Udayagiri Caves

Udayagiri Caves, 13 km from Sanchi near Vidisha, are a group of 20 rock-cut shrines and caves excavated under the patronage of Chandragupta II around 401 CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temple iconography in India and are the only site that can be verifiably linked to a Gupta monarch through inscriptions. Cave 5 houses the defining image: a monumental 20-foot relief of Vishnu in his Varaha boar incarnation lifting Bhudevi from the cosmic ocean, a landmark of Gupta art and one of the earliest large-scale Hindu sculptural programmes. Cave 6 contains an early Durga Mahishasuramardini panel and what may be the earliest known sculpture of Ganesha. The hilltop offers panoramic views of the Betwa Valley.