Basically Goa attracts tourists the sea and its beautiful beaches, but the state is also famous for a huge amount of cultural, historical and religious monuments. For example, in its territory, in the northern part, near Bicol located a unique place - Caves Arvalem.

They represent a kind of man-made catacombs, which connects local people a lot of legends. According to the most common, these caves were built by the Hindu epic Mahabharata heroes - the five Pandava brothers, who took refuge in this place during his 12-year exile. Therefore, these caves are sometimes called Pandavas. According to another theory, the creation of caves Arvalemskih credited itinerant Buddhist monks. Most scientists are inclined to this version is the origin of the caves, because of their structure, they resemble a typical Buddhist monastery.

Caves are divided into five main sections, each of which is the sacred stone linga - not an anthropomorphic symbol of Lord Shiva - delivered upright stone with a hemispherical or rounded tip. At one of these, "Ling" has inscription in Sanskrit using the symbols of Indian Brahmi syllabic writing. In addition, each tortuous course in the caves leads to Vihara - the ancient name of the cell, or temporary shelter wandering monks, where they slept and ate, and later the term came to mean monasteries and temple complexes, which are sometimes inhabited by thousands of monks.

According to archaeological research, the age of the buildings is about 15-16 centuries, since they were set up around the V or VI century.