These Ancient Caves are located in the Tala tourism zone of Bandhavgarh national park. It is impossible to miss seeing the Bandhavgarh fort and the caves in the area around the park. The most prominent and the one which can be seen from inside is the Badi Gufa (Big Cave). The gate of this cave is kept closed, allow your guide to open it for you. If the gate is open then avoid entering the cave, as times prior these caves were used by tigers, sloth bears, and lots of horseshoe bats. This is the biggest cave in the area with few individual small caves/rooms for meditation inside and broad stone pillars.
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The most likely purpose of these caves was for meditation purposes of the sages who visited this area, and some other purposes as well. They are strategically located at the base of the fort, and visible from some key areas of the fort. As per the Indian mythology and the ancient Indian scriptures the human life is divided into four equal parts. The first part is the bachelorhood, then the family life, the 3rd stage is known as Vanaprastha (Vana meaning forest and Prastha meaning departure). So in this stage the family person having fulfilled his responsibilities would go to a forest and live with minimum requirements of food, clothing and shelter. Not all people would survive this stage, and would return to the material world. The fourth stage is the Sanyasa (Renunciation). A persons is now supposed to sever all ties with the material world, and meditate for self-realisation.
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There are about 39 such Ancient Caves in the vicinity of the Bandhavgarh Fort. There are some inscriptions in the Pali script, a language used before Hindi in India. Some of the caves are deep and have ventilation in the roof. There are no statues or carvings in this cave except there are some drawings of tigers, bears, snakes etc. The height of the caves is not much, an average Indian height which is about 5’8 inches will just about be comfortably standing in these caves.
Some of these caves can be seen during safari in the Tala zone. Below is the list of Ancient Caves in Bandhavgarh.
S.No.
Name of the Cave
Location
1.
Vrihad – Lekhi
Near Chakradhra
2.
Nritya – Khoh One
Near Vrihad Lekhi
3.
Yogi Khoh
Near Barhi Sheshshaiya
4.
Nritya – Khoh Two
Near Nritya – Khoh One
5.
Ashdhatu temple
Near Barhi Sheshshaiya
6.
Kachhari
On drive to Sheshshaiya
7.
Astbal One
On drive to Sheshshaiya
8.
Astbal two
Right to Sheshshaiya drive
9.
Guard Room
Near Astbal two
10.
Day Shelter
Between Gopalpur & Ganesha Hill
11.
Change Room
East of Day Shelter
12.
Kachchap
South-east of Day Shelter
13.
Sarthik
North-east of Kachchap
14.
Sandy Cave
Near Kachchap (downhill)
15.
Marhwa
Near Sandy Cave
16.
Chatra
Right of Marhwa
17.
King’s horse’s Cave
Adjacent to Chatra
18.
Sentry Room One
Right of Day Shelter – Bhitri path
19.
Sentry Room Two
Near Sentry Room One
20.
Daan Kuan
Near Sentry Room Two
21.
Sitamandap Cave
Near Sitamandap
22.
Natural Cave
Sitamandap
23.
Mrityudand Machiya
On Ganesha hill
24.
Rani ki Jhiriya
Near Kachhari
25.
Cave Temple
East of Rani ki Jhiria
26.
Ganpathi Temple
Near Cave Temple
27.
Rest Room
Foothills of Ganesha hill
28.
Guard Room One
On Hanuman hill
29.
Guard Room Two
On Hanuman hill
30.
Amatyakhoh One
500 m west of Gopalpur pond
31.
Amatyakhoh Two
500 m west of Gopalpur pond
32.
Traders’ inn One
3 kms. west of Gopalpur pond
33.
Traders’ inn Two
3 kms. west of Gopalpur pond
34.
Guild Meeting Place
One & half Km south-west of Gopalpur
35.
Vaishravan Khoh
One & half Km south-west of Gopalpur
36.
Meditation Cave
Near Sidhbaba – right of Charanganga
37.
Aquifer Cave
On Chakradhra – Bathan Road
38.
Thatha Khoh
On Rigveda hill
39.
Reech Khoh
On Rigveda hill
40.
Sajiwan
On Rigveda hill
41.
Yugaantar
South of Bandhavgarh mountain (Khirki)
42.
Hanuman Khoh
On Narayan Kot (Bandhavgarh mountain)
43.
Dwarf cave
Near Raghuraj Dhara (Bandhavgarh mountain)
44.
Tarvaar Khoh
On Bandhavgarh mountain
45.
Nirad Khoh
Backside of Ganesha hill
46.
Rishi Khoh
On Ramgiri hill
47.
Meditation Room One
Sidh hill
48.
Meditation Room Two
Sidh hill
49.
Meditation Room
Sidh hill
51, B-3, Sector-11, Rohini New Delhi -110085 (INDIA)