An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c47.13

v2.c47.13

At the top of the Udayagiri and on the roof of Cave 14 were noticed traces of a laterite structure, which, being the only one of its kind on the hill, may in all likelihood be identified with the one mentioned in the inscription of Khāravela. Excavation conducted here by D. Mitra of the ASI in 1958 (*IAR 1958-9*, p. 38) uncovered the remains of an apsidal hall measuring 23·77 m in length and 14 m in width. Built of large laterite blocks, the hall has towards the apse-end of the interior a circular wall, probably the base of a platform for installing the object of worship. The platform is raised over the ruins of an oblong structure, evidently the earliest one of the site. The floor of the hall is for the most part paved with laterite slabs though bare rock has been utilized for flooring the n. part of the structure. The occurrence of circular or irregular post-holes in the rock and the pavement at intervals around the structure indicates that it was originally covered by a roof resting on poles. In the n. corner of the hall runs a rock-cut drain covered by laterite slabs designed to take off water from the circular structure.