It is said truly that a place which is rich in its history will also contain the best development, and Madhya Pradesh is rich in its history. One of the historical places to visit in Madhya Pradesh is Udayagiri caves situated in Vidisha around 50 kilometers away from the capital city Bhopal. Vidisha is also a big station and one can reach there by trains. This place contains many caves and some of the oldest surviving temples present in the world. This archeological site was constructed in the reign of Chandragupta II in the fifth century. These caves and temples are devoted of Lord Vishnu and one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu, Varaha. One can view the most valuable and beautiful sculptures carved over the walls and top of the caves of Lord Shiva, Maa Shakti, and Vishnu. The carved statues are so gigantic in nature which stamps this place in its man-made beauty. Udayagiri is the word which originates from the Sanskrit language which means the sunrise mountain. There is a statue of a lion which indicates that in earlier times there can be a temple of the sun. There are many more statues which personified the nature or the Hindu Gods like Ocean, Wind, Fire etc which is the most famous sight in the udayagiri location. The Udayagiri is also known as Vishnupadayagiri which literally means the feet of Lord Vishnu. This place is near the tributary of the river betwa Bes, which gives the place an awesome view from the caves. The architectures at that time were highly accurate when building these caves as at that time the udayagiri caves are exactly on the tropic of cancer, but now it slightly moved from its place. The sunlight directly falls on it as it is near the tropic of cancer. The area around this hill is totally plain and for agriculture. The roads are highly plain that one should never feel any problem while reaching this place. The public transports are easily available from this place and one can reach here with the public transport, buses or by cabs as well. The best time to visit here is in evening and if that evening is of a monsoon one or a cloudy one that will be the best for any visitor. There are exact twenty caves which belong to the different gods like-

cave 1 - southernmost cave

cave 2 - north of cave 1, the interior is eroded by the harsh weather.

cave 3 - Shivaism

cave 4 - Shivaism and Shaktism

cave 5 - Vaishnavism which also contains Vishnu as Varaha

Goddess earth as Prithvi

Brahma

Shiva

Adityas

Agni

Vayu

Ashtavasus

Ekadasa Rudras or eleven Rudras

Ganadevatas

Rishis

Samudra

Gupta Empire minister Virasena

Gupta Empire king Chandragupta II

Nagadeva

Lakshmi

More Hindu sages

Sage Narada

Sage Tumburu

cave 6 - Shaktism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism

cave 7 - Shaktism

cave 8 - carvings

cave 9 to 11 - damaged Vishnu sculptures

cave 12 - Vaishnavism

cave 13 - Vaishnavism

cave 14 to 18 - sculptures

cave 19 - Shivaism

cave 20 - Jainism

these are the twenty caves all about. Totally worth to go there and explore history.