Bagh Buddhist Cave- Madhya Pradesh

Address

Bagh Buddhist Caves, Bagh Cave Road, Naingaon, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh 454221 Tel: +91 78282 28507

Diety

Buddha

Introduction

The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Bagh town of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It is on the banks of a seasonal stream, Baghani. It is a tributary river of Narmada river. These Buddhist caves are at the distance of 95 km from Dhar district. Satavahanas, during the 5th and 6th centuries, dug out the Bagh Caves as nine Buddhist rock-cut sculptures. Out of the nine monuments, only five have survived and each of them is viharas, where Buddhist monks. A small chamber at the back of the monument forms the “chaitya” which means the “prayer hall”. Paintings decorate the walls and ceilings of these rock cut monasteries. These caves have a similar touch to Ajanta Caves. They have great religious importance for Buddhists and reflect the rich Indian history.

Puranic Significance

The Bagh caves, like those at Ajanta, were excavated by master craftsmen on perpendicular sandstone rock face of a hill on the far bank of a seasonal stream, the Baghani. Buddhist in inspiration, of the nine caves, only five have survived. All of them are ‘viharas’ or resting places of monks monasteries having quadrangular plan. A small chamber, usually at the back, forms the ‘chaitya’, the prayer hall. Most significant of these five extant caves is the Cave 4, commonly known as the Rang Mahal (Palace of Colors). The Bagh Caves were quarried in the 5th -6th century AD, in the very late stages of Buddhism in India, and long after most of the Indian Buddhist Caves had been built, many of them since the 2nd or 1st centuries BCE. They are control under the Archaeological Survey of India. The first cave known as Griha. It was the dwelling house of the head priest of the cave 2. There is a Shivling and Dwicharan in the cave1. In cave 2, there is a central figure which is of 3.25 m high Buddha standing above a lotus pedestal with two attending Bodhisattvas.