Barabar Caves are the oldest surviving rock cut caves in India. They date from around 332 - 185BCE. The Barabar Hills are located about fifty kms from Bodhgaya or they could be 35kms or 60kms depending on which guide book, on line reference source or travel agent you ask. Having decided to visit them arranging transport was next. Like everywhere there is a tourist price and a local price. I wanted a vehicle price closer to the latter.
I did my research on line, looking at what I could book on the Internet as a base line. I even tried Uber, which is quite large in major cities but not out here. Shivam, the nephew of the hotel owner, thankfully did the ground work for me. He had not been to the caves so I asked him if he wanted to accompany. He did not have college today, so it was possible.
The first price was still too expensive though it was dropped to be affordable. It is a difficult transition between currencies. Working mostly in rupees the cost sound expensive. Convergin into dollars, brings me back into realising it is possible. I have been working a tight budget since being in Bodhgaya as there are no transport costs and the guest house is economical.
Price is inclusive of fuel and taxes ( one of those little hidden extras that can come ). The journey is in a Toyoto and comfortable. The driver good. The route heads back and through Gaya and then out to the Barabar Hils. The journey is quite fast once the first section is completed, travelling through agricultural land in the main. Turning off the main road, to follow the hills, the road soon is non sealed. Again road works are underway, which means the bridges go in first so the original road is out of action and the 'detour' is whichever track looks like we are heading in the right direction. The driver needs to back track several times to find a way through. Finally we get near the entrance, though on another blocked road, and decide to walk the remainder. It was a good choice as there was a rs60 charge for parking on the dirt outside the entrance.
We have been travelling beside a range of huge boulders. Whether through weathering or once being a river, these granite stones are enormous. Piles of them stacked on top of each other. Ere is evidence of them moving every now and then, rocks breaking in two. No survivors ' in case of falling rocks' here. It is hard to imagine there are rock cut caves in this environment. Those I have seen at Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra are cut into a stable rock shelf, several storeys high. It is perfect territory for a predator to hunt with shrubbery and small trees growing through the rocks.
Everything I read suggested taking a guide. He was the only person to approach us and the price was ' as you please' which is code for there is a fixed price but you might pay me more than that.' I find out when I go to pay him less. He was quite informative and caring telling me there was only forty two steps to navigate. Sounds easy, but the smallest was twelve inches high and two metres long. Each is a different height and length on a gradient between fifteen and twenty degrees. Manageable but certainly a heart thumper. The guide wanted to ensure I was alright and take rests. I just wanted to get to the top.
I learn of the history of the area, these are third century BCE. This point needs to be remembered when venturing into the caves. A wizened caretaker wanders over once we have reached the first cave as they are locked. A rolling gate is padlocked in place. Undone and wheeled back, room enough to enter the cave. They are cut into embedded rock. Not huge, but once inside it is very impressive. The exterior is just a deep door entry way, but the granite has been polished to a mirror sheen. Old Ashokan test inscribed into the entrance, an old language very simple and beautiful. The barrel vaulted rectangular room is approximately ten by five metres and four or more high. Adjoining is a smaller circular domed room for the ascetic to meditate in. The light is from the entrance only. Two caves are complete and two were not finished due to water seepage along seams in the rock. Only one has external decoration, very decorative and beautiful with repeated pattern, elephants and crocodiles. This was on one of the unfinished caves.
Granite is a very hard rock and I wonder just how they managed carving and polishing the surface. It would have helped light reflect from a fire or candle. There is evidence of the process employed to cut the stone away in the unfinished caves. The most amazing quality they have is the harmonic resonance. The sound flows round the cave, slowly dissipating. A long vocal Om sound echoes for some time. I tried deeply from the diaphram and then very lightly and the effect was the same. Sound was caught and shared. Must be loud during the monsoon rains.
A couple of kilometres away in the Nagarjuni Hills is a younger example (232BCE) of the same architectural style. Fifty one steps, same height but much closer together, allows entry to the cave. It is not gated and has a wall of script on one of the metre deep entry sides. Again the harmonics amaze. The driver has not been here so accompanies us. The driver, the guide and Shivam are caught in a selfie frenzy, inside and outside the cave. I have enough trouble trying to use the limited light inside the take a reasonable photo. A flash would just wash and reflect off the walls.
The return journey was uneventful except we hit school peak hour as we closed in on Gaya with yellow minibuses manoeuvring through the narrow lanes, the potholes and the assortment of other vehicular road and foot traffic.
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