Uparkot Caves

Cut deep into the living rock beneath the ramparts of Uparkot Fort, the Uparkot Caves are among the quietest and most atmospheric monuments in Junagadh, the historic town that guards the foothills of sacred Girnar.

• Carved as a double-storey monastic retreat, most likely during the early centuries of the Common Era when Buddhist communities flourished across Saurashtra, these are not natural caverns but a carefully engineered underground complex, hewn floor by floor into the volcanic tuff.
• Descending a worn stone stairway from the fort's open ground, visitors pass from the glare of the Gujarat sun into cool, shadowed halls where the temperature drops noticeably — a reminder of how skilfully the ancient builders designed these spaces for meditation and monsoon-season shelter.
• The lower storey is the more elaborate, ranged around a small courtyard open to the sky.
• Slender pillars carved directly from the bedrock are ornamented with reliefs, and a series of small cells — once occupied by resident monks — open off the central space.
• A finely cut water cistern, fed to catch and store rainwater, sits at the heart of the plan, its stepped sides evidence of the engineering that let a community live here through the dry months.
• Ventilation shafts and light wells were chiselled to draw air and daylight into the deepest chambers.
• Though weathered by centuries, traces of decorative carving, horseshoe-arch motifs and pillar capitals still repay a slow, torch-lit look.
• The caves sit within a wider cluster of Junagadh heritage that makes an easy day trip from Somnath, roughly ninety kilometres south.
• Uparkot Fort itself, the nearby Ashokan rock edict, the Adi-Kadi and Navghan stepwells, and the trailhead for the Girnar pilgrimage are all within a short radius.
• Carry a torch, wear grippy shoes for the uneven steps, and allow an unhurried hour.
• Photography is atmospheric but light is low, so a steady hand helps.
• For food, Junagadh is a thoroughly pure-vegetarian Gujarati town, and Gujarat's dry-state rules mean no alcohol anywhere.
• Near Uparkot Fort and around Kalwa Chowk and MG Road you will find pure-veg Gujarati and Kathiyawadi thali houses serving unlimited rotli, shaak, dal-bhaat, farsan and jaggery-sweetened curries; long-running pure-veg thali institutions such as Geeta Lodge near the railway-station area are local favourites.
• Simple pure-veg Kathiyawadi dhabas along the Somnath and Girnar roads plate up bajra rotla, ringan-no-olo, lasan chutney and buttermilk, and in season Junagadh's celebrated Kesar mangoes appear as ras.
• Stick to clearly labelled pure-veg kitchens and carry water for the climb.