Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sarpa Gumpha, Udaygiri

Sarpa Gumpha is located on Udayagiri hill in Orissa. This is of the period Mahameghavahana Chedi dynasty during 1st century B.C.



This is on detached boulder adjacent to west of the Hatigumpha. Here there are two tiny caves, the upper one, called Sarpa Gumpha I and the bellow one is Sarpa Gumpha II hewed out of sandstone natural rock.



The caves are devoid of any sculptural friezes. The facet of the upper cave is carved with a three hooded snake. On the lintel of the entrance there is evidence of Brahmi inscription. 

29 comments:

krishna said...

Yes this area is rich with history.

George said...

Thanks for sharing this interesting ancient site. I'm glad it has been preserved.

Al said...

Fascinating - I can't imagine the work to hew that out of the sandstone with non-power tools.

http://joshidaniel.com/ said...

something different and cool :)

Thomas Lee/Lee Lip Pang said...

Wow! Caves carved out of sand stone,
looks like done during a similar period of the Plain of Jars in Laos.

Vineeta Yashsavi said...

Interesting...

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

also for religious reasons?

Jeevan said...

Interesting place!

Steffi said...

Interesting post about India,Rajesh!I wish you & your family Merry christmas!

HansHB said...

Interesting reading, great SkyWatch post!

Sylvia K said...

Such a fascinating look place! I'm sure it has a great history! Great photos for the day, Rajesh! Hope you and you family have a great weekend!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Very very old and more primitive than I am used to seeing here. Lovely in its simplicity and its history.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Brilliant!

Leovi said...

Delicious photos. This site is very interesting. Greetings.

Gerald (SK14) said...

It looks almost unscaleable

Jane said...

Great captures, interesting ruins. Thanks for sharing:)

Anonymous said...

How fascinating and lovely!

Kim, USA said...

Wow very interesting site.

Kim,USA

Mridula said...

Lovely captures.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Fascinating Rajesh! Visiting from Shadow shots. Happy Holidays!

Pia said...

Very fascinating. Oh and I fear there are also snakes inside the caves....

Unknown said...

What a place! Fantastic.

MyMaracas said...

How fascinating. Any idea why these were made?

It had to be very difficult to create these and they're almost impossible to access. And the resulting cave is very small, too small to be living quarters. It appears there were doors at one time, too. Strange, very strange.

Rajesh said...

Thank you all appreciating the ancient cave dwellings.

Maniparna said...

Nice photographs of the caves..I've visited this place too..:-)

Anonymous said...

always a great learning experience when i visit your blog.

Anita Sabat said...

Really nice Rajesh! The caves are near my home-town!

Unknown said...

interesting!

Arti said...

Wonderful. Your blog is a real treasure trove and I absolutely love visiting it! Wish you the best and here's to a marvelous 2014!