According to Julia Shaw, the Udayagiri sculptures are significant because they suggest that the avatara concept was fully developed by about 400 CE. The full display of iconography across multiple caves for Vishnu, Shiva and Durga suggests that Hinduism was thriving along with Buddhism in post-Mauryan era in ancient India. The Udayagiri temples represent, state Francis Ching and other scholars, the "earliest intact Hindu architecture" and display the "essential attributes of a Hindu temple" in the form of sanctum, mandapa and a basic plan. According to James Harle, the Udayagiri caves are significant for being "a common denominator of the early Gupta style". He states that Udayagiri temples are, along with those as Tigawa and Sanchi, probably the earliest of surviving Hindu temples. The Udayagiri temples are the only that can be confidently linked to the Gupta Empire, states George Michell. While new ancient temples are being identified every year on the Indian subcontinent but their dating remains uncertain. the Udayagiri Caves can be dated and they are earliest accepted examples of surviving rock-based north Indian temple.