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Tuesday 13 February 2018

Chart 758 - Caves of Maharashtra 1

Caves of Maharashtra Chart
Caves of Maharashtra 1 Chart

Spectrum Chart - 758 : Caves of Maharashtra 1

1. Aurangabad Caves - Aurangabad caves are twelve rock-cut Buddhist shrines located on a hill running roughly east to west, close to the city of Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Aurangabad Caves were dug out of comparatively soft basalt rock during the 6th and 7th century. The carvings at the Aurangabad Caves are notable for including Hinayana style stupa, Mahayana art work and Vajrayanagoddesses. These caves are among those in India that show 1st millennium CE Buddhist artwork with goddesses such as Durga and gods such as Ganesha, although Buddhist caves in other parts of India with these arts are older. Numerous Buddhist deities of the Tantra tradition are also carved in these caves.

2. Ajanta Caves - Ajanta Caves are about 29 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. The caves include paintings and rock cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotion through gesture, pose and form. According to UNESCO, these are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that influenced Indian art that followed. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

3. Bahrot Caves - Bahrot Caves, locally known as Bhardana, near Dahanu, Maharashtra are the only Parsi/Zoroastrian Cave temple in India. They were unused Buddhist caves excavated by Buddhist monks. Zoroastrians hid for 13 years in these mountains after an invasion of their settlement at Sanjan by Alaf Khan, a general of Muhammad bin Tughluq in 1393 CE. The ‘Iranshah Flame’ was also moved to Bahrot during this period (1393 – 1405 AD). Even today, the Holy Fire is burning and it is given the most eminent grade of devoted fire in the world. Bahrot Caves have been declared a heritage site and is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.

4. Bedse Caves - Bedse Caves, also known as Bedsa Caves, are situated in Maval taluka, Pune District, Maharashtra. They are some 9 km from the Bhaja Caves, another group of Buddhist rock-cut monuments. The history of the caves can be traced back to the Satavahana period in the 1st century BCE. There are two main caves. The best known cave is the chaitya with a comparatively large stupa, the other cave is the monastery or vihara. They are marked by a profusion of decorative gavaksha or chaitya arch motifs.

5. Bhaja Caves - Bhaja Caves is a group of 22 rock-cut caves dating back to the 2nd century BC located in Pune district, near Lonavala. The caves are 400 feet above the village of Bhaja on an important ancient trade route running from the Arabian Sea eastward into the Deccan Plateau. It belongs to the Hinayana Buddhism sect in Maharashtra. The caves have a number of stupas, one of their significant features. The most prominent excavation is its chaitya, a good example of the early development of this form from wooden architecture, with a vaulted horseshoe ceiling. Its vihara has a pillared verandah in front and is adorned with unique reliefs. These caves are notable for their indications of the awareness of wooden architecture.

6. Elephanta Caves - Elephanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to Hindu god Shiva. The Elephanta Caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, that show syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist ideas and iconography. The caves are hewn from solid basalt rock. The main temple's orientation as well as the relative location of other temples are placed in a mandala pattern. The carvings narrate Hindu mythologies, with the large monolithic 20 feet Trimurti Sadashiva, Nataraja and Yogishvara being the most celebrated.

7. Ellora Caves – Ellora caves in Maharashtra, India, is one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple cave complexes in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments and artwork, dating from the 600-1000 CE period. There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills, 34 of which are open to public. These consist of 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, with each group representing deities and mythologies that were prevalent in the 1st millennium CE, as well as monasteries of each respective religion.

8. Gandharpale Caves - Gandharpale Caves is group of 30 Buddhist caves. They are situated on a hill near Mahad- Konkan across the Mumbai-Goa highway. There is Hinayana Buddhist caves that were excavated sometime in 150-300 AD. They are mostly Buddhist viharas located on a hill top. The caves have a few small stupas located in prayer halls called chaityagrihas..There also exist a few carvings of lord Buddha the Bodhisatvas along with attendants on the vihara walls and pillars, but they seem to have abraded with time.

9. Kanheri Caves - Kanheri Caves are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, on the island of Salsette in the western outskirts of Mumbai. They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century BCE to the 10th century CE. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit Krishnagiri, which means black mountain.

10. Dharashiv Caves - Dharashiv caves are the nexus of 7 caves located 8 km away from Osmanabad city in Balaghat mountains in Maharashtra. Dharashiv caves are believed to be built around 5th-7th century. First cave has been discovered in 10th century during the age of Rashtrakutas, while there are have been debates over caves whether they are Buddhist or Jain creations. It is believed that these caves were originally Buddhist, but were later converted into monuments of the Jain religion.

11. Karla Caves - Karla Caves are a complex of ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut caves at Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra. The shrines were developed over the period – from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The oldest of the cave shrines is believed to date back to 160 BC, having arisen near a major ancient trade route, running eastward from the Arabian Sea into the Deccan. There are altogether 16 caves in the group, with 3 of them being Mahayana caves. Most of the caves are lenas, with the major exception being the Great Chaitya, Cave No. 8. Today, the cave complex is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.

12. Kondana Caves - Kondana Caves are located in small village, Kondana, 33 km north of Lonavala and 16 km northwest of Karla Caves. This cave group has 16 Buddhist caves. The caves were excavated in first century B.C. The construction on wooden pattern is notabale. One can reach the cave by descending from Rajmachi village.

13. Lenyadri Caves – Lenyadri sometimes called Ganesa Lena, represents a series of about 30 rock-cut Buddhist caves, located about 5km north of Junnar in Pune district. Cave 7, originally a Buddhist vihara, has been adapted as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ganesha. It is one of the Ashtavinayak shrines, a set of the eight prominent Ganesha shrines in Western Maharashtra. Twenty-six of the caves are individually numbered. Caves 6 and 14 are chaitya-grihas (chapels), while the rest are viharas (dwellings for monks). The caves date from between the 1st and 3rd century AD; the Ganesha shrine situated in Cave 7 is dated to the 1st century AD, though the date of conversion to a Hindu shrine is unknown. All of the caves arise from HinayanaBuddhism.

14. Pataleshwar Caves – Pataleshwar Cave is a rock-cut cave temple, carved out in the 8th century in the Rashtrakuta period. It is located in what is now Pune, in the state of Maharashtra. It has been declared as a protected monument by the government. The temple, made of basalt rock, is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The sanctum - a cube-shaped room about 3–4 metres on each side - houses a linga - the symbol of Shiva. The huge complex of the cave has been converted into a garden and there are a few architectural members stored in it.

15. Pandavleni Caves - Pandavleni caves are a group of 24 caves carved between the 1st century BCE and the 3nd century CE, though additional sculptures were added up to about the 6th century, reflecting changes in Buddhist devotional practices. They are a significant group of early examples of Indian rock-cut architecture initially representing the so-called Hinayana tradition. Most of the caves are viharas except for Cave 18 which is a chaitya of the 1st century BCE. The style of some of the elaborate pillars or columns, for example in caves 3 and 10, is an important example of the development of the form. The location of the caves is a holy Buddhist site and is located about 8 km south of the center of Nashik, Maharashtra.

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