Karla Caves

The Karla Caves, Karli Caves, Karle Caves or Karla Cells, are a complex of ancient Buddhist Indian rock-cut caves at Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra. It is just 10.9 Kilometers away from Lonavala. Other caves in the area are Bhaja Caves, Patan Buddhist Cave, Bedse Caves and Nasik Caves. The shrines were developed over the period from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. The oldest of the cave shrines is believed to date back to 160 BCE, having arisen near a major ancient trade route, running eastward from the Arabian Sea into the Deccan.

The group at Karla is one of the older and smaller of the many rock-cut Buddhist sites in Maharashtra. It is one of the best-known because of the famous "Grand Chaitya" (Cave 8), the largest and most completely preserved chaitya hall of the period, containing unusual quantities of fine sculpture on a large scale.

Many traders, Western Satraps of Saka origin and Satavahana rulers made grants for construction and support of these caves. Karla's location in Maharashtra places it in a region that marks the division between North India and South India. Buddhists, having become identified with commerce and manufacturing through their early association with traders, tended to locate their monastic establishments in natural geographic formations close to major trade routes so as to provide lodging houses for travelling traders. Today, the cave complex is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.

The caves were historically associated with the Mahāsāṃghika sect of Buddhism which had great popularity in this region of India, as well as wealthy patronage. The caves house a Buddhist monastery dating back to the 2nd century BC. The monastery was once home to two 15-meter grand pillars outside the chaitya. Now only one of these remains, and the remaining space is occupied by a temple dedicated to the goddess Ekveera, who is worshipped most notably by the Aagri and Koli community of Mumbai.

The Karla cave complex is built into a rocky hillside around 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Pune, with large windows cut into the rock to light the cave interiors. The caves are among a large numbers of similar caves excavated in the Sahyadri Hills in the early 1st millennium CE. 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.

The main cave, called the Great Chaitya cave, or Cave No. 8, features a large, intricately carved chaitya within a prayer hall, dating back to 50-70 CE. This is the largest rock-cut chaitya in India, measuring 45 metres (148 ft) long and up to 14 metres (46 ft) high. The hall features sculptures of both males and females, as well as animals such as lions and elephants.

This Great Chaitya cave, the largest in South Asia, was probably constructed between 50 and 70 CE according to the paleography of the various donatory inscriptions. Numerous donors, mainly local merchants, several of them Yavanas (Greeks), as well as numerous Buddhist monks and nuns, provided donations for the construction of the chaitya cave, as recorded by their dedicatory inscriptions. An inscription among the sculpted decorations at the left end of the veranda mentions the completion of "this stone mansion" by a local merchant or banker (a "setthi") named Bhutapala, from Vaijayanti, but this may only refer to the completion of the ornate sculptures of the veranda.

Upon completion, an inscription mentioning the Western Satraps ruler Nahapana was placed next to the central gate, reporting the dedication of a village to the monks of the Karla chaitya by Nahapana's son-in-law Ushavadata. But neither Nahapana nor Ushavadata are directly mentioned as having created or completed the Karla chaitya itself, although Ushavadata is otherwise known to have built and dedicated a cave with similar design characteristics not far away: Nasik Cave No. 10.