Mainly Goa attracts tourists by the sea and its beautiful beaches, but This state is also famous for its huge number of cultural, historical and religious monuments. religious monuments. For example, on its territory, in the northern part, near the town of Bikolem, there is a unique place called the Arvalem Caves.
They are a kind of man-made catacombs, with which the local population is associated with many legends. with which the local population has many legends. According to the most common one. caves were built by the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the five Pandava brothers. Pandavas, who took refuge in this place during their 12-year exile. Hence, these caves are also sometimes called Pandavas. According to another theory, the creation of the Arvalem Caves is attributed to travelling Buddhist monks. Most scholars most scholars favour this theory because the caves are similar to a typical Buddhist structure resembles that of a typical Buddhist monastery.
The caves are divided into five main sections, each of which contains a sacred linga stone - a non-anthropomorphic symbol of the God Shiva - a placed upright stone with a hemispherical or rounded top. On one of One of these "linga" has an inscription made in Sanskrit using the symbols of the of the Indian Brahmi syllabic script. In addition, every winding passage in the caves leads to the Vihara, which is the ancient name for the cell or temporary shelter of wandering monks where they slept and ate, and later the term monasteries and temple complexes, sometimes housing thousands of monks. thousands of monks.
According to archaeological research, the age of this structure is estimated to be around 15-16 centuries, as they were created around the 5th or 6th century.
