The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Bagh town of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. These monuments are located at a distance of 97 km from Dhar town. These are renowned for mural paintings by master painters of ancient India. The use of the word "cave" is a bit of a misnomer, since these are not natural, but instead examples of Indian rock-cut architecture. The Bagh caves, like those at Ajanta, were excavated by master craftsmen on perpendicular sandstone rock face of a hill on the far bank of a seasonal stream, the Baghani. Buddhist in inspiration, of the nine caves, only five have survived. All of them are 'viharas' or resting places of monks monasteries having quadrangular plan. A small chamber, usually at the back, forms the 'chaitya', the prayer hall. Most significant of these five extant caves is the Cave 4, commonly known as the Rang Mahal. The Bagh Caves were quarried in the 5th -6th century AD, in the very late stages of Buddhism in India, and long after most of the Indian Buddhist Caves had been built, many of them since the 2nd or 1st centuries BCE. They are believed to have been built by Satavahana dynasty during the 5-7th century. Archaeological Survey of India has restored the place over 17 years.
The Paintings
The paintings on the wall and ceilings of the viharas of Bagh, the fragments of which are still visible in Cave 3 and Cave 4, were executed in tempera. These paintings are materialistic rather than spiritualistic. The ground prepared was a reddish-brown gritty and thick mud plaster, laid out on the walls and ceilings. Over the plaster, lime-priming was done, on which these paintings were executed. Some of the most beautiful paintings were on the walls of the portico of Cave 4. To prevent further loss of the values of Indian classical art, most paintings were carefully removed in 1982 and today can be seen in Archaeological Museum of Gwalior.
Date
A copperplate inscription of Maharaja Subandhu, recording his donation for the repair of the vihara was found at the site of Cave 2. Though, the date of the Bagh inscription is missing, his Badwani copperplate inscription is dated in the year 167. So the repair of Cave 2 took place in the late 5th century.
