Vidisha Udaygiri Caves
UDAYGIRI CAVES : 13 km from Sanchi and 4 km from Vidisha are a group of rock-cut cave sanctuaries carved into a sandstone hill that stands sentinel-like on the horizon. An inscription in one of these states that it was produced during the region of Chandragupta II (382-401 AD), thus dating these caves to 4th-5th century AD. The caves possess all the distinctive features that gave Gupta art its unique vitality, vigour and richness of expression; the beautifully moulded capitals, the treatment of the inter columniation, the design of the entrance way and the system of continuing the architrave as a string-course around the structures. They have been numbered probably according to the sequence in which they were excavated, beginning with Cave 1, which has a frontage adapted out of a natural ledge of rock, thus forming both the roof of the cave and its portico. The row of four pillars bear the 'vase and foliage' pattern of which the eminent art historian Percy Brown so eloquentl...