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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
INSCRIPTION OF BHŪTI
The following “record is incised,” says Mr. R. D. Banerji, “on the outer wall of the inner chamber of the Bagh or Tiger cave (No. 15 of the clan published in the Bengal District Gazetteer, Puri). It consists of two lines. The characters used are as old as the inscriptions in the Mañcapuri cave and belong to the second century B.C."
Of the Băgh-Gumphā or Tiger-cave which is an excavation on the Udayagiri, we have the following interesting description in Rājā Rājendra Lāla Mitra's Antiquities of Orissa, Vol. II, p. 31 :
"In size it is similar to the (Alakāpura cave), but its exterior is cut into the shape of a tiger's head. The distended jaws of the animal form the verandah, and the entrance to the cell occupies the place of the gullet. The head is remarkably well-formed, and the chiselling is excellent. By the right of the entrance (we have) a short inscription in the Lāț (Asokan) character."
For a similar description of the cave, see Mr. Mano Mohan Ganguly's Orissa and Her Remains—Ancient and Medieval, pp. 45-46, where one reads : “ The Tiger cave, on the west of the Hāti Gumphā is a small one consisting of a verandah, and a single cell. It is situated higher up the hill than the Ganesa or the Hāti Gumphā. The roof of the front verandah is formed by the upper jaw of the animal. In this cave, the eye, nose and upper jaw of the tiger have been represented ; the two canine teeth on the two sides of the incisors have been shown; the number of incisors is greater than what is noticed in the animals of the feline species. The cell is provided with one door flanked by pilasters resting on raised platforms and surmounted by a semi-circular arch-band."
For a short description of the cave, see Dr. W. W. Hunter's Statistical Account of Bengal, District of Puri and the Orissa Tributary States, p. 73.
The text is based upon Major Kitto e's facsimile read and reproduced by James Prinsep in JAS B, old series, Vol. VI, Pl. LVII, Cave No. 5, called Tiger-cave ; Rājendra Lāla Mitra's copy of Prinsep's transcript in his Antiquities of Orissa, Vol. II, p. 31; Alexander Cunningham's handcopy reproduced in Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, old series, Vol. 1, Pl. XVII,
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