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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 15, p. 240.


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KHANDGIRI
which is called Udayagiri and the southern Khandgiri, the last name
being also applied to the entire group. The caves on this hill were
occupied by monks of the Jain sect, and not, as is usually stated, by
Buddhists. The earliest of them go back to the time of king Khâra-
vela., whose large but mutilated inscription over the Hâthi Gumpba
cave is dated in the year 165 of the Maurya era, or T55 u.c. ; and there
are also short inscriptions of his queen and immediate successors.
Various mediaeval Jain carvings and inscriptions show that the Jains
continued to occupy the caves till about the twelfth or thirteenth cen-
tury; and there still exist later Jain temples, one of which, on the top
of the Khandgiri peak, is annually visited by Jain merchants from Cut
tack. Of the oldest caves the most interesting are the following: On
the Udayagiri peak, (i) the Ran! Gumpha, comprising two storeys with
open verandas. The frieze of the upper veranda contains a series of
relief carvings, evidently representing one connected story, in which
occurred a fight with wild elephants, the rape of a female, and a hunt
after a winged antelope; the legend to which it refers has not, however,
been traced. (z) The Ganesh Gumpha, with a carved frieze represent-
ing the same story as in the Ram Gumpha ; the steps of the cave are
flanked by the figures of two elephants. (3) The 13âthi Gumpha, with
the famous inscription of king Khâravela, a purely historical record of
the principal events of his life. Unfortunately it has been badly muti-
lated, but it has recently been protected by a shade to preserve it from
further destruction. (4) The Bâgh Gumpha, shaped like the head of
a tiger; and (5) the Svarga Gumpha, (6) the Maujapuri, and (7) the
Pâtâl Gumpha, three caves raised one above the other and consequently
now explained as a representation of heaven, earth, and hell. On the
Khandgiri peak, the most notable of the old caves are the Ananta
Gumpha, with carved panels over its gates, representing Lakshmi, the
sun-god, an elephant, and the worship of a sacred tree; the Tentuli
Gumpha, so called from a tamarind-tree close to it; and the Tantuâ
Gumpha I and Tantuâ Gumpha II, one above the other. The name
tantud means a diving-bird and has been given to these caves on
account of the figures of birds, with their heads bent down as if in the
act of diving, which have been carved over the arches of the doors.
The best specimens of mediaeval caves are: the Navamuni cave, with
an inscription dated in the eighteenth year of king Uddyota Kesari,
who preceded the Ganga kings and belonged to the family of the so-
called Somavansi, or kings of the lunar race, who ruled over Orissa
in the tenth and eleventh centuries ; and the Sŕtghara cave, which has
numerous mediaeval Jain figures carved over its walls.
[Report of the Archaeological Survey of India for 190z-3 (Calcutta,
1904)-]
.
Khdndia.-Petty State in KATHIAWt1R, Bombay.
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