Undavalli Caves, Vijayawada

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About Undavalli Caves

The Undavalli Caves, a monolithic example of Indian rock-cut architecture and one of the finest testimonials to ancient viswakarma sthapathis, are located in Undavalli of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The caves are located 6 km south west from Vijayawada, 22 km north east of Guntur City of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the centrally protected monuments of national importance.

History

These caves are said to be found in 7th century. They are associated with the Vishnukundi kings of 420-620 CE. These caves are dedicated to Anantha Padmanabha and Lord Narashimha. Buddhist monks used these as rest houses.

Architecture

It is an Impressive Four storey rock cut temple with East facing facade of 29m long, 16m wide. There are variation in depth of each floor. The ground floor is an unfinished low pillared hall with 8 pillars and 7 door openings on façade. The first storey accommodates triple shrine at back, each with the pillared hall in front, originally dedicated to the Trinity (Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma).Sculptures on the walls represent Vaishnava deities. The second storey has a pillared rectangular shrine of Lord Vishnu on a Serpent. Sculptures of Shiva and Vaishnava and a few like the Vaishnava Alwars are sculptured later on. The top floor was unfinished with a Triple Shrine. Some of the sculptural specimens are attributed to Chalukyan period. It has 5 meter long statue of Lord Buddha in reclining position.

Undavalli Caves is located in City of Vijayawada state of Andhra Pradesh which has other variety of things to explore

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