The wedge in the face of the wall can still be seen and the reason behind the mystery is felt. I searched for the legend about the effort made by the unidentified British officer, only to learn from Kittoe (1847), that the effort was infact made by a zemindar, again unidentified. Describing the Cave, Kittoe mentions “To proceed, first of all, as to the “chapel” in the northern hill, on the left or west side of the pass is a chamber called Sone Bhundar of precisely the same shape as those of Barabur. There are sockets to admit of timber roofing on the exterior of the cave, and there have been buildings extending to some distance in front : it would be interesting to clear the rubbish here.

There are several short inscriptions and some of the shell shape, one has some resemblance to Chinese, (vide plate) there are no Pali letters, but the cave has been sadly ill used by a zemindar, who tried to blow it up with powder many years ago, hoping to find hidden treasure, and a large piece of rock has been broken away at the very spot where we should have extended to find the inscription, - the rock is soft and easily injured, there are some rude outlines of Buddhas cut on it : there is a handsome Jain (miniature) temple, much mutilated, which is also remarkable, for each of the four figures has a vahun or cognizance, the same as those of the Gyani Buddhas, on similar temples or stones of undoubted Buddha origin, unfortunately there is no inscription to help us, (see plate) – this cave is venerated by both Hindus and Jains. Whether it be the temple Fa-Hian alludes to, it is hard to say, for there are remains in the north-east corner likewise.”

 To be continued...