File:0112621 Cave 17, Udayagiri Caves, Vidisha district, Madhya Pradesh 006.jpg

English: Udayagiri Cave 17 near Vidisha is sometimes referred to as the Kotri cave. Parts of it such as the two dvarapalas have eroded over time. It has a modern transparent shield in front.

The cave was flanked by Ganga and Yamuna goddesses, but only a trace remains. The most notable reliefs in decent state of preservation include the four armed Ganesha and the Durga-Mahisasuramardini in the 5th-century style.

Background:

The Udayagiri Caves, sometimes referred to as the Udaigiri or Udaygiri or Udayagiri gupha, are ancient predominantly Hindu rock-cut monuments near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. They are among the oldest surviving Gupta Empire era monuments and cave temples in India (c. 375–450 CE). The site also contains some Jain caves excavated at the later date, as well as remains of Hindu structural temples on the top of the rocky hill that were built in later centuries. These caves near Vidisha should not be confused with the Udayagiri caves in the suburbs of Bhubaneswar, Odisha – which are predominantly Jain monuments.

The Udayagiri caves site contains a group of 20 caves, one monolithic pillar and one large structural temple ruins. All of the twenty caves except one are Hindu. Cave 20 at the northern top of the hill is the Jaina cave, while Cave 1 though originally for Surya, now has a Jain Tirthankara statue in a corner of the sanctum. The pillar and temple ruins are at the top of the Udayagiri hill. This site has many Brahmi and Nagari script inscriptions, of which three are particularly notable as they help date these caves variously to 402 CE and 425 CE. Others help confirm that this site remained in active Hindu use at least through the 11th-century. The Cave 5 and 6 contain famous sculptures such as one of Vishnu-Varaha.