Udaigiri caves is a archaeological site of antiquities and is located at 6 km from Vidisha between Bes and Betwa river.This site is mainly known for its ancient rock cut temples excavated in an isolated stand stone hill, which extends to a km long and 11o m high.There are 20 gupta cave shrine dated back to the period from 4th to 5th centuries A.D. Eighteen caves are of Hindu and 2 are of Jain.The caves are mostly small chambers , enshrining idols or images of various dynasties carved in to the rock of hill. The caves and other remains found at the site shows that the site has passed through the influence of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism those days.An inscription in one of these, states that it was produced during the reign of Chandragupta-2 (382-401 A.D), thus dating these caves to 4-5 A.D. The caves have been numbered according to the sequence in which they were excavated, particularly spectecural is cave 1 , which has a fontage adapted out of a natural ledge rock ,thus forming both the roof of the cella and its portico.Cave 5 in which lord Vishnu is depicted in his Varaha (Boar) incarnation holding aloft an one tusk the earth goddesses Prithvi. There is another sculpture of lord Vishnu in the reclining postures. Cave 9 has 2.5 m high pillars, long portico and pillared halls.Cave 7 was build for the personal use of king Chandragupta-2.Cave 20 has detailed Jain carving .All these caves have been cut in to a sandstone hill and have all the distinctive features that gave Gupta art its unique place.
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