Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh

The Udayagiri caves are 20 rock cut caves from the 4th-5th century CE between two Hills. They are located around 60 kms from Bhopal near Betwa river in the state of Madhya Pradesh and around 10 kms from the famous Sanchi Stupa. They were built during the reign of Chandragupta II from the Gupta Dynasty and have sculptures from both Hinduism and Jainism. Out of the twenty caves 18 belong Hinduism and 2 to Jainism.

Two main sculptures stand out here, One of Varaha Swamy at Cave number 5 and the other of reclining(sheshasayi) Vishnu at Cave 13. The other caves are small with few sculptures. There is a Rs.40/- entry ticket and to be bought online. But can be bought at the ticket counter also. The entrance is around half kilometer from the ticket counter and could have been managed better. It would take around 1 to 1.5 hrs to cover all the caves.

Bhopal is the nearest major railway station and airport with regular services from different parts of the country.

We covered it as part of a 6 day Road Trip and you can read about it here.

Timings : 9 am to 6pm