Jogimara and Sitabenga Caves

The Sitabenga and Jogimara Caves, sometimes referred to either as Sitabenga Cave or Jogimara Cave, are ancient cave monuments nested in the north side of Ramgarh hills in Puta village, Chhattisgarh, India. Dated between the 3rd-century BCE to 1st-century BCE, they are notable for their non-religious inscriptions in Brahmi script and Magadhi language, and one of the oldest colored frescoes in Asia. Some scholars state that the Sitabengra cave is the oldest performance theatre on the Indian subcontinent, but others question whether it was indeed a theatre and suggest that it may have been a resting place (dharmashala) along an ancient trade route. The inscription at the Jogimara cave is equally disputed, with one translation interpreting it as a love-graffiti by a girl and a boy, while another translation interpreting it as a female dancer and a male sculptor-painter creating the two caves together to serve others. The inscription is also the oldest known mention of the word "devadasi", but this seems just a name and it is unlikely that this was related to any ancient Indian temple since the site and nearby area has no evidence of any Buddhist, Hindu or Jain temple built between the 3rd-century BCE and 8th-century CE.

The caves are partly natural and partly sculpted. The regional tradition associates it with the epic of Ramayana, one where Sita, Rama and Lakshmana came at the start of their exile. The oldest ruins and temple artwork found here relate to the Ramayana, all likely from the 8th to 12th-century based on their iconographic features.

Location

The Jogimara and Sitabenga caves are in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh, about 45 kilometers southwest of Ambikapur, 180 kilometers northeast of Bilaspur city, and 5 kilometers from Khodri. It is connected by India's national highway 130, then a small spur road that climbs up into the Ramgarh hills (also called the Ramgiri hills or Devapahari), giving this site the alternate name of Ramgarh caves. Midst the two forested hills, the spur road reaches Ram Janaki temple and nearby Hindu temple ruins.