Jain Caves of Khandagiri Udayagiri at Bhubaneswar
Khandagiri and Udayagiri are two side by side hills located at a distance of 10 Km from main Bhubaneswar railway station and 6 Km from Bhubaneswar airport. Rock cut caves excavated from these two hills are essentially dwelling retreats of the Jaina ascetics. Caves are excavated by king Kharavela and his successors in first century BC.
Entry fee for Udayagiri is Rupees five for Indians and Rupees one hundered or USA $2 for other than Indians.
There are eighteen caves in Udyagiri and fifteen caves in Khandagiri. Most of the caves consist of rows of cells having opening towards the common verandas or open space. The doorways have attractive carvings of animals, creepers and flowers. Some of the caves are double storyed. Ranigumpha, Swaragpuri-Manchapuri are double storied. Ganesh gumpha ( cave ) is another cave to visit.
In Brahmi script many inscription of Kharavela were found here.
There is a depiction of twenty four Tirthankaras along with their sasanadevis in some caves. This place is a example of early Indian art.
How to reach Khandagiri
You can take a taxi or local Auto ( three wheeler vehicle ) from any part of the Bhubaneswar to reach Khandagiri. It will take 30 to 40 minutes depending on the traffic to reach from Railway station. From Airport it will take 30 minutes.If you are travelling by road then from Southern side Khandagiri square comes before main city of Bhubaneswar on National Highway No 5.
Accommodation
It is located within Bhubaneswar so you can stay in any of the hotels in Bhubaneswar. This is covered in part of Bhubaneswar sightseeing packages. Khandagiri is also covered under one day package trip from Puri
This article is written by go2india.in team.
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