LOMAS RISHI KUBHA
24.583300,85.000000
Description
The Lomas Rishi (note 1) is a man-made 'cave' temple (rock-cut chamber used for religious purposes) or »cave building / polished rock-cut structure [note 2]« with inscriptions (note 3) and an unusual entrance (note 4) excavated from the southern flank of Barabar range is situated a few steps east of –>Sudama cave. ETYMOLOGY: »Rishi -- Any poet, philosopher, saint or sage; originally a sage whom the hymns of the Vedas were revealed« (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 1146; 2005: 1111).DESCRIPTION: A trapezoid entrance surrounded by a tympanon of carefully designed carving, gives access to the long side of a vaulted rectangular chamber (6.5 m wide and 11 m long) with polished walls and an ellipsoid antechamber. DESCRIPTION 1847: XXX? (KITTOE, M 1847a: 408-409, plate VIII, figure 6: " XXX " plan and section). DESCRIPTION 1907: The outer apartment is 30 feet long, the doorway surrounded by carving (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 2: 161-162). DESCRIPTION 1926 -- Not seen: BANERJI, A S (1926): The Lomasa Rsi cave facade.- DESCRIPTION 1937: »Lomasarisi« is similar to –>Nyagrodha but unfinished. The side walls of the outer chamber are dressed and polished but the inside of the inner chamber is very rough. The entrance is finished and is no doubt the earliest example of the rock-cut caitya hall (LAW, B C 1937 edited 1974: 196). DESCRIPTION 1968: »… Lomas Rishi cave … is an oblong vaulted hall entered by a pseudo-timber doorway of Indian pattern carved and sculptured with great precision and detail« (WHEELER 1968a, 1968b edited 1979: 134). DESCRIPTION 1974: »The decorated entrance to the Lomas Rishi cave is remarkable for its imitation in stone-work of purely wooden forms« (KNOX 1974: 155). DESCRIPTION 1991: Lomas Rishi is similar to –>Sudama Cave. On the inclined vault of the doorway are two 3rd/4th century A.D. inscriptions praising the fame of king Shardula Varma and his son Ananta Varma (STRASSER, R 1991: 192-193, photo 177, illustration 37). DESCRIPTION 2002: »The facade of the Lomas Rishi cave, which is sculpted to resemble lattice screens, is the first available example of famous Buddhist Chaitya arch style in India« (travel.indiamart.com/bihar/caves/barabar-caves.htm… accessed 21.05.2002).
NOTE 1: Called, spelled, edited or printed as Lomas Rishi (FERGUSSON, J 1846: 39; AUBOYER, J 1972; STRASSER, R 1991: 192-193); Lomasa Rsi (BANERJI, A S 1926); Lomasarishi (LAW, B C 1937 edited 1974: 196); [Grot of the] Seven Rishis (WILKINS 1799, 5th edition 1807: 167-168). NOTE 2: WHEELER (1968a, 1968b edited 1979: 134-135) points out that the »Barabar cave buildings« are the earliest rock-cut »structures« of India: »Their generic prototypes are to be recognised in the tombs which, in the likeness of pillared halls, had been cut into the cliffs of Media and Persia from the seventh century BC or earlier.« NOTE 3: WILKINS (1799, 5th edition 1807: 167-168) gives a translation of the Sanskit inscriptions praising king Sardoola and his son Ananta Varma from »a cavern called Grot of the Seven Rishis.« STRASSER, R (1991: 192-193, photo 177, illustration 37). "Lomas Rishi" is similar to –>Sudama Cave. On the inclined vault of the doorway are two 3rd/4th century A.D. inscriptions praising the fame of king Shardula Varma and his son Ananta Varma. NOTE 4: KITTOE (1847: 409) reproduced in BUCHANAN (a.i.) gives a woodcut of the singular archway and frieze carved out of the solid rock over and about the unsual shaped door. STONE (1967, ill. 29) gives two photographs of the entrance.
Documents
Bibliography 08/04/2016- Auboyer, Jeannine 1972; Banerji, A Sastri 1926; Kittoe, Markham 1847a; Knox, William 1974; Law, Bimala Churn 1937 edited 1976,; Makhi, Akhter Shahid & Parveen, Shaheen 1999; Ousely, William 1825; Stone, Wilfred 1966, 1967; Strasser, Robert 1991; Wheeler, Robert Eric "Sir" Mortimer 1968a, 1968b, 1979; Wilkins, Charles 1799, 5th edition 1807.
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | GOPI KUBHA | ||
| 0.0 | KARAN CHAUPAR KUBHA | ||
| 0.0 | PATALA GANGA, Barabar: Nagarjuni | ||
| 0.0 | SUDAMA KUBHA | ||
| 0.0 | VADATHIKA KUBHA | ||
| 0.0 | VAHIJAKA KUBHA | ||
| 11.6 | YONI DVARA, Gaya | ||
| 13.1 | JAYACHCHANDRA CAVE | ||
| 17.4 | PRAGBODHI CAVE, Kiryama: Dhongra Pahar |