File:Sitabenga cave entrance, archive photo, Chhattisgarh.jpg

English: Discovered by British archaeologist T. Bloch and others in what is now north Chhattisgarh, this is close to the Jogimara cave. The cave is mostly natural, but has been carved out into the shape of a theatre and performance stage. In addition, the nearby Jogimara cave has a Brahmi inscription in the Magadhi language, which speaks of a dance artist and other artists. Further, the ceiling of the Jogimara and Sitabenga cave is painted in eight colored panels (now much faded, part in residues). These have no Buddhist or Jain icons or symbols typically found in ancient religious caves of India. At the time of discovery of this cave in the 19th-century, 8th to 12th century Hindu sculpture and icons were discovered along the trail to the cave and inside the cave, but these were likely added later. At least one of the original painted panels (chitra) shows a boy on a tree branch with nude girls huddled around that tree. This is the playful boy Krishna hiding the clothes of gopi and they demanding he return them please, a famous legend in Hinduism.

Philology confirms that the inscription is from about the 2nd-century BCE, may be a bit older as Magadhi is older than the Pali.

T. Bloch and some scholars, relying on a combination of this evidence, have proposed that this was likely an ancient theatre of performance arts. For further discussion, see:

• Oxford University Press, Sitabenga cave

This is a photograph of an archived 2-dimensional print at the British Library. Since it was published in 1874 by Joseph Beglar, PD-Art guidelines of wikimedia commons apply. Any rights I have, I herewith donate it to the public domain (CC0) through wikimedia commons.