Kauvadol Hill

Kauvadol is a hill about 4 km south-west of the Barabar Hills and about 12 km east of Bela railway station. Its name means crow's swing, and is said to come from a folk myth: a huge block of stone once sat so finely balanced on the pinnacle that it rocked whenever a crow landed on it.

Below the hill lie the ruins of an ancient vihara, spread around the area. Buchanan first noticed the site in 1811-12 while touring on behalf of the East India Company, and Major Kittoe, Cunningham and Beglar later came and recorded the ruins. The rock also found its way into fiction, appearing in A Passage to India as Kawa Dol.