Megalithic Barbara Caves

To the north of the Gaia city, located in the Indian state of Bihar, has a rocky ridge, over 3 kilometers long. It is in this ridge is the oldest preserved in India cave monastery Barbara. The rock cut cave 4, relating to the period of the first to adopt Buddhism as the official religion of the monarch, King Ashoka the Great.

Barbara Monastery is considered to be a Buddhist. This monastery originally belonged to the sect Ajivikas, which is a direct competitor of Buddhism, during the reign of King Ashoka. Nevertheless, these caves were donated 4 Ashoka this sect. This is evidenced by entries made on the walls. One of the biggest mysteries of the caves Barbara, is the origin of the perfectly smooth walls, semicircular shape.

First to the entrance on the south side of the rock is the Western Cave. It is located almost symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the rock and called Sudama. The entrance to the courts is a perfect square and at the same time easy opening. Inside the cave, tourists will fall into two rooms. The first room has a height of 3.5 meters, and a 10 x 5.8 meter.

The eastern wall of the hall is straight, and the western on the contrary, is a convex arcuate dome. This unusual form of the walls appeared from behind the second flat, completely round, with a diameter of 5,8m. Cave Sudam, the best preserved of all, it looks perfect and polished walls of the highest quality.

To the right of Sudam is located cave Lomas Rishi. This cave is the only one that has a carved entrance. This cave belongs to the Buddhist period. Lomas Rishi also consists of two rooms, but the second room was not completed and therefore it is not round, but oval. Lomas Rishi was designed as a replica of the courts. Barbara Inside the caves shows that the cutting of the rock was performed on a particular technology steel and quite qualitative tool.