SANKHU CAVE 3rd

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The translator Marpa, teacher of Milarepa, had the honour of having this -cave- chiselled from the rock. It is the most impressive man-made monolithic rock chamber at –>Sankhu must have been a five star residency with two adjacent rooms –one representing the lounge, the other the luxury suite complete with shortish bed of solid rock (note). SITUATION: About 20 m west from the southern corner of Bajrayogini temple. CAVE DESCRIPTION: An outcropping rock, split by a cleft, was shaped by masonry techniques to an elongated cube. The front of the cave, facing south-south-east, bears a large inscription of the mantra -Om Ma ni Pad me Hum.- Stock holes, previously used to take rafters belonging to a former additional construction, are still seen. The main entrance is somewhat humble sized and forces, as a remebrance to a -real- cave entrance, even a small person to stoop. It is adorned by masonry mimicking a wooden door frame. The inner flanks of the doorway are, or rather were covered with prhaps partly legible (Newari ?) inscriptions. As the hinge holes cut from the rock at the inner sides of the door proove, the door once has carried a now lost, double winged door. Nagarjuna's cave contains two rooms and is therefore sometimes referd to as the -double cave-. The two rooms are separated from each other by a solid wall of base rock elegantly leaned to a thickness of but a few centimetres. The cubic ante-chamber is void except a fist-sized hole (of ritual purpose ?) in the floor. Almost half of the inner chamber (called: Dharm-pâp = 'goodness-sin') is occupied by a massif stone bench. Two statues are put up here. Of great importance to minding people is the undecorated second entrance or rather the window/exit of the inner chamber. It is almost closed by a tightly fitting slab of (Godavari) marble punched by an upright rectangular hole (21 by 30 cm) through which only good people can squeeze. This obstacle (dwar, douar, duar, dvar) is supposed to change its size accrding to the size of the testing person. Since the slab is cracked I believe there was at least one sinner trying to proove his stubborn character. Outside the cave, on the northern corner of the monolithic rock house, are remnants of a former flight of stairs which lead to –>Sankhu Cave 4, situated a little higher and further to the back.rding to the size of the testing person. Since the slab is cracked I believe there was at least one sinner trying to proove his stubborn character. Outside the cave, on the northern corner of the monolithic rock house, are remnants of a former flight of stairs which lead to –>Sankhu Cave 4, situated a little higher and further to the back.