The caves date from the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE and are the oldest surviving example of rock-cut architecture in the Indian subcontinent.
-
circa 1970sArchitecture: India, Barabar Hills, General view showing location of caves -
circa 1970sProf. Basham’s collection, ill, 5 [hand-written label reading “Prof. Basham’s 15], ANUA 682 212: [hand-written label reading “Prof. Basham’s 16]
Barabar: Sudama Cave, Asoka’s inscription in entrance, partly defaced but still legible, dedicating the cave to Ajivika ascetics. The Ajivikas were one of several monastic orders of seekers after knowledge in ancient India. Now extinct, the Ajivika order was the subject of Basham’s PhD thesis under the guidance of L.D. Barnett, subsequently published as History and Doctrine of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion (London, 1951).
-
circa 1970sBarabar: Sudama Cave, Asoka’s inscription in entrance, partly defaced but still legible, dedicating the cave to Ajivika ascetics. -
circa 1970sBarabar: interior of Sudama Cave, cell at left end. In effect, this is a cave within a cave. The form of the interior cave mimics the external appearance of a hut, probably similar to contemporaneous structures made of earthen and organic materials.
Barabar: Sudama Cave, entrance showing the ‘Mauryan polish’ on rock, rendering it to mirror-like shine. The ascetic posing for Basham’s photos indicates the possibility of ongoing occupation of the site in the 1970s. Google Maps shows the existence of Saivite temple ‘Vanavar Shiv Mandir’ and an ascetic monastery (Sanyasi Ashram) within the immediate vicinity of the Barabar Caves.
-
circa 1970s
-
circa 1970sBarabar: Lomas Rishi Cave, with Prof. Basham -
circa 1970sBarabar: Lomas Rishi Cave, Interior, Entrance and right wall
Early development of sculpture, bas-relief of elephants adoring stupa (this is the aniconic phase of early Buddhism which eschews humanoid representation of the Buddha, preferring instead symbols such as the stupa, bodhi tree and sometimes, footprints of the Buddha as symbolic evocations. Note the extraordinary naturalism in rendering the bodies of the elephants. See also the band of latticework and wooden beam structure carved into the rock, both in the manner of timber structures that would have been contemporaneous with the caves.
-
circa 1970sEarly development of sculpture, bas-relief of elephants adoring stupa (this is the aniconic phase of early Buddhism which eschews humanoid representation of the Buddha, preferring instead symbols such as the stupa, bodhi tree and sometimes, footprints of the Buddha as symbolic evocations. Note the extraordinary naturalism in rendering the bodies of the elephants. See also the band of latticework and wooden beam structure carved into the rock, both in the manner of timber structures that would have been contemporaneous with the caves. -
Barabar: Sudama Cave, Asoka’s inscription in entrance, partly defaced but still legible, dedicating the cave to Ajivika ascetics. The Ajivikas were one of several monastic orders of seekers after knowledge in ancient India. Now extinct, the Ajivika order was the subject of Basham’s PhD thesis under the guidance of L.D. Barnett, subsequently published as History and Doctrine of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion (London, 1951).
-
1900“Development of Chaitya Arch from 250 BC to 9th Cent AD” From Percy Brown, Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu), 1st ed. 1900 -
2019“Section and plan of Mogao cave 285, Gansu, Western Wei” (6th Century CE) From Nancy Steinhardt, Chinese Architecture, Princeton UP, 2019
Two learned men posing at the entrance of Lomas Rishi cave.
The sanyasin (ascetic) in this image is very likely the same one posing against the mirror-polished rock at the entrance of the Sudama cave earlier in this sequence. Basham is pictured in the same location, but clearly at a different time as evidenced by the change in vegetation growing along the horizontal rock cleft at the top of the chaitya arch.
-
circa 1970sArchitecture: India. Barabar Hills: Lomas Rishi Cave Entrance -
circa 1970s[hand-written label reading “Prof. Basham’s 12”], ANUA 682 221: [hand-written label reading “Prof. Basham’s 13”]
Barabar is north of Gaya (Bodh Gaya) in Bihar, India
