Raw data
The site is cut into the western scarp of a small hill about 3km east of Virar, a railway station on the Bombay-Baroda line. It is about 56 km from Bombay. The first of two groups of cells consists of seven caves. Several are rather rough-hewn, but four of the cells have exact square corners and smoothed and polished walls. The second group consists of five excavations in the scarp about 8 meters below the first group. Several show evidence of a front wall and, like the first group, several of the caves have walls at exact right angles and polished wall surfaces. It seems likely that the more primitive cells, without a front wall or bed platform, were constructed earlier and the more sophisticated cells with polished walls came somewhat later. The author feels that Jivdan-Virar is a very old site, the polishing of the inner walls connecting to Mauryan caves and the monks not enjoying a stone bed platform. There is no water cistern associated with this first phase, unneeded if monkst stayed only during monsoon, as the Buddha suggested. The nearby site of of Sopara is known to be one of the earliest Buddhist sites in Western India. The two small water cisterns would have been inadequate for non-monsoon occupation and may have served only as backup water during monsoon.
See S. Nagaraju, Buddhist Architecture of Western India (c. 250 B.C. - C. A.D. 300) (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 1981) 130-132
Input by: Stewart Gordon 17 Mar 2015
Final data (and their sources)
Last updated: 22 Jul 2015
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 2 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Jivdan monastery, IN.
Lat 19.462842 Long 72.823988
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2014.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Jivdan monastery
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- India: Maharashtra
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
- [missing data]
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- The caves are at the western scarp of a small hill about 3km east of Virar, a railway station on the Bombay-Baroda line. It is about 56 km from Bombay.
- Approx. Lat 19.462842 Long 72.823988 - based on visual identification in maps/satellite imagery of an arbitrary spot on the Jivdani Rd, Virar East, Virar, at the base of a hill with the Hindu temple on it, maps.google.com - tmciolek, 21 May 2015.
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
- Sopara monastery
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Approx. Lat 19.4559 Long 72.8114 - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/16/Virar.html
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
- Theravada
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
- [missing data]
11. Date-early
- The author raises the possibility of Mauryan [322 BC–185 BC - tmc] excavation, which would place them in
MBM chrono-tag: <=0200 - tmciolek 22 Jul 2015
MBM chrono-tag: <=0200 dated-e
12. Date-intermediate
- [missing data]
13. Date-late
- [missing data]
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
- [missing data]
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- Archaeological
16. Additional notes
- The maximum number of monks would be 2-3 dozen, even if some of the cells were double occupancy. (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
- [missing data]
18. Known monks and nuns associated with this monastery
19. Available Printed Literature
- S. Nagaraju, Buddhist Architecture of Western India (c. 250 B.C. - C. A.D. 300) (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 1981) 130-132
- [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 2]
- [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 3]
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