The Barabar Caves lie in Jehanabad district, Bihar, in a landscape of granite hills north of Gaya. The name is often used for a connected group of seven rock-cut caves: four at Barabar Hill and three at nearby Nagarjuni Hill, about two kilometres away. Bihar’s Gaya Forest Division describes them as India’s oldest surviving rock-cut caves, dating to the Mauryan period. They are not a single cave chamber but a dispersed archaeological landscape.
The chambers were cut directly into hard granite, and several interiors are known for exceptionally smooth, polished surfaces. State tourism material draws attention to the inscriptions and craftsmanship; the National Monuments Authority discusses the inscriptions and architectural evidence. The contrast between the rugged exterior and carefully finished inner walls is one of the site’s most striking features. It also shows the technical ambition of Mauryan stone-working.