Ancient · Buddhist · India

Barabar Caves

बराबर गुफाएँ

Barabar Hills, Jehanabad, Bihar · 25.0050°, 85.0630°

Dedicated by Ashoka and his grandson Dasaratha Maurya to the Ajivika asceticsMauryaRock-cut granite with Mauryan polish; the Lomas Rishi facade carries the earliest surviving chaitya arch

Sacred since

258 BCE

first attestation / structure

Standing structure

c. 258-230 BCE (Maurya)

Maurya

History & significance

The oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, hewn out of granite under the Mauryas and inscribed by Ashoka, who gave the Sudama and Visvakarma caves in the twelfth year of his reign, and by Dasaratha, who gave the Nagarjuni group on his accession. Their mirror-polished surfaces and chaitya-arch facade shaped Indian rock-cut architecture for centuries afterwards.

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