NAGARJUNA HILL CAVE 2, Raniban

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A cave tertrahedroid in shape. The symmetric triangular cave entrance is about 4 m high and 6 m broad and the triangular profile continues within the cave and gradually become smaller to finally sink into the levelled floor some 6 metres inside. Some minor stalactitic remnants (speleothems) can be seen pending from the inclined ceilings. Water is said to flow from the cave during the monsoon but I could not prove this. The cave entrance is facing south and, if there were no forest, would offer a perfect view of the Kathmandu Valley and the hill of Swayambhunath below. The cave in calcareous phyllites is of uncertain genetic origin but tectonic movement, physical weathering, gravitational decay and mechanical removal of debris played an important role in the cave's formation. SITUATION: North of Raniban village, and half way up on the south-eastern side of Nagarjun Hill (Jamacok) and on the easter flank of a gully, the cave is almost hidden in the midst of dense forest and is possibl easiest reached from the top of the hill, though the help of a knowledgeable guide is advisable. APPROACH: Walk down the embankment from the stupa on the summit [of Jamacok] onto the gravel road as if you were going to the green-roofed picnic structures below. Turn left on the road before reaching the picnic area. Walking slowly down the road, look for a small but steep trail descending to the grass covered slope (a kind of alpine steppe) and the ridge in the the very south-east. Some way down the trail abruptly drops to the left into a steep, almost subvertical forest which can be extremely slippery after a rain. A long way down the permanently descending trail abruptly contours horizontally for a few metres to reach a Y-shaped branching. The right fork, ascending but a few metres, leads to the cave and -the large (and in this quiet and remote setting, awesome) statue of Buddha (BYERS 1982: 13-14). CULTURAL HISTORY: Human influence on the cave's interior are suggested by it's leelled floor and a terrace in front of the cave, by two small walls built to the left and to the right sides of the cave entrance, by a huge, plastered and painted Buddha statue, and images of Nagarjuna and Akshobya in addition to numerous tsha-tsha. DECLEER (1991) points out that the cave is said to have been the retreat of the great Indian Buddhist philosopher Acharya (Acarya) Vasubandhu (note 1), in Tibetan: dbyig gnyen. Compare –>Vasubandhu Gufa. The sacred site is mentioned by SI-TU PAN-CHEN (1723, in: LEWIS & JAMSPAL 1988: 203), MACDONALD (1987: 105), and DOWMAN (1981: 222).elled floor and a terrace in front of the cave, by two small walls built to the left and to the right sides of the cave entrance, by a huge, plastered and painted Buddha statue, and images of Nagarjuna and Akshobya in addition to numerous tsha-tsha. DECLEER (1991) points out that the cave is said to have been the retreat of the great Indian Buddhist philosopher Acharya (Acarya) Vasubandhu (note 1), in Tibetan: dbyig gnyen. Compare –>Vasubandhu Gufa. The sacred site is mentioned by SI-TU PAN-CHEN (1723, in: LEWIS & JAMSPAL 1988: 203), MACDONALD (1987: 105), and DOWMAN (1981: 222).