History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c16.s3.63

c16.s3.63

The third cave, the Vaḍathikā, (Pl. VII, vii) is entered by a very narrow passage, 7 ft. 2 in. long by only 2 ft. 10 in. wide, which was originally closed by a wooden door, the socket-holes of which remain. It is smaller and less imposing than the other two Nāgārjunī caves, the chamber being only 16 ft. 4 in. long. Cunningham gives its breadth as 4 ft. 3 in., but this seems to be a misprint; his small diagram suggests a breadth of about 10 feet. The cave has been divided into two by a rude brick wall of which "the only opening to the inner room appears to be too small for the passage of any grown-up man, and could only have been used by the occupant for the reception of food". Cunningham does not state how he managed to pass through this small opening to survey the whole room; presumably the wall was partly broken down when he visited the caves.³ He gives no estimate of the date of the construction of this interior partition, but there seems no special reason to believe that it had any connection with the cave's first Ājīvika occupants. It is known, however, that the Ājīvikas sometimes performed penances in large jars,⁴ and it may be that even the earliest occupants of the caves also practised self-immurement. This cave also contains an inscription of Anantavarman Maukhari, recording that he installed in it an image of Bhūtapati and Devī, probably an *Ardhanārīśvara* figure of Śiva.⁵