More than 1000 years old cave found in Bihar

In ancient times, Aurangabad was located in the Mahajanapada kingdom of Magadh). Now, the Aurangabad district comes under the Magadh division (Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, and Arwal).

From British India to Mughal India to Ancient India, the Aurangabad district played an important role in all periods with its geographical and commercial aspects. That is why this district has so much historic significance.

This ancient mandapa and cave are situated on a mountain popularly called Athgorwa in the town Rafiganj of the Aurangabad district.

The place was first taken into account by some Britishers in the 19th century AD, among them Grierson, Theodore, Begler, etc. are prominent. Begler has written about the existence of many caves here. But no one has explained this in detail. Later, in 2007 Vikas Chauhan, a passionate local expert in archaeology discovered this place. 

The architecture of the pavilion looks similar to structures found in the mountains of Umga, which is situated about 30 km from the town.  There is little chance that it was built by the same person. 

But the cave next to the pavilion is made of clay and bricks which makes this place different. The size of the bricks found in the cave shows that it's an ancient cave. An ancient idol was also found on this mountain. Due to being submerged in soil for many years, it is difficult to tell whether it is of Vishnu or Buddha.

According to Prince Buddhmitra (an undergraduate in Ancient history and archeology at Patna University), the texture of the bricks in this place belongs to the Gupta period (300CE-600 CE). But no such research has been done on this mountain so far to prove how old these structures are.