Verandah of the Ganesha Gumpha - 1839

This is plate 3 from James Fergusson's 'Illustrations of the Rock Cut Temples of India'. The Ganeshagumpha is one of the best known of the 2000 year-old sandstone Jain caves of Udayagiri in Orissa. It consists of two cells with four doorways opening on to a verandah with stone benches. There is a small window- opening in the wall between the two cells. The left cell has a later representation of a Jain Tirthankara. In the right cell is the figure of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, who lends this cave its popular name. Five pillars delineated the verandah. Three remain. They have square sections at the base and at the top, octagonal sections in the middle, and bracket capitals. A long frieze depicting groups of musicians, scenes from the royal court, and hunting scenes with people astride elephants decorates the verandah wall over the cells' entrances.

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