Vijasan Caves

The Vijasan Caves are Buddhist caves beside the village of Vijasan in Chandrapur district, close to the town of Bhadravati. The oldest date from the 1st century AD, in the reign of the Satavahana king Yajna Sri Satakarni.

As in similar caves, the tunnels were cut deliberately narrow into the rocky foothills to stop them collapsing. The main cave runs straight into the rock for 71 ft and ends in a chamber with a carved Buddha, and galleries along the tunnel hold wall carvings of religious scenes, some now damaged. Smaller caves and other archaeological sites lie around the village. By the 19th century villagers were keeping cattle in the caves, and Alexander Cunningham visited and wrote about them. The largest cave is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India as a Monument of National Importance.