History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c16.s3.60

c16.s3.60

The Vahiyakā cave (Plate VII, vi) consists of a single rectangular chamber measuring 16 ft. 9 in. by 11 ft. 3 in., entered by a small porch and a narrow doorway. The vaulted roof is 10 ft. 6 in. at its highest point. Like those of the other caves, the whole interior is highly polished. Near its entrance is a well 23 feet deep, from which fact Cunningham interpreted the inscription of Daśaratha to read *Vapīyakā-kubhā* ("the Well Cave").¹ It bears no Maukhari inscription, but one in characters of a somewhat later style records that "Ācārya Śrī Yogānanda does reverence to Śiva".² Like the two other Nāgārjunī caves, this was later occupied by Muslim hermits.