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GoaCentral > Sightseeing > Monuments of Goa > Caves in Goa
Introduction
The latest discoveries in the field of Archaeology have brought to light, the movement of the early man in Goa. A possible land route of entry is postulated as being through the area marked as NH-17 or from the Malaprabha – Ghataprabha region (from neighboring Maharastra state). A
number of stone tools of an early period have been found in many places such as
in the Malangini cave, at the basin of Mandovi at Shirgao, and other places.
At the same time, early stone tools have also been discovered in the
adjoining regions of the neighboring states of Maharastra and Karnataka i.e. at
Malvan and Karwar. There have also been
found, evidence of microliths and chalcolithic pottery in Goa. The discovery of rock carvings at Pansaimal and Kazur, points to the possibility of the early man being an inhabitant here. During this period, the early man was both a hunter and a gatherer of food. He was probably residing in the natural caves in the area. Later on, he began leading a settled life with domestication of animals and the development of agricultural systems. These developments over time helped the early man perfect his techniques and today we can see their most beautiful examples in the carved caves and temples at Ajanta and Ellora in neighboring Maharastra state. Table
of Caves in Goa
As
far as Goa is concerned, there are in all a total of 25 man made caves
discovered so far, spread over 9 talukas. They are ....
Caves in Goa- More DetailsAll
these caves are carved in laterite. In the above list, only 4
to 5 caves might have been carved for residential purpose and the rest are for
religious or for other purposes. There
are also some natural caves existing in Goa.
Among them, the biggest is the cave found at Verna, and is large enough
to accommodate more than 1200 people at a time.
The Buddhist caves at Rivona is also a natural cave complex.
The "Pitha" carved in laterite in the cave might have been used
as a seat for the teacher. At
Narve, there are three caves. These
are simple and consist of a small "Garbagriha" and a "Verandah"
with two pillars. In this cave, a "lingam" has been found.
The top portion of this "lingam" is in the form of a sitting
Lion like that seen on the Ashoka pillar. Below
the Lion, is an inscription in "Brahmi", a script of 6th
century AD. This Lion is about 38
cm in height at its highest position and has thick whiskers. The
Cave No. 2 also has similar features to Cave No. 1.
In the "Garbagriha" of the cave again, there is a "lingam"
dating back to the early Chalukyan period. The
Cave at Lamgao was carved out of decomposed laterite, which is very brittle.
It could have been one of the reasons for
leaving the cave unfinished. The
monolithic cave No. 26 was carved in laterite near Netravali.
The architect of the cave had taken care to separate the walls of the
cave from the mother rock to stop the seepage of water during the rainy season.
There is a single hall with arrangements to either help sit or sleep.
Noted is a provision to fix a wooden door to the entrance. The walls of the cave are nicely cut with excellent
finishing. The roof is sloped for
clearing the rainwater quickly. The roof
was thatched i.e. either with wooden or bamboo poles. This cave was carved out only for residential purposes like
the caves at Aquem, Margao.
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