middle pillars of the back row have four plain mouldings on the bases (Fig. 8b), while the rest have a plain square base. The brackets of pilasters and pillars in the front row have a cutting, running from top to bottom. This cutting is present on both sides in the case of pillars and on one side in the case of pilaster. The presence of these cuttings suggests that a wooden screen was inserted in.
In the right end of the hall, beyond the right pilaster, the hall opens to the verandah of the right side excavation Thus, the hall is attached to the right excavation, while the left excavation is independent.
In the right sidewall of the hall is a cell, 2.4m wide, 2.23m deep on right and 2.4m on the left. The door leading to the cell is 1.51m by 0.7m. The cell is plain.
On the left sidewall of the hall is carved a panel of thirteen seated Jinas. On the back wall, to the left of the left shrine, is a small recess. It is 1.37m long, 0.85m wide and 0.45m deep.
Right shrine: It is 2.23m wide, 2.4m deep and about 1.87m high. The doorway leading to the shrine is 1.47m by 1.03m. It has two plain sakhas. The door fittings are peculiar. The ceiling of the door has a portion of rock left in the middle with a recess on each side. Corresponding to these recesses are recesses on the floor, formed by a part of the rock protruding in the middle. There is a step inside the shrine to climb down.