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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Siddhachal Caves
| image = File:Jain statues, Gwalior.jpg
| alt = Intact and defaced Gwalior fort Jain Tirthankaras statues
| caption = Colossal Jain statues in Gwalior
| map_type = India #India Madhya Pradesh
| religious_affiliation = [[Jainism]]
| other_names =
| proper_name =
| coordinates = {{coord|26|13|26.3|N|78|09|54.6|E|display=inline,title}}
| country = [[India]]
| state = [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| district = [[Gwalior]]
| location = Gwalior Fort
| elevation_m =
| deity = [[Tirthankaras]]
| festivals =
| architecture_style = [[Jainism]]
| established = 7th-century
| year_completed = 15th-century
| creator = [[Tomaras of Gwalior]]
| website =
}}
'''Siddhachal Caves''' are Jain cave monuments and statues carved into the rock face inside the Urvashi valley of the [[Gwalior Fort]] in northern [[Madhya Pradesh]], India. There are the most visited among the five groups of Jain rock carvings on the Gwalior Fort hill. They were built over time starting in the 7th-century, but most are dated to the 15th-century CE. Many of the statues were defaced and destroyed under the orders of the Muslim Emperor [[Babur]] of the [[Mughal dynasty]] in the 16th century, while a few repaired and restored after the fall of the Mughal dynasty and through the late 19th century.<ref name=cunninghamgfortjain/>

The statues depict all 24 Tirthankaras. They are shown in both seated Padmasana posture as well as standing [[Kayotsarga]] posture, in the typical naked form of Jain iconography. The reliefs behind some of them narrate scenes from the Jain legends. The site is about {{convert|2|km}} from the South-East Group of [[Gopachal rock cut Jain monuments]] and about {{Convert|1|km}} northwest of the [[Teli ka Mandir]] within the Gwalior Fort.<ref name="TitzeBruhn1998p106">{{cite book|author1=Kurt Titze|author2=Klaus Bruhn|title=Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-violence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=loQkEIf8z5wC|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1534-6|pages=106–110}}</ref>

The Siddhachal Jain collosi cave temple is one of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]]'s ''Adarsh Smarak Monument'' along with other monuments in the Gwalior Fort.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://asiconservationportal.nic.in/public-dashboard/rcps?page=45&sort=Regions.name&direction=asc | title=Adarsh Smarak Monument | publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] | access-date=19 July 2021 }}</ref>

== Location ==
{{multiple image
| align = left
| image1 = Jain statues, Gopachal Hill.jpg
| width1 = 200
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Jain statues at Siddhachal
| image2 = Gwalior fort palace- Rockcut Statues of Jain Thirthankaras.JPG
| width2 = 250
| alt2 =
| caption2 = Meditating Jinas
| footer =
}}
The Siddhachal collosi cave temples are located inside fortifications of the Urvahi valley, a part of the fort of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, immediately below the northwestern walls of the fortress. The Gwalior city and the fort is connected to other Indian cities by major highways NH 44 and 46 (Asian Highway 43 and 47), a railway station and airport ([[IATA]]: GWL). It is located near other historic Hindu and Jain temples from the medieval era.<ref name="TitzeBruhn1998p106"/><ref>[http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/morena_padhavali_groupoftemplesatbatesar.html Group of temples at Batesar], ASI Bhopal Circle (2014)</ref><ref>[http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/morena_naresar_temples1to22.html Naresar Temples], ASI Bhopal Circle (2014)</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Siddhachal - Rishabhanatha.jpg|thumb|{{convert|58.4|ft}} statue of Rishabhanatha]]

The Siddhachal cave temples are a part of nearly 100 Jain monuments found in and around the Gwalior city, all dated to be from the 7th to 15th century. The Siddachal colossi are near the Urwahi road, and most are dated to be from the 15th century, built in an era when Delhi Sultanate had collapsed and fragmented, a Hindu kingdom was back in power in Gwalior region and before [[Babur]] had ended the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and replaced it with his Mughal dynasty. The inscriptions found near the monuments credit them to the Tomar kings, and they range from the 1440 to 1453 CE. The Siddhachal Caves were complete by about 1473 CE. Some 60 years after they had been completed, the statues were defaced and desecrated around 1527 when the Emperor Babur ordered their destruction.<ref name=cunninghamgfortjain>[https://archive.org/stream/archaeologicalsu02arch#page/n455/mode/2up Gwalior Fort: Rock Sculptures], A Cunningham, Archaeological Survey of India, pages 364-370</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Kurt Titze|author2=Klaus Bruhn|title=Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-violence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=loQkEIf8z5wC|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1534-6|pages=101–102}}, Quote: "In 1527, the Urvahi Jinas were mutilated by the Mughal emperor Babar, a fact he records in his memoirs".</ref><ref name="Ringp314">{{cite book|author1=Trudy Ring|author2=Noelle Watson|author3=Paul Schellinger|title=Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=voerPYsAB5wC&pg=PA314|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-63979-1|page=314}}</ref> Babur explained in a memoir,

{{Quote|
They have hewn the solid rock of the Adwa [Urwa], and sculptured out of it idols of larger and smaller size. On the south part of it is a large idol, which may be about 20 gaz (40 feet in height). These figures are perfectly naked, without even a rag to cover the parts of generation. Adwa is far from being a mean place, on the contrary it is extremely pleasant. The greatest fault consists in the idol figures all about it: I directed these idols to be destroyed.<ref name=cunninghamgfortjain/>}}

The Jain cave temples within the Gwalior Fort were, however, not destroyed, just mutilated by chopping off the faces, the sexual organs and their limbs. Centuries later, the Jain community restored many of the statues by adding back stucco heads on the top of the damaged idols.<ref name=cunninghamgfortjain/>

== Description ==

The Siddhachal Caves are rock-cut monuments with Jain collosi. They are found on both sides of the slope of the Urwahi road in the fort, along the Urwahi valley. The monuments include many caves, small reliefs on the walls, as well as 22 colossi. The largest of these are for [[Rishabhanatha]] (Adinatha), identifiable by the bull emblem carved on the pedestal under his foot, with a height of {{convert|57|ft}}. Other colossi include a seated {{convert|30|ft}} [[Neminatha]] (shell icon on his pedestal), [[Parshvanatha]] with serpent cover over his head and [[Mahavira]] (lion icon on his pedestal).{{sfn|Burgess|1880|p=509}}<ref name="TitzeBruhn1998p106"/><ref name=cunninghamgfortjain/><ref name=asifortjain>[http://asibhopal.nic.in/monument/gwalior_gwalior_gwaliorfort_more.html Gwalior Fort], Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle, India (2014)</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:7th to 15th century Siddhachal caves Gopachal, Jain tirthankaras in Gwalior fort, 1885 photo.jpg|View of the caves below the fort in 1885
File:Jain Temple Fort Gwalior - panoramio.jpg|Jain Temple Fort Gwalior
File:Siddhachal Caves - Devi.jpg|Jain Goddess
File:Siddhachal Caves - Panels.jpg|Panel with Arihant
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Gwalior Fort]]
*[[Mewar]]
*[[Gopachal rock cut Jain monuments]]

== References ==
=== Citation ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book| last=Burgess | first=James |title=The Cave Temples of India | edition=1st | url={{Google books|-HgTAAAAYAAJ|page=509|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |year=1880 | publisher=[[W. H. Allen & Co.]] }}

{{Jain Caves in India}}
{{Jainism topics}}

[[Category:Jain temples in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:7th-century Jain temples]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Gwalior]]
[[Category:Jain rock-cut architecture]]
[[Category:Colossal Jain statues in India]]
[[Category:Jain caves in India]]

Siddhachal Caves - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article