Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

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Ancient · Jain · India

Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves

Bhubaneswar, Odisha · 20.2628°, 85.7860°

Jain TirthankarasKharavela
Sacred since
200 BCE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
2nd–1st c. BCE (Kharavela)
Kharavela

History & significance

Two facing sandstone ridges honeycombed with 33 part-natural, part-cut cells that housed Jain ascetics from the 2nd–1st century BCE, most of them excavated under King Kharavela. Udayagiri's Hathigumpha carries the long inscription that is the principal record of Kharavela's reign, and the Khandagiri caves were later reworked in the 11th century under the Somavamshis.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Kharavela