Siyot Caves

{{short description|Caves in Gujarat, India}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}

{{Infobox cave

| name = Siyot Caves

| photo = 2nd to 7th-century Siyot Caves, Atdo Kutch, Gujarat 009.jpg

| photo_caption = Entrance of the cave

| location = Siyot village, Kutch district, Gujarat, India

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| map_caption = Location in Gujarat

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| label = Siyot caves

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The Siyot Caves, sometimes referred to as the Kateshwar Buddhist Caves, are five rock-cut caves located near Siyot village in the Lakpat Taluka of Kutch district, Gujarat, India.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ignca.nic.in/mausam/Mausam_Concept.pdf |title=Maritime Landscapes and Coastal Architecture: The Long Coastline of India |last=Ray |first=Himanshu Prabha |website=IGNCA |page=3 }} The caves are believed to belong to the first century AD.{{Cite web|title=Siyot caves|url=http://www.cpreecenvis.nic.in/Database/Siyotcaves_2748.aspx}}

The main cave has east facing sanctum, ambulatory and space divisions which suggests a Shiva temple from the first or second century.{{cite book |author1=Susan Verma Mishra |author2=Himanshu Prabha Ray |title=The Archaeology of Sacred Spaces: The Temple in Western India, 2nd Century BCE–8th Century CE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtDLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 |date=5 August 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-19374-6 |page=74}} The cave was used by Buddhists later which can be concluded based on the seals found herein and the traces of Brahmi inscriptions. Other caves are simple single cells which were probably the part of eighty Buddhist caves located near the mouth of the Indus River as reported by Xuanzang in seventh century.{{cite book |author=Aruna Deshpande |title=Buddhist India Rediscovered |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbUQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 |date=1 November 2013 |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |isbn=978-81-8495-247-6 |page=133}}{{cite web |title=Siyot Caves |website=Gujarat Tourism |url=http://www.gujarattourism.com/destination/details/6/347 |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=Siot caves, Lakhpat taluka |website=Megalithic Portal Gallery |date=28 October 2007 |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=23167 |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=Siot caves, Lakhpat taluka |website=The Megalithic Portal |date=28 October 2007 |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=26555 |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=On Modi website, a piece on Gujarat's Buddhist link |website=The Indian Express |date=15 September 2014 |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/narendra-modis-website-aligns-gujarats-buddhist-history-with-china/ |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=Mausam to link 10 Gujarat sites to Indian Ocean world |website=The Times of India |date=24 July 2014 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mausam-to-link-10-Gujarat-sites-to-Indian-Ocean-world/articleshow/38948880.cms |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=Gujarat to be projected as Buddhist pilgrimage destination |website=The Times of India |date=11 January 2010 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-to-be-projected-as-Buddhist-pilgrimage-destination/articleshow/5431690.cms |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=India plans to preserve Buddhist caves |website=Buddhist Channel |date=30 March 2011 |url=http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=4,10028,0,0,1,0 |accessdate=1 November 2015}}{{cite web |title=A Virtual Tour, Gujarat Govt Preserving Rich Buddhist Heritage |website=India Behind The Lens (News Centre) IBTL |date=20 April 2012 |url=http://www.ibtl.in/news/states/2046/a-virtual-tour-gujarat-govt-preserving-rich-buddhist-heritage |accessdate=1 November 2015}} Local people believe that these caves were used by dacoits to hide things looted from people in past.{{cite web |title=સિયોત ગુફા |website=Ha Ame Gujarati |url=http://haamegujarati.com/placesdetail-81 |language=gu |accessdate=1 November 2015}}

Excavations in 1988–89 recovered clay seals engraved with Buddha images in various mudras and seals engraved with late Brahmi and Devnagari inscriptions. Other findings were copper rings, Gadhaiya coins, terracotta Nandi with bell and chain, different types of earthen wares like Surahi. Based on stratigraphic evidence, it is established that the site was occupied by Buddhist before it was again occupied by Shaivaites around twelfth or thirteenth century.{{Cite journal |year=1993 |editor-last=Joshi |editor-first=M. C. |title=Excavation at Siyot, District Kutch |url=http://www.asi.nic.in/nmma_reviews/Indian%20Archaeology%201988-89%20A%20Review.pdf |journal=Indian Archaeology 1988–89: A Review |publisher=The Director General, Archaeological Survey of India | page=10 |place=New Delhi}} The site was repaired after 2001 Gujarat earthquake.{{cite web |title=સ્થાપત્યોની જાળવણી માટે અઢી કરોડ... પણ! |website=divyabhaskar.co.in |date=24 January 2011 |url=http://www.divyabhaskar.co.in/news-fb/KUT-BUJ-one-crores-for-care-of-architecture-but-ignore-of-asi-1785635.html |language=gu |accessdate=1 November 2015}}

There is a primitive stepwell located nearby.