karla caves

Within a short distance (~45kms) from Pune, nestled cozily between the Sahyadri hills, are the ancient buddhist caves of Karla. These rock-cut caves were primarily a buddhist monastery, the oldest being built around 160 B.C.

karla caves

The main cave is the prayer hall or the “chaitya”, with a lot of sculptures pertaining to buddhism and the Indian mythology. The wooden umbrella arches inside the chaitya have stood through the ages, without any significant withering, probably due to the ideal conditions within the caves. You can see these wooden arches in the image below.

karla caves

karla caves

karla caves

karla caves

The other caves are dwellings or the “viharas”, where the wandering monks used to stay. Saying that, the karla caves, like many other buddhist caves, are located in the major trade routes of the bygone years so as to provide shelter for the travelling traders.

karla caves

Like the buddhist rock-caves of Ajanta and Ellora, much of the restoration and preservation of these caves have been funded by Japan.

karla caves
Silhouette of pratyahara playing with sarah, along with the beautiful landscape in the background, as seen from one of the upper caves adjacent to the Chaitya.

For more of these caves and sculptures, please visit: http://www.images.rocksea.org/maharashtra/karla/

Location map for Karla Caves (It’s just 7 kms from Lonavala, and 3kms diversion from the NH4):

Karla Caves
Maharashtra, India

27 Responses

  1. y.sailendra says:

    P.S. I checked, it is the British Museum in London,
    sailendra

  2. y.sailendra says:

    Dear Roxy,
    it is the main museum where art treasures from all over the world are displayed, including the Elgin Marbles from Greece .
    Bye,
    sailendra.

  3. y.sailendra says:

    Hello rocksea,
    your pictures and commentary are great. As you say, the caves date back to 150 bc.,when the satavahana empire ruled most of india with its capital first at Paithan,(pratishthana), and then at Amaravati, Guntur Dt. Andhra Pradesh.
    Please visit the National Museum at Chennai, where you will see an enormous amount of sculpture from the same era, rescued from the ruined stupa at amaravati, Guntur. The similarity of style will be immediately obvious.
    The best examples of this sculpture are displayed in the Imperial Museum at London.
    Thanks for posting the images !
    y.sailendra.

    • rocksea says:

      Dear Sailendra,

      Thanks for the comments and the useful information. If I got Chennai any time, I will try to visit the National Museum. But it seems I might visit London before Chennai, by end of next year. Is it the Imperial War Museum that you are talking about?

      Roxy

  4. Senorita says:

    Hey Rocksea,
    Very nice post and all the pics. Thanks for sharing them. Last year, i had been to the place called Bedse caves which are before Pawana Dam. I had also visited Lohagad fort. It was very nice experience for me. This year in this monsoon, i am planning to visit all the caves near Lonavala area. Your post will definitely be of help for my trip. Thanks for sharing the post and keep sharing destination like this.

  5. namitha says:

    hey roxy,
    i am an avid reader on all things historical and it was rocks that have attracted me most.still now i was reading all about european places especially scotland….sometimes even fantacy like travelling back in time while accidentaly sitting on a rock and all.till this moment though i’ve heard of Ellora,Ajanta from school history books ive never fancied that its so beautiful and it too have cherishing history.from now on u’ve got a loyal shadow in each of ur explorations .
    namitha.

    • rocksea says:

      We drove to the ajanta and ellora caves 2 weeks before. They are 5-6 hours from pune. Will post them sometime 🙂 It is magnificent how they carved art out of these rocks in the ancient times…

  6. The arches and the path way to the stupa (it’s stupa right?) is amazing! Hope I could visit one day…

  7. PNA says:

    Hey,

    I don’t even know how I lost track.. but here I am back at your doorstep..
    I loved the Karla caves, more so reading up on it and the history after getting back down… the view is awesome and that window up there haaa 🙂

    • rocksea says:

      Hey, Just when I saw your avatar in the comment I realized that you had long back visited the karla caves and had given an account on it, and that I had commented on it too. That time I didn’t know the abcd of maharashtra/pune. Now we are roaming around every now and then hehe.

  8. Abhilash says:

    Nice pictures.

    I would also like to visit Karla caves watching these photos.

  9. blandina says:

    Sarah, this place is terrific and your photos so well done. I am fascinated by old rocks that speak of history and humanity. Thanks for sharing this visit on your blog.

  10. krsnaknows says:

    The other side of Karla are the bedsa and bhaja caves too. You can aproach from Malavali station but it is not motorable. Also the two forts there are a great destination.Lohagad and Visapur.

  11. Hey Rocksea!

    Liked the post, have been to Kondana and other caves nearby Mumbai-Pune; couldnt to Karla. Your photographs are very nice, great work….

  12. Great photos…enjoyed the post!

  13. Sneha says:

    nice shots.. i have also recently taken on culture and history travel and can totally appreciate the ideas in the post

  1. January 10, 2011

    […] | Category: india, photography /* *//* */We were enchanted by the ancient rock-cut caves at Karla, that we decided to visit the Bedsa (bedse) caves which are also within 50kms from Pune, towards […]

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