The Son Bhandar caves, also Sonebhandar, are two artificial caves located in Rajgir in the state of Bihar in India. They belonged to the Jains. The caves are generally dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE, based on the dedicatory inscription found in the largest cave which uses Gupta script of the 4th century CE, although some authors have suggested the caves could actually go back to the period of the Maurya empire from 319 to 180 BCE.[1][2] The main cave is rectangular with a pointed ceiling, and the entrance is trapezoidal, reminiscent of the structure of the Barabar Caves (the first artificial caves of India, dated the 3rd century BCE).[3] The quality of the "Mauryan polish" and the finish are nevertheless much inferior.[3] The stone of Son Bhandar is also much less hard than the granite of the Barabar caves, and therefore did not require the same degree of effort and technique

An inscription in the rock at the entrance of the cave in Gupta characters of the 4th century of our era mentions the construction of the cellar by a Jain Muni ("wise man") named Vairadeva. This inscription naturally led to date the cave to the same period of the 4th century CE.

Muni Vairadeva, the jewel among the acaryas and of great lustre, caused to be made the two auspicious caves which are worthy of ascetics and in which were placed the images of arhats (ie tirthankaras)

— Inscription of the main Son Bhandar cave (4th century CE).[3]
According to Gupta, however, this inscription may be ambiguous and, for him, might only mean that the cave was the subject of re-development work at that time. For this reason, he tends to date the cave on the basis of its similarities with the caves of Barabar (general shape, trapezoidal entrance door, polishing, although extremely limited) to the time of Ashoka (260 BCE), or even a little earlier, making it the possible precursor of all artificial caves in India such as the Barabar Caves.[3] Le Huu Phuoc also entertains the possibility, to challenge the traditional idea that stone mirror-polishing techniques were imported from the Near East.[5] The consensus, however, favours the traditional datation of 2nd to 4th century of our era, based on the epigraphic evidence.

The ancient Saptaparni Cave, a natural cave dating back to the days of the Buddha, is only a few kilometers away.

Main Cave
The cave dates were built during rule of Maurya empire during 319 to 180 BCE.[2][6] The The Chaumukha (quadruple) idol discovered inside the cave has a domical top and the stela on each side shows a dharmachakra. Each side has carvings of animal representing the symbol of respective tirthankar - Ajitnatha with two elephants flank the wheel, Sambhavanatha with two monkeys, Shantinatha, with two deers and Rishabhanatha with chawri bearer on each side and flying garland-bearer over the head. This idol dates back to 7th—8th century CE

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