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 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).