Odisha Part 11: Discovering the Jaina Heritage of Odisha at the caves of Udaygiri and Khandgiri

Anuradha Shankar
Feb 12
7 min read

The Hindu and Buddhist history of Odisha, or rather, ancient Kalinga, is rather well known to everyone. Who hasn’t heard of the grand temples of Odisha – Puri, Lingaraj and Konark, or the great war of Kalinga which inspired Ashoka to convert to Buddhism? In contrast, very few know of the Jaina heritage of this region. This is quite a pity, since, just around 7 km from the city, is one of India’s most ancient inscriptions, which throws light on the Jaina heritage of Odisha. This inscription is the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela, in the hills of Udaygiri.

Udaygiri and Khandgiri are two hills located opposite each other, and both are testaments to the rich Jaina heritage of Odisha. The caves at Udaygiri are older, while Khandgiri is relatively newer, but has lasted much longer, and continues to be a place of pilgrimage for Jains even today. These hills, from inscriptions and excavations of caves, shrines and rock beds, appear to have been a haven for Jaina monks, right from the 2^nd century BCE.

The famous Hathigumpha inscription, written in Prakrit and incised in the Brahmi script, starts off with salutations to the arhats (Jinas), and Siddhas, and goes on to laud Kharavela, the ruler who belongs to the Chedi dynasty (remember Shishupala from the Mahabharata? He was from the same dynasty, and his capital, Shishupalgarh is located not too far away). The inscription has been dated to around the 1^st century BCE, and at the time, Kharavela had already ruled Kalinga for 15 years. The inscription also tells us that he had spent the first 24 years of his life on education and sports, and crowned the Yuvaraja at 16, before ascending to the throne at the age of 25. He must have been almost 40 at the time of the inscription, and he had already made a name for himself by then. The inscription talks about his exploits in various fields, from wars to building projects and philanthropy. It also describes his victory over Magadha, and bringing back an idol of a Jina taken away by king Nanda. While this clearly identifies him as a Jaina, he seems to have patronized other religions as well, supporting them and repairing temples to various deities.

Further inscriptions, in the same cave, as well as other caves, narrate the greatness of his descendants, and the Udaygiri cave complex seems to have been active till around the 11^th century, at which time, the place lost its prominence. Khandgiri however, continued to thrive, and the caves there show evidence of later presence as well. Right on top of Khandgiri is a newly built Jain temple, attracting pilgrims even today. Thus, between the two groups of caves on the twin hills, there has been a continuous presence of Jains here since the 2^nd century BCE – a period of more than two millennia.

Jain temple seen from Udaygiri — *The new Jain temple at Khandgiri, seen from Udaygiri*

The caves at Udaygiri seem to be primarily meant for monks to stay in. There are a few natural caves, but most have been carved out of solid rock, and most caves have a row of cells, meant for monks to live in. Most of these caves are essentially dormitories.

It is very interesting to note that across Udaygiri, there are hardly any Jaina images. There are a few, which appear to be relatively later, probably added at some point in time. Most of the carvings seen today are of processions, or scenes from nature or daily life, not particularly religious art. There might have been movable images of Jinas inside, or probably these were the early monks who did not need images to inspire them, focusing instead on meditation and asceticism. Some of the art seen here is exceptional, so lets just walk through some of the caves and see what they have to show us….

Udaygiri Cave no 1 outside carvings — *Carvings on the entry to Cave No. 1 - filled with depictions of nature - trees, plants, ripe fruits, along with guardian figures.*

Udaygiri Cave no 1 carvings showing women — *Carvings in Rani Gumpha - Cave No 1. This one seems to show a number of women. I am not quite clear on what it depicts though*

Udaygiri Cave 1 Rani Gumpha Royal Scene — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha... a Royal scene*

Udaygiri Cave 1 Rani Gumpha Royal couple offering prayers — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha - a Royal couple offering prayers*

Udaygiri Cave no 1 Rani Gumpha Royal procession with horses — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha - a Royal procession with horses*

Udaygiri Cave no 1 Rani Gumpha hunting scene — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha - A hunting scene*

Udaygiri Cave no 1 Rani Gumpha Battle scene — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha - battle scene*

Udaygiri Cave 1 Rani Gumpha unknown scene — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha - I have no idea what this depicts, but probably might be an episode from the life of a Tirthankar?*

Udaygiri Cave 1 Rani Gumpha divine being making an offering — *Cave 1, Rani Gumpha - a divine being making an offering*

Ganesha in Ganesha Gumpha Cave 10 Udaygiri — *Ganesha in Ganesha Gumpha, Cave 10. From the style of the carving, I would think the Ganesha was carved in at a later date.*

Ganesha Gumpha Cave 10 Udaygiri Scene from Swapna Vasavadatta — Ganesha Gumpha , Cave 10 - this scene is believed to depict the elopement of Princess Vasavadatta of Ujjayini and King Udayana of Kausambi, whose life was immortalized in the play, Swapna Vasavadattam by Bhasa

*Ganesha Gumpha, Cave 10, a continuation of the story of Vasavadatta and Udayana*

*Elephant statue outside Ganesha Gumpha, Cave 10*

*Bagha, or Tiger Cave, Cave 12, . you have to admire the enthusiasm of artisans to carve out rock in the shape of a tiger, and then place a cave within its mouth!*

*Manchapuri cave, Cave 9 - this is believed to depict the worship of the Jina statue brought back by Kharavela from Mathura*

*A pair of mythical beings, with the face of a tiger and wings, Cave 8, Patalapuri Gumpha*

*Jaya Vijaya Gumpha, Cave 5 - a scene depicting worship of a tree. This particular carving reminds me of the carvings from Bharhut, now in the Indian Museum, Kolkata*

Cave 5, Jaya Vijaya Gumpha, pair of mythical creatures — *Cave 5, Jaya Vijaya Gumpha, Another pair of mythical creatures, these with longer faces, somewhat like horses, with wings*

Man and elephant, Jaya Vijaya Gumpha, Cave 5

Cave 5, Jaya Vijaya Gumpha. pair of elephants holding an umbrella — *Cave 5, Jaya Vijaya Gumpha; A pair of elephants holding an umbrella and a flywhisk over another, larger elephant.*

*Chota Hathi Gumpha, Cave 3 - a procession of elephants*

Interestingly, right at the summit of Udaygiri, we can see remnants of an apsidal shrine, probably built at some later date. We know little about this shrine, but I would have vastly preferred it to the recently built shrine atop Khandgiri.

Khandgiri, on the other hand, is extremely different. To begin with, it has all the attributes of a pilgrim place, which means it is dirty and messy. A number of the caves are being used as shrines, which means the gorgeous carvings are covered up. There are a lot more people here as well, but none of them have the time or the inclination to see the art, they are here to worship, unlike Udaygiri, which attracts tourists, picknickers and couples looking for a getaway as well. Thus, the two sites, though just opposite each other, are as different as night and day.

It is at Khandgiri that we can see Jaina art – images of Jinas, Tirthankars, and Shasanadevis and devatas. The Shasanadevis and devatas especially have close links to Hindu deities, and thus, are worshipped by Jains and Hindus alike.

a row of Tirthankars, khandagiri — *a row of Tirthankars*

I only visited a few caves in Khandgiri, first, because I was dead tired by then, and second, I much preferred the ASI maintained caves on the other side of the road. Here is what I did see….

*Tirthankars with Shasanadevis and Ganesha*

Tirthankars with their Shasanadevis, khandagiri — *Tirthankars with their Shasanadevis*

A row of Tirthankars with Shasanadevis below them, khandagiri — *A row of Tirthankars with Shasanadevis below them*

On my first visit to these caves, I walked and walked till I could walk no more. Most of the photos in this post are from that trip. This time, I visited these caves only because Samhith wanted to, and so, I rested at Hathigumpha, in the shade, while he went around exploring. While I sat, a woman came and sat next to me, and began a conversation. Her husband, it appears, was an IAS aspirant, and he was here to try and read the Hathigumpha inscription. She, of course, didn’t know the name of the inscription, or what an inscription was. She was just astounded that someone would want to read something scratched on the wall of a cave. Normally, I am no good at interacting with complete strangers, but this time, I was bored, one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was telling her about the inscription and the caves. She listened, an expression of surprise on her face, and, when Samhith returned and I got up to leave, she thanked me, and told me that she appreciated why her husband had dragged her here. The conversation I had with her brought up a lot of thoughts, from why someone visited these caves, to the kind of things that husband and wives talk about. But, as I wrote this post, it was that unnamed woman whom I remembered, and her genuine astonishment at a bit of history that she had learnt about.

It also emphasized my belief that no visitor to any ancient site should be left alone to wander on their own, but instead, be accompanied by a guide, who can make them aware of the rich heritage they are witnessing. On my first visit, I had taken a guide along with me. On my second visit, I learnt that the entire site had just one guide, and he was busy with another group. Surely a site of this importance deserves more guides? No wonder these caves are filled with graffiti in the form of names scratched all over the place.

Other posts on Odisha -