Lomas Rishi Cave, an example of early cave architecture of the 3rd century BC and the most datable cave of all, is located in which of the following states of India?

Lomas Rishi Cave, an example of early cave architecture of the 3rd century BC and the most datable cave of all, is located in which of the following states of India? Correct Answer Bihar

The correct answer is Bihar.

Key Points

• Lomas Rishi Cave, an example of early cave architecture of the 3rd century BC and the most datable cave of all, is located in Bihar.

Additional Information

The Lomas Rishi Cave

• The Lomas Rishi Cave, also called the Grotto of Lomas Rishi, is one of the man-made Barabar Caves in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills of Jehanabad district in the Indian state of Bihar.
• This rock-cut cave was carved out as a sanctuary.
• It was built during the Ashokan period of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC, as part of the sacred architecture of the Ajivikas, an ancient religious and philosophical group of India that competed with Jainism and became extinct over time.
• Ajivikas were atheists and rejected the authority of the Vedas as well as Buddhist ideas.
• They were ascetic communities and meditated in the Barabar caves.
• Still, the Lomas Rishi cave lacks an explicit epigraphical dedication to the Ajivikas, contrary to most other Barabar Caves, and may rather have been built by Ashoka for the Buddhists.
• The hut-style facade at the entrance to the cave is the earliest survival of the ogee shaped "chaitya arch" or chandrashala that was to be an important feature of Indian rock-cut architecture and sculptural decoration for centuries.  
• The interior surfaces of the chambers are very finely finished.