LAI has not yet conducted expeditions to India. This is due to the fact that there are many objects, even too many, and they represent a jumble of strata of different eras and cultures. It is very difficult to isolate the most ancient layers from there. Preliminary painstaking and thorough work is required to study historical and archaeological materials, mythology, etc. for each object potentially interesting from the LAI point of view.
One of the possible places to search for traces of an ancient highly developed civilization in technical terms are the man-made caves of Barabar.
Traditionally, 4 caves on the Barabar hill and 3 caves on the Nagarjuni hill are referred to the complex of caves called “Barabar Caves”.
The Son Bhandar Caves in Rajgir are about the same type of man-made caves.
All of these caves are located in the state of Bihar in India.
Fergusson J., Burgess J. * The cave temples of India *, 1880.
The earliest detailed descriptions of the Barabar and Nagarjuni caves were made by Alexander Cunningham. Alexander Cunningham was a British Indologist, head of the Archaeological Survey of India, who studied Indian antiquities during 1862-65. The results of his research were published in the collection of reports "Archaeological survey of India" in 1871.
Cunningham A. * Archeological survey of India. Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65 *. Volume 1, 1871.
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Cunningham A. * Archeological survey of India. Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65 *. Volume 1, 1871.
Some more information about the caves is contained in the writings of James Beglar and James Fergusson.
J. Beglar - engineer, assistant to A. Cunningham, made his own trip to the provinces of Bengal and described it in his 1878 report.
Beglar JD “Report of a tour through the Bengal provinces”, 1878 - Report of a tour through the Bengal provinces
A fairly detailed description of the caves was made by James Fergusson - an English architect and archaeologist, the author of several books on the history of architecture, including Indian. In 1880, his book "The Cave Temples of India" was published.
Fergusson J. “Handbook of architecture”, 1859
Fergusson J., Burgess J. “The cave temples of India”, 1880 (Cave temples of India)
Fergusson J., Burgess J. “History of Indian and eastern architecture”, 1910
At the time of Cunningham's visit to the caves, this place was called Sat-ghara, or "seven houses", i.e. the caves of the Barabar hill and the caves of the Nagarjuni hill were combined into a single complex. The caves date back to the era of the Mauryan Empire (322-185 BC). The dating has been established on the basis of inscriptions carved on the walls of the caves on behalf of Ashoka and his grandson Dasharatha.
The inscriptions on the walls of the caves tell about the fact that the caves were donated to the Ajivik sect. Little is known about them, tk. the original Ajivik texts have not survived, and all available information has been drawn from Buddhist and Jain sources.
The caves were exploited almost throughout their history by representatives of various religious movements. At different times, the caves were used by Buddhists, Brahminists, and Muslims. In the process of passing the caves "from hand to hand" they lost their original names, so the current names are rather arbitrary.
Barabar Caves
The Barabar Caves are located about 40 km north-east of Gaya. The Barabar Hills are rocky formations in the form of a heap of huge boulders. They write that their constituent rock is gneiss, a metamorphic rock akin to granite. Three of the four caves are carved into one rock, oriented from west to east.
During the time of Cunningham, annual large fairs were held here, which attracted thousands of pilgrims. Sheds, temporary premises were erected for them, and, as a result, a huge heap of garbage was collected. According to Cunningham's testimony, Karan Chaupar Cave was 3 feet covered in debris, pottery, bricks, etc. Also, about a meter in the cave was flooded with water. Subsequently, the British dug a trench to drain water; during the work, fragments of stone columns were found. Apparently earlier there were some structures attached to the caves.
Barabar.
Karan Chaupar Cave is located on the north side of the cliff. Dates back to about 244 BC. The inscription on the wall of the entrance says that it was bestowed on the Ajivik sect in the 19 year of the reign of Ashoka. The cave is a rectangular room 10.2 m long, 4.2 m wide, 3.2 m high. The height of the wall from the floor is 1.4 m, and the height of the vault is 1.8 m. The entrance is shifted from the center to the right and has a trapezoidal shape. Near the right wall there is a small platform measuring 2.2x0.7x0.3 m. Cunningham believed that it was a pedestal for the statue, but given its length, it could well serve as a bed of some hermit.
Scheme of Karan Chaupar.
On the walls here and there are visible inclusions of diorite, which is cut and polished flush with the base rock. The walls rise perpendicular to the floor, then there is a curb, above which an arched vault is made. Macro shots of the curb show traces of a high-tech tool. The walls of the cave are polished. The polishing is done very carefully and with great skill. If you look at the entrance from the depths of the cave, you can appreciate the quality of the polish. It is very dark in the cave as there is only one light source - the entrance, and in the polished walls of the portal, the surrounding landscape is seen as in a mirror.
An inscription is carved on the right side of the portal, and the inscription is made, over the polish. The letters are not polished. The inscription could well have been made much later than the construction of the cave.
There are two caves on the southern side of the cliff.
Western - Sudama. It is dated by the inscription of Ashoka, which says that the cave was donated in the 12th year of his reign, around 261 BC. Unlike the first cave, Sudama is divided into two parts: a rectangular chamber and a round room. The chamber is 10 m long, 5.8 m wide, and 3.6 m high. The diameter of the round room is 5.8 m.
Sudama, diagram. Fergusson J., Burgess J. * History of Indian and eastern architecture *, 1910.
The entrance is trapezoidal, shifted to the right from the center. The cave is fully completed. Walls, floors and ceilings are polished with great skill. A small irregularly shaped oval depression is punched out in the right end of the chamber, apparently the result of a late intervention. From the left end, the cave has the shape of a semicircle with a dome, in the middle there is a trapezoidal entrance to the round room. Official historians claim that the circular room is made in the form of a thatched hut, in which the first Buddhists held their meetings. And thus, the prototype of the hut was embodied in stone. I would not like to call this room "resonator", because there is still no direct evidence of its use as a resonator. The surfaces of this room are also polished. On closer examination, at the junction of the chamber walls and the circular room, we observe a masterfully executed internal triangular angle, and the surfaces converge not at a right, but at an acute angle.
Sudama. Internal corner.
The third cave of the Barabar group is Lomas Rishi. The only one that has a carved entrance. It dates back to a rather long time interval - from 450 to 300 BC. There is no dedication inscription of Ashoka or his successor, but it is assumed that it was destroyed during the design of the architrave. There is an inscription above the entrance, but it dates back to 3-4 centuries AD. Since Lomas Rishi completely repeats the layout of Sudama, it is assumed that such an inscription existed and both caves were cut down according to a single plan, with the only difference that Lomas Rishi was never completed. Length 10 m, width 5.2 m, due to imperfections, the round room looks like an ellipse measuring 5.2x4.2 m.
Processing was carried out from the outer wall through the top to the opposite one. The finished surfaces have been polished, i.e. technological stages of processing were carried out in parallel. The floors are also roughly cut.
Fergusson J. * Handbook of architecture *, 1859.
Lomas Rishi.
Fergusson J., Burgess J. * The cave temples of India *, 1880.
Lomas Rishi is valuable in that you can clearly see the stages of surface treatment. And along with visible manual processing, traces of processing by high-tech tools are visible. The parallel grooves on the floor are reminiscent of the traces of a machine when removing old asphalt. When machining manually, it makes no sense to keep the tool running parallel. This can be seen especially clearly near the semicircular wall.
The last cave from the drum group is Vishwajopri (Vishva's Hut).
Viswajopri.
It is located half a kilometer east of Karan Chaupar. The cave is not cut down, or rather a little started. Although the entrance is fully decorated and polished. Unlike the rest of the caves, it has a wide and deep portal. Dimensions of the portal: length - 4.26 m, width - 2.54 m. Round chamber with a diameter of 3.35 m. Dated from the 12th year of the reign of Ashoka (261 BC), as evidenced by the inscription on the right portal wall.
It would be interesting to study the surface at the junction of technologies between the polished portal and the roughly machined chamber, in order to test the hypothesis of polishing as a consequence of the tool.
Nagarjuni Caves
The Nagarjuni Caves are located on the hills of the same name, one and a half kilometers east of the Barabar Caves. Also dated to the Mauryan era.
Nagarjuni.
The first cave of the Nagarjuni group is Gopi-ka-Kubha, the largest of the seven caves.
Gopi-ka-Kubha.
Its length is 14 m, width 5.2 m, height 3.2 m. It is dated by the Dasharathi inscription in 214 BC. Completely finished. The end walls are rounded. At the time of Cunningham's visit, there were ruins of brick walls and wooden structures at its entrance, left after its use by Muslims. Major Kittock visited the cave in 1817, but it was no longer used by anyone. Inside, a small brick platform was piled up near one of the ends, which is currently missing.
Two more caves are located on the opposite northern side of the hill and are located in close proximity to each other.
Vadithi-ka-Kubha is located in the depths of the crevice. There are four holes on the floor and ceiling of the entrance, probably for fastening a door.
Vadithi-ka-Kubha.
In the 19th century, the cave was divided into 2 parts by a rough brick wall with a very small entrance, into which only a tray of food could be pushed, apparently to transfer food to some ascetic. On the right wall of the entrance is the inscription of Ashoka. The name of the cave is translated as “the cave of the lonely beggars”. The cave is small, 4.97 m long, 1.3 m wide. In contrast to the previously described caves, the entrance is located at the end of the chamber, the opposite end is rounded. Fully polished.
Vadithi-ka-Kubha.
Vadithi-ka-Kubha.
Vadithi-ka-Kubha.
Vapiya-ka-kubha or “Well Cave”, is located next to the Vadithi cave. Not far from it is a small village well. Dates back to 214 BC. The chamber is 5 m long, 3.4 m wide, 3.2 m high. The trapezoidal entrance is also located at the end, the opposite end, unlike Vadithi, is straight. Perfectly polished.
Vapiya-ka-kubha.
Vapiya-ka-kubha.
Vapiya-ka-kubha.
Around these two caves, Cunningham discovered a large amount of fragments of granite columns and square stones. In his opinion, based on the stories of local residents, there was a Buddhist monastery here, destroyed by numerous “owners”. The buildings were located not only around the caves, but also above them. In one of the periods, a Muslim cemetery was located next to the caves.
Dream Bhandar Caves
The Son Bhandar Caves are located in the northwest of Bihar, near the town of Rajgir.
There are two caves located next to each other. Created according to the same plan as the "drum".
Schlagintweit E. * Indien in wort und bild *, 1880.
Fergusson J., Burgess J. * History of Indian and eastern architecture *, 1910.
Fergusson J., Burgess J. * The cave temples of India *, 1880.
The western cave has been preserved intact. Chamber length 10.4 m, width 5.2 m, total height 3.5 m, vault 1.5 m. The vault is slightly pointed. There is a legend about this cave about countless treasures hidden behind a painted door on the cave wall. The British, trying to get to the treasure with a cannon, broke through the front wall of the chamber, after which the cave acquired a window. The façade has a row of square holes. These are traces from the construction of sheds during meetings of Buddhist monks. The inner space of the cave is limited and, to expand it, wooden sheds were built to accommodate a large number of monks.
The eastern cave is partially destroyed in the front part, and for a long time. By the time it was described in the 19th century, it had already been destroyed. Small bas-reliefs have been preserved on one of the walls.
The rock, in which the caves were cut, has a layered structure. The surfaces of the chambers and outer walls are heavily eroded.
In general, the caves were clearly cut down according to the project of the Barabar caves, but at an incomparably lower level of technology.
Sita Markhi cave
This cave was discovered by James Beglar while traveling through the Bengal provinces 14 miles south of Rajgir and 24 miles east of Gaya, about a mile west of the village of Rasulpur. Alexander Cunningham does not mention her in his report, since his route passed away from this area. Beglar describes a cave carved into an isolated granite boulder. In plan it is similar to Wapiyya-ka-Kubhu, but in section it is a pointed arch without perpendicular sides. The inside of the chamber is polished, except for the far end wall, on which the polish is peeling. The cave was inhabited, there were several sculptures of Hindu gods and a couple of “arrogant and fat” brahmans performing rituals. However, Beglar managed to measure the cave. Chamber length 4.8 m, width 3.4 m, height 2 m. The entrance is trapezoidal with a side ratio of 3 to 4 (entrance height is 4 feet 4 inches, width at the base is 2 feet 1 inch, and width at the top is 1 foot 1 inch).
Beglar JD * Report of a tour through the Bengal provinces *, 1878.
Fergusson J., Burgess J. * History of Indian and eastern architecture *, 1910.
According to J. Fergusson, the Sita Markhi cave is the oldest cave of this type.
Currently, this cave is not mentioned anywhere and its exact location is unknown. A railway was built not far from this place, and maybe a granite boulder was used in its construction or a Hindu temple was built around the cave and it is not visible visually. The red circle on the map indicates the area of the approximate location of the cave.
Kondivte cave
There is another similar cave.
Cave No. 9 in the Kondivte or Mahakali cave monastery located on the Salset Island near Mumbai. The monastery caves have been cut out in the basalt strata.
By analogy with the Barabar cave No. 9, it also has a rectangular hall and a round room, decorated from the outside like a thatched hut. Lattice windows are carved into the walls of the circular room, the entrance is rectangular. There is a stone stupa inside the chamber. The ceiling of the rectangular hall is straight. The entrance to the cave is marked by several columns.
Chamber length 7.6 m, width 5.3 m, height 2.7 m. The height of the round room is 4.2 m, the height of the stupa is 2.3 m.
Fergusson J., Burgess J. * History of Indian fnd eastern architecture *, 1910.
There is no question of any machine processing. Everything is pretty roughly gouged. On the wall of the hall there is a low-quality bas-relief.
This monastery is considered the earliest known Buddhist monastery and dates back to the period of 100 BC. - 600 AD Despite the fact that the “drum” caves are more than one hundred years older, the Kondivte cave is cited as a prototype for the Bihar caves.
There is a simple copying without preserving the meaning of the true purpose.
The first thing that catches your eye when looking at the "drum" caves is the trapezoidal entrance. Just a direct analogy with structures in Peru.
Trapezoidal entrance: Barabar (left) and Peru (right).
The second feature is the amazing polishing quality.
It is not clear what culture or civilization has achieved such success in the technology of processing hard rocks. The caves are located in a rather “remote corner”; no traces of particularly outstanding, in technical terms, cultures have been found in this area.
There are several assumptions about the possible use of the "drum" caves:
But, nevertheless, the very arched form of the vault, the perfectly polished walls suggest the use of sound waves. Maybe for meditation, we don't know the true purpose, at least not yet. But the use of sound, sound technology is obvious.
Interestingly, for all its similarity, each cave is slightly different from the rest. The ends are semicircular or straight, the height and width vary, the presence of additional rooms. A natural thought arises that each of the caves is tuned to a certain wavelength range, which they can, for example, re-emit if you put an amplifier or focus at a certain point, i.e. from the entire spectrum of radiation that comes from underground, each cave is tuned to its own wave.
The arched shape itself is associated with a bell. The bell is known to focus sound. Applying the well-known law “the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection”, you can actually determine the point where the sound wave is focused. Knowing the linear dimensions of the camera and by drawing the “rays”, one can simulate the situation and find out the location of the “sensors”.
For example, if you put the emitter at the bottom perpendicular to the floor, then a standing wave is formed in the center of the arc, the so-called "sound bundle". With sufficient tension, the effect of levitation of small objects along the "harness" can occur. This is from the realm of fantasy on the topic, but this likelihood must be taken into account.
The arched shape also resembles a tuning fork, only inverted. For the tuning fork to sound, it must be placed on a resonating surface. In our case, there should have been some kind of resonator above the caves. But Cunningham claimed that some rooms were built over the caves, mainly of wood and stone.
Also, the arched shape of the vault is used when using ultrasound. But, here it is necessary to ensure the maximum reflectivity of the surfaces, in other words, to polish them to a mirror finish.
There is something in common between the "drum" caves and the pyramids on the Giza plateau. Not in terms of form, but in terms of uniqueness. There are no such caves anymore, not only in India, but all over the world. Both those and other objects are absolutely unique in their kind. They have a clearly technical purpose, incomprehensible to modern people. Concentrated in a limited area. Despite the obvious similarity in the manufacturing technology, there are no absolutely identical caves or pyramids (the sizes are different, the internal structure is different). The effort expended in building pyramids or decorating caves does not match the level of their primitive use as burial sites or ritual dispatch. Only one suggestion comes to mind - that we see the details of some unique experiment with an unknown result, and in one case, and in another case.
Acknowledgments for help in preparing materials: Victoria Golubtsova, Tatiana Ustyantseva, Viktor Shpakovsky.
Author: NATALIA NOSOVA