Place · painted caves · India
Jogīmārā & Sitabenga, Ramgarh
The painted Mesolithic caves at Ramgarh hill in Surguja district, Chhattisgarh, cut above what may be the oldest surviving theatre space in India — a 2nd-century BCE rock-cut auditorium with a 15-seat semicircular stone seating, a dressing room and acoustic grooves. A Brahmi inscription above the auditorium mentions the Shri Devadinna poet, 'Krida kavi' — the earliest named theatre poet in India. The Jogimara and Sitabenga caves contain painted scenes dated 1000 BCE to historic period. The theatre inscription in Prakrit refers to the auditorium being founded for the goddess Shri — one of the oldest Devanagari-script theatrical references in India.
- Function
- Landscape & environmental change
- Tradition
- Archaeological record
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 22.960, 83.150 (approximate)
Connections (2)
- AnalogueBhīmbetkā
Jogimara and Sitabenga at Ramgarh put a painted cave and what may be India's earliest theatre space in one hill, with a second-century BCE Brahmi inscription about actors on the wall. Bhimbetka has the oldest marks; Ramgarh has the point at which marking, writing and performance appear together. The two sites are four hundred kilometres apart in the same Vindhyan belt.
- AnalogueJanakpur rock paintings — Ara, Bhanwarkhoh and Tilauli
Two painted rock traditions in the same hills: the Janakpur shelters with their bulls, deer and ploughs, and the Jogimara cave with its inscribed and painted chamber beside the Sitabenga theatre. Together they show the Surguja ranges were painted over a very long span.
On these journeys
Sources
Jogimara Caves, Ramgarh hills
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