Dhank Caves

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Dhank Caves
Dhank Caves.jpg
Jain Carving at Dhank Caves
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Location in Gujarat
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Dhank Caves (Gujarat)
Coordinates 21°46′54″N70°07′27″E / 21.781547°N 70.12423°E / 21.781547; 70.12423

The Dhank Caves are located near Dhank village near Upleta, Rajkot district, Gujarat, India. They were chiseled out of a calcareous sandstone outcropping during the regime of the Western Satraps. The caves are influenced by Buddhist and Jain cultures. The Jain cave includes figures of Adinath, Shantinath and Pārśva. [1] These are considered to be the earliest Jain sculptures in Kathiawad.

Contents

Details of Jain Carvings

This caves were carved in the seventh century A.D. and have a plain style of carving. [2]

This is one of the earliest rock cut cave of Gujarat. This place is also known as Dhankgiri and about 48 km of Junagadh in north west direction. on western side of the hill there are three niches. One niche is facing the door and another two are situated on either side of it. [3]

The door facing niche contains some Jain Images in kayotsarga and meditation posture. Most of Savior sculpture do not contain a clear cognizance or symbol of Tirthankara but according to H. D. Sanklia this image represents Rishabhnatha. [4] On either side of Jina two whisk bearers are depicted and Jina is sitting on a lion throne or Simhasan. There are two another mediation posture images of Tirthankara saviors containing two whisk bearers on either side with serenity and tranquility on face. Triple canopies were depicted over the head of Jina. One of these image is depicted with Deer cognizance attributed to 16th Lord Shantinatha.

One well preserved image of 23rd TIrthankara Parshvanatha is depicted in kayotsarga posture with long limbs parallel to body and cobra hood canopied. An image of Jaina yakshi ambika is also carved here who contains an infant in her arm and another with mango bud. from the ongoing discussion it is clearly evident that Dhank caves are attributed to Jainism and dwellers of these caves were Jain. Burgess did not say anything about the date of the Dhank caves but according to scholar H.D. Sanklia these caves could be hailed from third century AD after examining the Jaina sculpture's Style and Iconography. [5] These Jaina sculpture's are naked [6] [7] [8] H.D. Sankalia remarks in this connection of nudity of jaina images, "Do they therefore belong to the Digambara sect or to the time before which the differentiation between the sects was not so rigid, about 300 A.D., a period which is suggested by the period of the sculptures?" [9]  because clothed images of Jain Tirthankara's start appearing only after the post Gupta period, around 550 A.D. [10]

There is second set of caves nearby known as Jhunjhurijhar caves having small rock cut rooms and baked bricks pillars.

References

  1. ↑ Archaeological Survey of India, Vadodara Circle. "Dhank Caves". Archaeological Survey of India. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Fergusson, James; Burgess, James (6 May 2013). The cave temples of India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 186, 200–203. ISBN   978-1-108-05552-9.
  3. ↑ Khushboo Gujarat Ki! Dhank jain and Buddhist caves (ढांक गाव की तीसरी सदी की प्राचीन जैन गुफा). SSHAN-T. Retrieved 4 February 2019– via YouTube.
  4. ↑ Sankalia, H. D. (1938). "The Earliest Jain Sculptures in Kāthiāwār". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 70 (3): 426–430. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00077844. JSTOR   25201741. S2CID   162887748.
  5. ↑ Umakant Premanand Shah; Madhusudan A. Dhaky (1975). Aspect of Jaina art and architecture. Gujarat State Committee for the Celebration of 2500th Anniversary of Bhagavān Mahāvīra Nirvāna : distributors, L.D. Institute of Indology. pp. 77, 78.
  6. ↑ Majumdar, M R. "Chronology of Gujarat".
  7. ↑ Deo, S B. "History of Jaina Monachism".
  8. ↑ Vijay Kumar, Shreeprakash Pandey. "Sramana 2007 10".
  9. ↑ Sankalia, Haasmukh (1941). Archaeology Of Gujarat (including Kathiawar). p. 167.
  10. ↑ Sharma, U K. "History of Jainism". jainqq.org. Retrieved 11 March 2025.


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