Monday, December 1, 2014

Alakapuri Gumpha, Udaygiri

Alkapuri Gumpha located on Udayagiri hill of Orissa belongs to 1st century B.C. It was built by Emperor Kharavela. It is a two storeyed cave, the lower cells are badly damaged and while the upper cells can be approached by a flight of steps. The major portion of the pillars of the benched veranda is of modern construction.



The cave is devoid of sculptural friezes except the pillar and pilaster. The pillars are based over a three stepped pedestal and square at the base and at the top and octagonal at the center. 



The existing bracket of the pillar in the interior side is designed with lion, a royal elephant flanked by two other elephant one holding umbrella and the other a fly whisk. The central pillar is designed with a enigmatic winged animal.



The pilaster on the left side of the cave is relived with a scene of a male holding a female in his one hand and a elephant tusk in other hand.

28 comments:

Linda said...

Must be a fascinating place to visit!

Jeevan said...

Though the exterior look pathetic, amazing how it withstands. Nice carving

toby said...

Wow, that's really cool!

Donna said...

I enjoy seeing historical sites like this that are especially old....

Photo Cache said...

how often do the govt conduct renovations on these historic temples and structures?

Worth a Thousand Words

Carver said...

I like the relief art on the stone very much.

carol l mckenna said...

Beautiful building photos!

Happy Week to you,
artmusedog and carol
a creative harbor

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

What unusual animal friezes are on that pillar!

Anonymous said...

How very lovely!

Dina said...

So marvelous, the doors and windows people once made from stone!

Al said...

The age of this is astounding to me. Wonderful!

Anita Sabat said...

Wonderful that you shared the rich heritage of Odisha, India, Rajesh :)

Roger Owen Green said...

simpler than some of the structures you've shared, but still interesting.

ROG, ABCW

Uma Anandane said...

Lovely architecture and informative post!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

Thank you for sharing, this is so interesting. I like that you gave us lots of information.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Your part of the world has so much to offer, images we rarely see and beautiful too.

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

It is amazing how this art work survived over so many years. Very interesting post!

Su-sieee! Mac said...

People carved this beautiful structure out of a cave? Wow!

Reader Wil said...

Amazing that people in the past created such beautiful decorations for this building.
Have a great week!
Wil, ABCW Team.

R Niranjan Das said...

Nice carvings!

Hildred said...

Wonderful historic structure - thanks for sharing it.

Joy said...

The outside looks as though it could collapse at any moment, amazing its still standing and people can enjoy the carvings inside.

MeenalSonal said...

Amazing place...thanks for sharing Rajesh.

Ramakrishnan said...

Beautiful cave sculptures !

Yogi Saraswat said...



Wow, that's really cool!

Unknown said...

I am so glad that your blog site is documenting ancient Indian history for the walls, the stones, the pillars and carvings....all speak!

Unknown said...

A structure from the 1st century BC... wondering what the structure might have been used for.

Unknown said...

beautiful :-)