The Barabar Hill Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, dating from the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), some with Ashokan inscriptions, located in the Makhdumpur region of Jehanabad district, Bihar, India, 24 km (15 mi) north of Gaya.

These rock-cut chambers bear dedicatory inscriptions in the name of "King Piyadasi" for the Barabar group, and "Devanampiya Dasaratha" for the Nagarjuni group, thought to date back to the 3rd century BCE during the Maurya period, and to correspond respectively to Ashoka (reigned 273–232 BCE) and his grandson, Dasharatha Maurya.

[2][3] The caves were used by ascetics from the Ajivika sect,[2] founded by Makkhali Gosala, a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and of Mahavira, the last and 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.

[3] The caves were featured – located in a fictitious Marabar – in the book A Passage to India by English author E. M.

Similar examples include the larger Buddhist Chaitya, found in Maharashtra, such as in Ajanta and Karla Caves.

[2][3] This is the characteristic form of the "Chaitya arch" or chandrashala, to be an important feature of architecture and sculpture in the rock for many centuries.

Gupta actually believes that Lomas Rishi post-dates both Ashoka and his grandson Dasaratha, and would have been built at the end of the Maurya Empire, under the reign of its last Emperor Brihadratha, and abruptly halted in 185 BC with the assassination of Brihadratha and the coup d'état of Pushyamitra Sunga, founder of the Sunga dynasty.

[7] According to Gupta, the abrupt interruption of the works is suggested by the lack of finishing, even approximate, of the ground, with for example the abandonment in the state of some pikes of the rocks which would have required only a few minutes of chipping to be removed in order to obtain a fairly regular floor.

[7] Ashoka dedicated the caves of Sudama and Visvakarma to the ascetics called "Ajivikas" in the 12th year of his reign, when his religious evolution towards Buddhism was not yet fully completed.

The interior walls of the cave represent a technical feat: they are perfectly flat and polished granite surfaces, creating a mirror effect.

This characteristic is common to all the caves of Barabar, and, by amplifying the vibrations and the harmonies, seems to be favorable to the songs of the monks.

[19] Initially, it was thought from E. Hultzsch's 1925 translation, that Ashoka's inscription from Karna Chopar Cave does not mention the Ajivikas, and seems rather to refer to the Buddhist practice of retirement (vassavasa) during the rainy season.

[17] Traditional reading of the inscription: "In my 19th year of reign, I, King Priyadarsin,offered this cave of the very pleasant mountain ofKhalatika, to serve as shelter during the rainyseason.

"In particular, Falk reconstructs the last line as 𑀲𑀼𑀧𑀺𑀬𑁂𑀔𑀆𑀚𑀺𑀯𑀺𑀓𑁂𑀳𑀺𑀤𑀺𑀦𑀸 (Su[p]i[y]ekha (Ajivikehi) dinā), which means "Supriyekṣā was given to the Ājivikas".

The Visvakarma cave, also called Viswa Mitra, is accessible by the "steps of Ashoka" carved into the cliff.

This does not explain, however, why Visvakarma, consecrated in 260 BCE, has been interrupted, in the absence of a significant problem in the rock, whereas 7 years later Ashoka dedicated Karan Chaupar cave, perfectly finished, a short distance from there.

There is, however, no trace of evolution from these Neolithic objects to the polished stone architecture of many centuries later, and the Barabar caves are essentially a sudden technological break with no local history, suggesting the import of these techniques from another culture.

[32] According to Gupta, the Son Bhandar Caves could be such an intermediate step, although relatively unique, and subject to questioning its chronology, since it is generally dated to the 2nd-4th centuries of our era.

The words "Ajivikas" were later attacked by the chisel, probably by religious rivals, at a time when the Brahmi script was still understood (probably before the 5th century CE).

[8] The three caves were offered to the Ajivikas upon the accession to the throne of Dasaratha, confirming that these were still active around 230 BCE, and that Buddhism was not the exclusive religion of the Mauryas at that time.

[8] The three caves are also characterized by an extremely advanced finish of the granite walls inside, which again confirms that the technique of "Mauryan polish" did not die out with the reign of Ashoka.

There are also a number of short inscriptions from the time of the Gupta Empire, generally inscribed in the entrance halls, and distributed in almost all the caves.

He, Anantavarman, who was the excellent son, captivating the heart of mankind, of the illustrious Sardaula, and who, possessed of very great virtues, adorned by his own (high) birth in the family of Maukhari kings, - him, of unsullied fame, with joy caused to be made, as if it were his own fame represented in bodily form in the world, this beautiful image, placed in (this) cave of the mountain Pravaragiri, of the (god) Krishna.

- The illustrious Sardula, of firmly established fame, the best among chieftains, became the ruler of the earth, he who was a very death to hostile kings; who was a tree the fruits of which were the (fulfilled) wishes of his favourites; who was the torch of the family of the warrior caste, which is glorious through waging many battles; (and) who, charming the thoughts of lovely women, resembled (the god) Smara.

- On whatsoever enemy the illustrious king Sardula casts in anger his scowling eye, the expanded and tremulous and clear and beloved pupil of which is red at the comers between the uplifted brows,— on him there falls the death-dealing arrow, discharged from the bowstring drawn up to (his) ear, of his son, the giver of endless pleasure, who has the name of Anantavarman.

There are no direct public transport connections, as the nearest bus and/or railway stations are located more than 15 km away in Jehanabad, Gaya and Makhdumpur.