History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c13.47

v1.c13.47

The rock-cut Jaina monastery excavated on the Kumārī hill or Udayagiri by Khāravela is now known as the Rāṇī Nūr or Rāṇī Navara Gumphā. It lies behind the great rock inscription of Khāravela. According to Sir John Marshall, the double-storeyed cave, called the Svargapurī and the Mañchapurī, is the oldest cave in the series of early caves on the Udayagiri and the Khaṇḍagiri hills.¹ It is certain that though these two caves now look like a two-storeyed monument, originally they were two different excavations with different entrances and excavated at different periods. Both were intended to be dormitories and consist of a number of small chambers behind the verandah. In the Svargapuri or the upper storey the roof of the verandah has fallen long ago, exposing its interior to the decomposing action of the weather. It is smaller in size than the Mañchapuri or the lower storey and consists of three doors leading to chambers inside. There was a band of carving over the lintels of the doors which has now almost worn out.