Heritage Heirlooms - The Caves at Lamgaon

INDEX

The Buddhist caves at Rivona

The Petroglyphs of Usgalimal

The Caves at Arvalem

The Jain Temple at Kudne

The Caves at Lamgaon

There are two caves fairly close to each other near Lamgaon. The access to these used to be circuitous and long but in the recent past, it's a short walk from the village on a well marked though unpaved path. Just as one starts out towards the caves, and on what was the outskirts of the village then probably is a village deity guarding the perimeters of the village.  

Possibly village deities... right at the edge of the village.

The picturesque path leading to the caves...

These caves at Lamgaon have a Buddhist origin. The very name Lamgaon means the abode of the Lamas (Buddhist monks). The smaller of these has a nice courtyard with a Tulsi-vrindavan and a Nandi installed in it. The outer chamber has two columns on the outer facade and a smaller chamber inside, demarcated by two more columns  in between. The inner chamber is the sanctum with a Shiv-ling installed in at a later date. 

The smaller cave with the Shiv-ling in the inner chamber

  

The larger cave hollowed out of lateritic rock is quite big with a large assembly hall and a smaller inner chamber. This cave too has remnants of three columns and one column intact. The columns have a clear-cut stone beam-like structure connecting them on top but the floor is in very bad condition. 

The larger cave at Lamgaon

It is said that the smaller and the larger caves were connected by a tunnel the mouth of which is visible though I am not sure if anyone has tried access to it. 

A very large stone outside the entrance can be easily overlooked but on careful inspection seems to have the typical cornices and adornments associated with the Buddhist Chaitya Arches. It seems likely that at some time long back, this must have been the top portion of the cave entrance which has since fallen in due to the vagaries of nature...

The possible Chaitya Arch now fallen over

These lesser known sites are a joy to behold if one makes the effort to reach them. A must visit for all history and archaeology aficionados. If my narrative enthuses even a few to visit, it would all have been worthwhile....

Heritage Heirlooms - The Caves at Arvalem

INDEX

The Buddhist caves at Rivona

The Petroglyphs of Usgalimal

The Caves at Arvalem

The Jain Temple at Kudne

The Caves at Lamgaon

Goa is an ancient land. In the recent past, it has always been showcased as a Portuguese cultural centre, but its rich history predates the Portuguese by many millennia. The heritage structures in Goa include some really ancient laterite rock-cut caves. Fascinating as these are, they are from Buddhist, Jain and sometimes Brahmanical origin. The scholars are still ambivalent on some of them. One such place is the Arvalem caves in Bicholim Taluka.

Archaeological Survey of India plaque outside the caves 

Arvalem Caves

These caves are believed to have been carved out in the 6th century AD. Located near Sanquelim, overlooking a river, the caves have a courtyard in front which has a flight of steps which probably went down to the river (Now the area has been filled up by soil because of the road that is passing in front of the cave). There are altogether five inner chambers having two outer chambers and one separate chamber which seems to be a residential chamber. The outer chambers have a colonnade. 

Seeing the construction of these caves with the sanctuary at the southern end and the vihara at the northern end, many experts are of the opinion that these are Buddhist caves. In later times though, they seem to have been taken over by Hindus and Shiv-lings have been established which is attributed to the Bhoja period. This would be somewhere around the 8th century AD according to the dating done on the Shiv-lings.

Sources: 

1. Cave Architecture in Goa-A project report submitted to the Goa University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Architecture by Varun Desai

2. Research in history books and websites

Heritage Heirlooms - The Buddhist Caves at Rivona

INDEX

The Buddhist Caves at Rivona

The Petroglyphs of Usgalimal

The Caves at Arvalem

The Jain Temple at Kudne

The Caves at Lamgaon

As part of bringing the rich cultural heritage of Goa in the limelight and showing the average tourist and local alike that there are other, more beautiful facets of Goa they have not yet discovered, I bring to you the first in the series of .. - Heritage Heirlooms -

The Buddhist Caves at Rivona

Cave 1 

Located near the Kushavati river, in the village of Rivona (the name Rivona might have been derived from ‘Rishivana’ meaning the forest of sages, or in the present case, of monks). The site is called devachi zaga ( meaning the abode of God). This cave is oriented towards the east. It has a pedestal measuring 4.8 m X 3.2 m which fits the idol of Buddha and is called’ Sonyachi peti’ (Golden box). The idol of Buddha discovered at Rivona is seated in Vajrasana position with Bhumisparsha-Mudra (right hand touching the earth with the left hand kept on the lap.) A huge lotus pedestal for seating the idol was also found at the site.

The large Cave No. 1 at Rivona (Pic courtesy Preethy Nair)

Cave 2

This Cave is at two levels and has two entrances, one at the upper level and the other at the level below. The steps going down from the upper level lead to the chamber which has a skylight and a stream of fresh water. It also connects to the lower entrance. The skylight chamber leads inside to another chamber which has a stepped platform built of laterite and which has a vaulted ceiling. This cave has seen some intervention by later humans since there are laterite bricks neatly laid at the upper entrance and a tank made behind at the lower level. 

Cave no 2 Upper entrance (Pic courtesy Vandana Balakrishnan)

Lower entrance to the Cave 2

The tank behind the lower entrance

The Skylight in the chamber of Cave 2

Source: Cave Architecture in Goa-A project report submitted to the Goa University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Architecture by Varun Desai