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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.