Udayagiri and Khandagiri: Odisha's Ancient Jain Caves

On two low hills facing each other near Bhubaneswar in Odisha lie the ancient rock-cut caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri, among the earliest and most historically important Jain monuments in eastern India. Carved into the soft sandstone of the hills more than two thousand years ago, these caves were created as dwellings for Jain ascetics, austere shelters where monks could pursue their meditation and renunciation, and they preserve a remarkable record of the flourishing of Jainism in ancient Kalinga.

The caves are closely associated with King Kharavela, the powerful ruler of Kalinga in the first or second century BCE, who was himself a devoted patron of Jainism. His achievements are recorded in the celebrated Hathigumpha inscription, the Cave of the Elephant, carved on the brow of a cave at Udayagiri. This long inscription, one of the most important epigraphic documents of ancient India, chronicles the king's military campaigns, public works and religious patronage, and it explicitly records his devotion to the Jain faith and his support for the ascetic community, providing invaluable evidence for the early history of the tradition in the east.

The caves themselves are numerous, honeycombing both hills, and they vary from plain cells to more elaborate excavations with carved façades, pillared verandahs and sculpted friezes. At Udayagiri the finest caves, including the Rani Gumpha, the Queen's Cave, are double-storeyed and richly decorated with carvings depicting scenes of courtly life, processions, hunts, dancers and musicians, offering a vivid picture of the world of ancient Kalinga alongside religious motifs. These reliefs are among the earliest substantial figurative sculpture in this part of India.

Across the valley at Khandagiri, the caves are supplemented by later Jain shrines and a temple at the summit, reflecting the continuity of Jain worship on the hill over many centuries after the original ascetic excavations. Some caves preserve images of the Tirthankaras and their attendant deities carved in later periods, showing how the site remained a focus of devotion long after Kharavela's age.

The setting of the twin hills, rising from the plain near the ancient city that was the heart of Kalinga, lends the caves a serene and evocative atmosphere. Walking among the cells and verandahs, the visitor is transported to the earliest era of organised Jain monasticism in the region, when ascetics withdrew to these quiet slopes to practise the discipline taught by Mahavira only a few centuries before.

The historical importance of Udayagiri and Khandagiri can hardly be overstated, for the Hathigumpha inscription and the caves together document the strength of Jainism in ancient eastern India and the royal support it enjoyed, at a time when the tradition was spreading widely across the subcontinent. The caves are protected monuments and a major attraction near Bhubaneswar.

The caves lie only a few kilometres from the centre of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, which is well connected by air, rail and road, making the site very accessible. They can be comfortably visited in a morning and combined with the many other ancient monuments of the region.

The cooler months from October to March are the most pleasant for a visit, avoiding the heat and humidity of the eastern coast. For the student of Jain history, Udayagiri and Khandagiri are essential, a place where the antiquity and vigour of the tradition in ancient India are written directly into the living rock.