Karla And Bhaja comprise some of the finest rock cut architecture in the northwest of the Deccan region. Though not in parallel league with Ajanta and Ellora, they harbors some beautifully preserved ancient sculptures, and are definitely worth a look. the three sites lie some way from each other, all to the east of Lonavala. Covering Karla and Bhaja under your own steam by bus and or by train or you can auto rickshaw that cost around Rs 300. The best time to visit the caves is during weekdays as weekends are overcrowded with rowdy day tripper.

Karla Caves

Karla is 3 km north of Karla cave junction on the Mumbai Pune road and 11 km from Lonavala. The rock cut Buddhist chaitya ( temple) hall at Karla reached by steep steps that climb 110 m, is the largest and best preserved in India, dating from first century AD. Across the large courtyard, which itself hewn from the rock, the enormous fourteen meter high facade of the hall tower above, topped by horseshoe- shaped window and with three entrances below, one for the priest and the others for devotees. To the left of the entrance stands a simhas stambha, a tall column capped with four lions.

In the porch of the cave, dividing the three doorways, are panels of figures in six couples, presumed to have been the wealthy patrons of the hall. Two rows of octagonal columns with pot shaped base divide the interior into three, forming a wide central aisle and on the outside a hall that allowed devotees to walk around the monolith stupa at the back. Above each pillar’s fluted capital kneels a finely carved elephant mounted by two riders, one with arms draped over the other’s shoulder.

Bhaja

Bhaja caves are not elaborate as compare to Karla but they are most atmospheric. They lie 3 km south of Karla Caves Junction, reached by following a path up from the village square near the railway station at Malavli, just 1.5 km away.
The caves are among the oldest in India, dating from the late second to early first century BC, during the earliest, Hinayana, phase of Buddhism. Most consist of simple halls – vihara(monastery) with adjoining cells that contain plain shelf like beds, many are fronted by rough verandas. Bhaja’s apsidal chaitya hall, cave 12, which contain a stupa, but no figures, has 27 plain beveled pillars which lean inwards, mimicking the style of wooden buildings. Sockets in the stone of the exterior arch reveal that it once contained a wooden gate or facade. Further south, the last cave, cave 19, a vihara, is decorated with superb carvings. One of the amazing part of this Buddhist monasteries are, it has the figures of Hindu gods, Surya and Indra, who figure prominently in the Rig Veda ( 1000 BC)