DHAULI, Aswastama Hill (Caves at)
20.183300,85.833300
Description
Both »natural caverns or clefts« (rift caves) and man-made rock chambers ("cave temples" used for religious purposes) are found on the hill »Aswastama« (KITTOE 1838a: 436) or »Aswastuma« (KITTOE 1838b) or simply »Dhauli hill« (KITTOE 1838a: 438 note) near the village of Dhauli / Dhowlee (note 1) above the banks of the river Dyah (note 2). SITUATION: KITTOE (1838a plate 21, opposite page 436) provides a location map of the site itself and KITTOE (1838a: 438 note) explains: »Persons wishing to visit the Aswastama should proceed as far as Surdaipoor, Nyabazar at the N.E. corner of the [famous tank] Kosala-gang on the Poree [Puri] road, and then proceed directly along the edge of the tank. There is also a direct path from Bhuwaneshwar [Bhubaneshwar, N20°14': E85°50'] to Dhauli hill.«KITTOE (1838a: 436-437): »The Aswastama [KITTOE 1838b: Aswastuma] is situated on a rocky eminence forming one of a cluster of hills, three in number, on the south bank of Dyah river, near to the village of Dhauli, and close to the north-west corner of the famous tank called Konsala-gang … The hills rise abruptly from the plains and occupy a space about five furlongs by three [about1 km by 0.6 km]; they have a singular appearance from their isolated position, no other hill being nearer than eight or ten miles. They are apparently of volcanic, and composed of upheaved breccia with quartzose rock intermixed. The northernmost hill may be about 250 feet at its highest or eastern end, on which is a ruined temple dedicated to Mahadeva [Shiva]; the other hills or rather rocks are less elevated. Below the temple on the eastern and southern declivities are several small caves [see: –>Dhauli caves] and the remains of many more; also two natural caverns or clefts in the rock [see –>Dhauli Cave 1, –>Dhauli Cave 2] … The Awastama is situated on the northern face of the southernmost rock near its summit; The rock has been hewn and polished for a space of fifteen feet long by ten in height [4.5 by 2.7 m], and the inscription [translated by PRINSEP 1838] deeply cut thereon being divided into four tablets … Immediately above the inscription is a terrace sixteen feet by fourteen [4.9 by 4.25 m] on the right side of which (as you face the inscription} is the fore half of an elephant [note 3], four feet high [1.2 m], of superior workmanship; the whole is hewn out of the solid rock … There are five caves in a row on the highest rock south of the elephant, called by some "Panch-pandav" [note 4] and by others "Panch-gosain;" beside these caves (where there are traces of many others) there are numerous small holes like mortars …« CAVE LIFE: KITTOE (1838a: 436 note "†") observed cockroaches and »… found two species of bat [Chiroptera] new to me, the one of a bright orange colour, the other black with a very long tail, like a mouse but much thinner.«
NOTE 1: »Dhowlee« (KITTOE 1838a: 436) or »Dhauli« (KITTOE 1838a: 438) is Dhauli (ANS = ancient site: a place where archeological remains, old structures, or cultural artifacts are located) at N20°11': E85°50' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) but neither shown on on AMS sheet NF45-14. NOTE 2: »Dyah« (KITTOE 1838a: 436) is suspected to correspond to the Daya River (mouth at N19°53': E85°35' nima.mil/geonames, accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet NE45-02 Cuttack (U502 series, 1959 editon) and on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 89 F3). NOTE 3: The elephant represents Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, as he exists from the massive rock which is, for him, no problem at all. As such, he is the Hindu god of crawls and squeezes, caving, caves and karst. NOTE 4: The Pandavas are five sons of king Pandu and nephews of Dhritarashtras (blind king; father of the Kauravas): Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva; the "good" in the Mahabharata, the Hindu epic focussing on the exploits of Krishna and describing the battle of Kurukshethra between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Mahabharata is thought to have been composed some time around the 1st millennium BC (before current). By about 400 BC the Mahabharata had evolved into a far more complex creation, with substantial narrative and instructive additions, of which the most important and famous is the Bhagavadgita (in short: Gita), probably dating to the 4th or 3rd century BC, where Krishna gives advise to Arjuna before a great battle). The story centers on conflict between the good Pandavas (heroic gods exiled to forest and sheltered in caves) and bad Kauravas (demons), the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra. Overseeing events is Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu), who has taken on human form. Krishna acts as charioteer for Arjuna, the Pandava's military expert for long-range missile tactics (bow and arrows), who eventually triumphs in a great battle with the Kauravas.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1838.03.11: Lieutenant Markham KITTOE (1838a: 435, 1838b: 684), requested by James Prinsep to retrace the inscription at Dhauli, left Cuttack in the evening of 10th March 1838, arrived at Dhauli in the night, explored the hill on the following day, copied the inscriptions and attempted to penetrate the cave, drew a sketch map, »procured a few specimens of the curious kind of bats occurring here« and returned to Cuttack at night time on 11th of March.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | DHAULI CAVE 1 | ||
| 0.0 | DHAULI CAVE 2 | ||
| 0.0 | DHOWLEE (Caves at) | ||
| 0.0 | PANDAVA CAVE, Dhauli | ||
| 10.6 | GANESH GUMPHA, Khandgiri - Udayagiri | ||
| 10.6 | HATHIGUMPHA, Khandgiri - Udayagiri (Chota) | ||
| 10.6 | MAUJAPURI GUMPHA, Khandgiri - Udayagiri | ||
| 10.6 | NAVAMUNI GUMPHA, Khandgiri - Udayagiri | ||
| 10.6 | PATAL GUMPHA, Khandgiri - Udayagiri |