Part 3 - Bedse, Karla and Bhaje Caves - A Trilogy (Bhaje Caves)

Continued from Part 2

Bhaje Caves

Bhaje Caves are a complex of 18 Buddhist rock cut caves clustered on a hill – 2 chaitya, 13 Viharas and some dining halls. These caves are even older than Karla. The oldest cave dates back to 2^nd century BC.

From Karla we headed towards the Malavli crossing again and towards the Bhaje caves. During the journey we crossed the Malavli rail station.

After around half an hour, we reached a small village where a small diversion leads to the stairs of the Bhaje village, we were now quite accustomed to the stairs and were somewhat prepared for another daunting climb.

Further down the same diversion, one can go to the base of the famous Lohagad fort.

Again there were 350 stairs through which we started the climb. We were exhausted but full of expectations.

We took several breaks during the upward climb and were surrounded by enthralling beauty of the nature.

At the top, just before the main entrance, a small checkpost is present from where you have to buy a ticket of 5/-.

We entered through the gates and were completely speechless seeing the caves. This was the best of the three in our opinion.

The chaitya in cave number 12 is the biggest of all and undoubtedly the main attraction of the complex. The width of the hall is 8.17 meters while the length is 18 meters. 27 octagonal pillars in the chaitya are architecturally pretty simple though they are a work of sheer beauty. The height of the pillars is around 5.9 meters. There are Buddhist symbols carved beautifully on these pillars. Use of wood can be called one of the distinctive features of these caves. Some of the wooden parts, however, are now in ruins. Just like other other chaityas, there is big stupa inside the chiatya.

There are a cluster of 13-14 stupas carved in a single cave side by side. These stupas used to be constructed in the memory of the Buddhist Acharyas. You can see the names of these Acharyas carved out on these stupas.

There is a small waterfall besides the last cave, which gives the place an additional attraction. It is said that the monks used to take bath in this waterfall and also it was the source of their drinking water. To think of it, any one is bound to go back to the old days imagining how the ambience would have been at that time.

The surrounding does give you a peace of mind. One will just want to seat and relax here which we did.

Here are the snaps.

Coming down we could see another waterfall created by nature's wonder in rainy season, which have now become a place for the tourists to get wet.

In exquisiteness these Caves are no less than the more famous Ajanta and Ellora caves. We were really spellbound and we really thanked ourselves for selecting this place for a visit. But, sadly there are many questions which can be raised as to the quality of the maintenance. One can evidently see the lack of maintenance by the Archeological Survey of India. There is absolutely no preservation of these historical and cutural heritages.

We sat at the top for an hour or so and then climbed down and headed back to the Kamshet station.

And thus ended the trilogy of Karla, Bhaje and Bedse Caves.

Return to Pune

Fortunately, the track was repaired and the trains started running to and fro. We caught a local from Kamshet to Pune and were safely back :)

We had an awesome day of travelling and we were really glad that we managed to cover all three caves in a  single day.

Our complete itinerary:

Start from Pune Station: 6.30 am

Reach Vadgaon: 7.15 am

Reach Kamshet: 8.00 am

Reach Bedse Caves base: 8.35 am

Reach Bedse Caves Top: 9.30 am

Leave Bedse Caves: 10.30 am

Reach Karla: 11 am

Reach Karla top: 11.45 am

Reach Karla Base: 1.15 pm

Lunch: 30 mins

Leave Karla: 1.45 pm

Reach Bhaje Base: 2.05 pm

Reach Bhaje Top: 3.00 pm

Leave Bhaje: 4 pm

Train at Kamshet: 4.45 pm

Reach Pune: 6 pm

Some Important Information

How to get there: If you are coming from Mumbai, cross Lonavala and come to Malavli crossing, you can visit Karla at the left and then Bhaje at you right. After that go to Kamshet and take a right turn towards Bedse Caves. If you do not have a vehicle, come to Lonavala by bus/train and take any train/shared auto/bus to Malavli. If you are coming from Pune, you can visit as we did. There are ample public transports (auto) available so absolutely no need to worry if you don't have a car/bike.

Where to Eat: There is no shops/eateries around Bedse, but there are many shops and stalls at the foothills and on the way to Karla. Around Bhaje, there are some small tupris. But do not expect a royal lunch whatsover.

Where to Stay: Accommodations are plenty at Lonavala and also MTDC runs a resort at Karla.

Part 2 - Bedse, Karla and Bhaje Caves - A Trilogy (Karla Caves)

Continued from Part 1

Karla Caves

From Bedse Caves we headed towards Malavli (Mumbai bound direction). Once we reach the Malavli Phata (Malavli Crossing), the road towards right goes to Karla Caves and the left goes to Bhaje Caves.

We did have some food during this journey and lots of water to gain some of the energy back.

From this Malavli crossing, the Karla Caves are just 1.5 Kms away. The auto again was parked just in front of the stairs. This time there were 350 stairs, but they are also as steep as hell - initially it looked easy but the more you climb the steeper it will be. The snap below is of the initial staircases.

We started climbing. Since Karla is the most famous of these 3 caves and there was a temple at the top, it was not as isolated as the Bedse Caves. And the place was thronged by numerous people of different age groups. There were a lot of small food stalls, tupris in between where you can have food and water and take some rest. Also many stalls sell sweets to offer to the God.

As we climbed up, the sheer beauty of the scenery again started unfolding in front of us.

There was one tiny and cute waterfall as well in between.

Once we reached at the main entrance, we found there is an entry fee of 5/- for every person.

These caves are again a complex of ancient Buddhist rock-cut architecture carved over two separate periods - from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, and from the 5th century AD to the 10th century AD. The oldest of the cave shrines is believed to date back to 160 BC!! Built in the time of the Hinayana sect, during the Satavahanas rule, these caves do not actually show the Buddha (by the 7th century AD, the Mahayana sect took over and representations of Buddha became more common).

The main cave has a magnificent Chaitya with huge pillars and intricately carved sculptures dating back to the 1st century BC.The Chaitya is 45-meter (148 foot) long, possibly the finest and largest of its kind in the country. Compared to the Bedse Caves, the Karla caves are really gigantic. Also these caves are multi-storied, not just a single story like Bedse.

The facade of the caves is formed by carved temple screens, sculpted with railing ornaments and human couples. Outer and inner screens form an antechamber to the main cave. The panels of the wooden doors and windows are finely decorated with intricate sculptures of couples embracing.

Within the complex are a great many other magnificently carved prayer halls or chaityas as well as viharas or dwelling places for the caves' monks. The facade of the caves is formed by carved temple screens, sculpted with railing ornaments and human couples. Outer and inner screens form an antechamber to the main cave. 

A notable feature of these caves is their arched entrances and vaulted interiors.

The outside facade has intricate details carved into it in an imitation of finished wood. The central motif is a large horseshoe arch.

There is a lion column at the front at the entrance from the Buddhist period, accompanied by a recently built temple. These lions are the very same national emblem which we all are familiar with.

By the central doorway, there are sculptures of the Buddha preaching while seated on a lion-supported throne, along with magnificent carvings of three elephants. On each side, fifteen pillars separate the narrow aisles from the central arch. The pillars are adorned with motifs of elephants, men and women riding, etc.  Here are some of snaps of the carving from inside and outside the caves.

As it started raining we took shelter in one of the caves and imagined that the caves were excavated for the Buddhist monks, who also used to gather here during the monsoons – but 2000 years back!! It really was an awesome feeling.

We wandered a bit more around the places. There is a paid parking for private cars which you can drive upto, in that case you only have to climb half the stairs.

The pic below shows the stairs from the top.

There was a small monsoon waterfall at the top which is a good place for a photo session.

Getting down through the stairs are always easier and we had indulged ourselves for some more photo sessions.

Coming to the foothills, we had lunch with typical Maharashtrian food with a combination of Misal Pav, Wada Pav etc at a food stall.

Then we started for the last section of our trip – the Bhaje Caves. (to be continued in Part 3)

Part 1 - Bedse, Karla and Bhaje Caves - A Trilogy (Bedse Caves)

Around Lonavala there are so many fascinating spots to enjoy - and each one of them has something unique to offer. If you are a nature lover, you have fabulous hill points,waterfalls and numerous points to quench your thirst. If you are a history freak, there are severals forts and caves to appease you. If you love adventures, there are ample opportunities of trekking and camping, even paragliding.

But I love all of these - so the number of options are always open. Hence we planned to visit these ancient caves on a Saturday. I have read that these 3 places can not be covered in a single day, yet we decided to make the most of the day and try to cover all of these.

The initial plan was to catch an early local train from Pune and get down at Malavali station, then visit the Karla and Bhaje Caves after which we'd go to the Bedse Caves near Kamshet and catch a local from Kamshet to Pune in the evening.

I will write about each of the caves in a separate post.

Start of the Journey

We reached Pune station at 6.15 am in the morning and bought 2 tickets for a Lonavala bound local to Malavali - Lonavala is just the next station to Malavali towards Mumbai. These are the list of the stations in between (it takes about 1.5 hours to reach Lonavala from Pune by one of these locals) :

• Pune
• Shivaji Nagar
• Khadki
• Dapodi
• Kasarwadi
• Pimpri
• Chinchwad
• Akurdi
• Dehu Road
• Begdewadi
• Ghorawadi
• Talegaon
• Vadgaon
• Kanhe
• Kamshet
• Malavali
• Lonavala

We managed to catch the 6.30 am local train. It started right on time, after half an hour we came to know from some of daily passengers that the train was running ahead of the scheduled time!!. It reached Vadgaon around 7.15 am. The scenic beauties were absolutely fabulous. In the monsoon, the whole Maharashtra turns green and it really is a treat to watch.

Because of some unknown reason, the train did not move for 15 minutes and we saw people started leaving the train. We enquired and found out that there were some damages in the tracks which could not be repaired until 3 pm!!! We remembered our Matheran trip and thought 'oh no, not again'!!!

We came outside the station and after some 15 minutes of impatient waiting found a shared auto to Kamshet where we had a small breakfast and hired an auto for the whole day. And the real trip began.

Bedse Caves

Since our plan was altered due to the train event, our first destination was Bedse Caves. If you are going towards Mumbai, you have to take a right turn from the old Mumbai - Pune Highway (NH4) to Bedse Village. Alternatively you can ask for the 'Leni' (Leni means Caves in Marathi). The auto went through a beautiful ghat section. If you see a board pointing to the direction of 'Tikonagad' immediately after the right turn, you are on the right track.

The auto reached the Bedse village and took a right turn from there. The road was extremely narrow for a car. So if you are going by a car, you have to park before this right turn. After 2-3 kms (which you have to walk if you are going with your own vehicle), the road ended. From here we had to walk for 10 mins to reach the stairs.

The climb was not so easy as the stairs were steep and there are almost 450 of them (we counted). Soon we found ourselves gasping. We took many breaks in between and did not hurry at all. The view of the Bedse village from the midway and top are really nice.

In the above snap, the backdrop is the Tung - Tikona fort.

It took us almost an hour to reach the top from the base. We were about to enter but we came across a bizarre situation. One cow was blocking the entrance violently and it would not let us enter. We tried to move it away but with no effect. One more couple came and they were also in the same position as ours. Four of us tried hard to make it go away but it stood still. Finally that couple had some fruits with them and they threw the same to the animal to lure it away. It worked. The cow went aside and we entered.

Bedese Caves are rock cut caves by the Buddhist monks during 1st century BC.

There are two main caves. The big one at the centre is the chaitya (prayer hall) with a large stupa,

while the other cave is a monastery - vihara.

The carvings in the chaitya are worth seeing and they do make us remind of our ancient glory.

"Until around 1861 he caves were regularly maintained - even painted. These works were ordered by local authorities in order to please British officers who often visited these caves. This has caused loss of the remnants of plaster with murals on it" - from Wikipedia.

There is a small stupa outside the chaitya.

There was nothing more to see around the Bedse Caves, so we had a photosession of our own.

We bade adieu to Bedse Caves and started climbing down.

We came back to our auto and started towards the next destination Karla Caves. (to be continued in Part 2).