SSC
The Lomas Rishi cave is situated in:
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Answer: Option D — The Barabar Hills, Bihar
Detailed Solution
The Lomas Rishi cave is one of the rock-cut caves in the Barabar Hills, in the Jehanabad district of Bihar, near Gaya.
About the Lomas Rishi cave:
- It was carved out of hard granite during the Mauryan period, in the 3rd century BCE.
- It was made for the Ajivikas, an ascetic sect founded by Makkhali Gosala, a contemporary of Mahavira and the Buddha.
It is famous for its beautifully carved entrance, which imitates wooden architecture. The doorway has a curved, ogee-shaped arch (chaitya arch) decorated with a frieze of elephants moving towards a stupa.
It is regarded as one of the earliest examples of rock-cut architecture in India and a model for later chaitya halls.
The inner walls are highly polished, showing the famous "Mauryan polish".
It has no inscription by Ashoka, unlike some other caves in the group, but it is dated to his reign or soon after.
About the Barabar and Nagarjuni caves:
- The Barabar Hills have four caves: Lomas Rishi, Sudama, Karan Chaupar and Vishwakarma.
- Ashoka's inscriptions in the Sudama and Karan Chaupar caves record that he donated them to the Ajivikas.
- The nearby Nagarjuni Hills have three caves donated by Dasharatha, Ashoka's grandson.
The Barabar caves are believed to have inspired the fictional "Marabar Caves" in E. M. Forster's novel "A Passage to India" (1924).
Other ancient rock-cut caves:
- Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves: near Bhubaneswar, Odisha; Jain caves of the 2nd-1st century BCE, linked to King Kharavela (Hathigumpha inscription).
- Ajanta, Ellora, Karla, Bhaja and Kanheri caves: Maharashtra.
- Udayagiri caves: near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh; Gupta period (Varaha sculpture).
Why not the other options?
- ✗The Udayagiri Hills of Odisha have Jain caves linked to Kharavela.
- ✗The Western Ghats of Maharashtra have the Karla and Bhaja caves.
- ✗The Satpura Range has Pachmarhi's rock shelters.
Quick tip
Remember: Lomas Rishi cave = Barabar Hills, Jehanabad, Bihar (Mauryan, 3rd century BCE; for the Ajivikas; elephant frieze on the doorway); Nagarjuni caves = Dasharatha; Udayagiri-Khandagiri = Odisha.
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This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.