SITA BENGA / SITABENGA
22.933300,82.916700
Description
Not seen bibliographical references: BEGLAR (a.i. 1881?, ed. CUNNINGHAM) in: Archaeological Survey of India, Vol. 11: 41-45.BEGLAR (a.i. 1881?, ed. CUNNINGHAM) in: Archaeological Survey of India, Vol. 13: 41-45 [BURGESS 1905: 197].BEGLAR (a.i. 1881?, ed. CUNNINGHAM) in: Archaeological Survey of India, Vol. 13: 38-40 [BOYER 1904: 478-479].BLOCH (1904b) in: Archaeological Survey of India for 1903-1904, pages 123-131: Description and a reproduction of the inscription. CUNNINGHAM (a.i.): Caves in Râmnâth Hill.- Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol.1: 33, 105, plate XIII = 13 [BOYER 1904: 478]. One of the "caves" (note 1) on –>Ramgarh Pahar and consists of a relatively short natural cave passage in sandstone leading into a set-back, man-made, and only twilight-lit rock chamber with inscriptions (note 2). ETYMOLOGY: So far, i saw the name of this cave called or transcribed, spelled and edited or eventually printed as anonymous BALL, V (1873b: 245- 246; 1880 edited 1985: 327-328); DALTON (1865: 27) Sîtâ Bangira BOYER, A-M (1904: 479-484); BURGESS, J (1905) Sita Bangira Cave DEY, N L (1927 ed. 1994: 257) Sitabenga Cave BLOCH, Th (1904b)Sitabenga-Höhle BLOCH, Th (1904a: 456)Sita-mari OUSELEY, J R (1848). DEY, N L (1927 edited 1990, 1994: 169, 257) identifies the »Sitâ-Bangirâ Cave« with »Riksha-vila of the Râmâyana [Kishk. k., chs. 51, 52] at Ramgar in the Sirguja state of the Chhotâ Nâgpur division.« SITUATION: On –>Ramgarh Pahar behind the upper (south-western) end of –>Hathipol and close to the –>Jogimara cave: »Turning to the left, on passing the tunnel, you come to the face of Ramgarh hill, and in this face are excavated some wonderful caves« (OUSELEY 1848). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1865: »… two large caves have been excavated by human labour, the larger of the two, sufficient to afford accommodation for forty or fifty people. The entrance, about 30 feet wide, opens into a gallery of double that length, with recesses at the extremities, intended for more private apartments, probably for females … The floor is some fifteen feet above the ground, but is accessible by steps cut in the rock« (DALTON 1865: 27). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1873: BALL (1873b: 245- 246) gives a detailed account, provides a view of the entrance (figure 1), a cave plan (fig.2) and four perspective sections of the interior (figs. 3 and 4): »A climb over debris from the mouth of the [–>Hathipol] tunnel brings one, after an ascent of more than 100 feet, to the foot of a double flight of stairs out in the solid rock… There appears to have been originally a natural cave here --at least the outer hollow [5.2 m wide, decreasing to 3.65 m at the entrance to the inner chamber at right angles] shows overhead no sign of artificial excavation …« … dimensions and description of recesses, raised bench, inscriptions, some broken idols. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1880: NOT SEEN: a popular account (BALL 1880 edited 1985: 327-328). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1905: »Sita Bangira [is] …apparently a natural cavern, with an artificial cave-chamber behind it. It faces the north-west, and inside a wide entrance this chamber stretches 44.5 feet [13. 6 m] from the north-east to the south-west, but is only about 15 feet [4.5 m] deep at most, the back being slightly curved. It is 6 feet [1.8 m] high at the entrance, but little over 4 feet [1.2 m] at the back, the greater part of the interior being occupied by a bench 2 feet [0.6 m] high at the wall and 3.5 feet [1.1 m] wide, which runs along the back and ends of the cell, with another 2 feet [0.6 m] wide and only 2 inches [0.05 m] lower attached to the face of it and returning along the front of the walls. This leaves a floor area at most only 5 feet [1.5 m] wide, though 32 feet [9.75 m] long. In the outer approach under the natural rock arch "leading up to the entrance from the outside," says Mr. Beglar, are a series of several circular steps, and two series, one on each side, of smaller and less steep stairs« (BURGESS 1905). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1904: »Im Halbkreis, terrassenförmig übereinander, sind eine Reihe Sitze ausgehauen, die durch strahlenförmige Linien wieder abgeteilt sind, ganz nach Art eines griechischen Theaters. Von jedem dieser Plätze aus hatte man einen bequemen Überblick über eine unterhalb gelegene natürliche Plattform, die Platz genug bot, eine kleine Bühne aufzuschlagen. Natürlich is das Amphitheater nur en miniature; es mochte für 30 Zuschauer Platz haben, doch läßt sich seine Anlage nach klassischem Muster nicht verkennen. Über den Sitzen befindet sich eine viereckige Kammer, mit breiten Bänken die Wände entlang. Hier zog man sich offenbar zurück, wenn die Kälte der Winternächte den Aufenthalt im Freien unangenehm machte. Man findet noch am Eingang tiefe Löcher im Steinboden, in die man die Balken fügte, die den Vorhang hielten, durch den man die kalte Luft abschloß, und drinnen war Raum genug für eine solenne nautch-party« (BLOCH 1904a: 456). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: The cave has been interpreted, believe it or not, as »a classical greek theatre en miniature« (note 3) or straightforward as a »pleasure resort« (note 4) staging »cave actresses« in Sanskrit: lenasobhika; manuscripts vary between sobhika, saubhika, saumata, and sobhanika.
NOTE 1: Considered as a "cave" temple (man-made rock chamber used for religious purposes) by OUSELEY (1848) who reported »small stone figures … the name of the chief temple in which are four stone figures [is] Sita-mari.« DALTON (1865: 27) objected to »… having seen in the caves any of the stone figures that he [OUSELEY 1848] noticed there. […] Col. Ouseley calls these antiquities cave temples, but there is nothing now to indicate that they were intended as places of worship« but BALL (1873b: 245- 246) recorded some broken idols in addition to a raised bench and inscriptions. RAHMANN (1936), by the way, relates to a certain Sing Bonga, a non-hinduistic creator and sun god venerated in the region. NOTE 2: A facsimile of the inscription (keywords: rock art, epigraphy) is found in CUNNINGHAM (a.i. = Corpus Inscriptorum Indicarum, Vol. 1, plate XV, no. 2 (BOYER 1904: 478-479). The inscriptions are noted by BALL (1873b: 245- 246), and BURGESS (1905): »On the right jamb of the entrance is an inscription in two lines of 21 or 22 characters each, of a type of about the second century B.C.« BOYER (1904: 478-484) gives a different transcription along with a new interpretation and translates into French: »La sadha même, la boisson, la jeunesse allument le cœr… va… [de l'amie] qui demeure au loin. Hé, toi qui es devenue omniscient, d'ou peut venir, si la réalité est ainsi, le détachment?« NOTE 3: BLOCH (1904a, 1904b, 1905) believes »the place served for presenting poetical compositions before a larger public.« Though BURGESS (1905: 197-199) renders this interpretation a »somewhat extensive deduction« the IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 21: 176) notes »Sitabenga cave is believed to have been used as a hall in which plays were acted and poems recited« and SHUKLA (2002), warming up the tale, dedicates a whole book of 200 pages and 79 plates on the "Archaeology of the Indian cave theatre: a study of Ramgarh Hill, Chhattisgarh": »The student of theatre, wherever his particular interest lies, will accept that the Ramgarh hill cave theatre of Chhattisgarh State is the oldest known theatre of the world. We find in Ramgarh hill caves a richness of diversity of archaeological material (along with the cave paintings) which can scarcely be equalled in world. Compared with most other genre of theatrical literature, however, the repertoire of the cave theatre is considerably less prolific, less varied, less immediately appealing and partly for this reason the cave theatre of Ramgarh hill has been ignored both by archaeologist and theatrical historian. Historical factors produced an artificial break in interpretation of spontaneous drama in Chhattisgarh [jacket].« NOTE 4: LÜDERS (1904: 867-866 edited 1973: 443-445; 1905: 199-200) wants the caves on –>Ramgarh Hill and man-made rock chambers in general to be »Vergnügungshöhlen« or "pleasure resorts" (*) because the poet KALIDASA (4th century A.D.) mentions "darigrih" (cave houses) in the Himalaya, which were used at night by forest dwellers to make love with their friends by the light of light-emitting / self-lighting herbs (Kumarasambhava I.10: vanecharanam vanitasakhanam darigrihotsagnishaktabhasah / bhavanti yatraushadhayo rajanyam atailapurah suralapradipah). The clouds, which hang over the entrance of these cave-houses, take the place of curtains behind which the Kimpurusha women hide themselves ashamed, when their lovers have dishelled their toilets (I.14: yatramshukakshepavilajjitanam yadrichchhaya kimpurushangananam / darigrihadvaravilambibimbas tiraskarinyo jalada bhavanti). On mount »Nichairgiri« (near Vidisha) stages KALIDASA (Meghaduta 1.25) "stone houses" »… exhaling the amorous fragrance of venal women, betrays the dissipated youth of the cities (vah panyastriratiparimalodgaribhir agaranam uddamani prathayati silavesmabhir yauvanani).« LÜDERS (1905: 868) interpretes the expression "stone house" (silavesmabhir, shilaveshmabhir) as an other word for "cave house" (darigri, literally a hill's or mountain's door, gate, entrance, hole). * LÜDERS (1904: 867-868 edited 1973: 443-444, in English 1905: 199-200) took up Bloch's idea of »Vergnügungshöhlen« (literally: "pleasure caves" but translated into the English »pleasure resorts«), apparently in sweet memory of Virgil (see below) while SHUKLA (2002) dedicates the entire chapter 5 of his "Study of Ramgarh Hill" to »Caves as Pleasure Resorts.« VERGILUS MARO, Publius [70-19 BC] (31-19 BC): Aeneis, 4.160: »Speluncam Dido, dux & Trojanus eandem Deveniunt, prima & Tellus & pronuba Juno Dant signum fulfere ignes & concius aether. Connubiis summogqui ulularunt vertice Nympae …« (Aeneas, the Trojan hero, had lost his hometown, his father and friends. Every distraction is welcome and he joins Dido, the queen of Karthago, on a hunting excursion. A thunderstorm surprises them in the woods and they take shelter in a cave where they play a game circumscribed as "burning flashes and heaven" while nymphs ululate on the crest of the mountains).
Documents
Bibliography 31/05/2016- Archaeological Survey of India 1881 (?, n° 11, edited by Cunningham, Alexander), 1881 (?, n° 13, edited by Cunningham, Alexander), 1904 (for 1903-1904; edited by Marshall, John H ); Ball, Valentine 1873b, 1880 edited 1980, 1985; Beglar (a.i., circa 1881; Bloch, Th. 1904a, 1904b, 1905; Boyer, A -M 1904; Burgess, James 1905; Dalton, Edward Taite 1865; Dev, Nundo Lal 1927, 1990, 1994; Imperial Gazetteer 1907-1909; Lüders, Heinrich 1904 edited 1973, 1905; Ouseley, J R 1848; Shukla, H L 2002.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1847.11.06: OUSELY, J R (1848) visited. 1863: DALTON, Edward Taite (1865: 24) visited. 1872.03.24: BALL, Valentine (1873b: 243; 1880 edited 1985: 328-329) visited and surveyed in the evening. 1904, March? or April?: BLOCH, Th (1904a: 455; 1904b, 1905) visited to study, copy, and translate the inscriptions.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | HATHIPOL, Sarguja | ||
| 0.0 | JOGIMARA | ||
| 0.0 | HATHIPOL ROCK CHAMBER | ||
| 0.0 | LAKSHMAN BANGALA | ||
| 4.9 | TURA PANI (Cave at) | ||
| 4.9 | MUNI GOFAR | ||
| 35.4 | MAHADANI DEO, Marcha Hill (Cave of) | ||
| 50.0 | KHARGAWAN (Cave near) | ||
| 72.5 | KHURIA RANI (Felsenhöhle der) |