Qualla: Kondana Caves

Kondana Caves: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Shlokmane, CC BY-SA 4.0. Water has been both architect and enemy here. The Kondana Caves sit in the face of a steep scarp near the village of Kondhane, 33 kilometers north of Lonavala, and even during the dry season, moisture trickles down the rock face above them. Over two thousand years, that water has eaten away at pillars, dissolved the bases of columns, and eroded details that once matched the finest work in the region. The damage is so extensive that scholars have debated for more than a century whether Kondana or the nearby Bhaja Caves came first -- the two are so similar in plan and so close in age that their construction periods may have overlapped. What survives at Kondana is less a finished monument than a fragment, and the fragment is extraordinary.

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Image: Shlokmane | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kondana Caves: Hidden Behind the Forest

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand, CC BY 2.0. The caves were first brought to European attention in the 19th century by Vishnu Sastri, and soon after visited by Mr. Law, the collector of Thane. They are carved into the face of a cliff at the base of the old hill fort of Rajmachi, about 14 kilometers from Karjat station on th...

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Image: Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand | CC BY 2.0

Kondana Caves: A Prayer Hall in Ruin and Wonder

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chinmaya Panda, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cave No. 1, the Chaitya, is the complex's most significant structure. It measures 66.5 feet from the front pillars to the back of the apse, 26 feet 8 inches wide, and 28 feet 5 inches high to the crown of its arched roof. The nave stretches 49 feet before a dagoba -- a stupa -- 9...

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Image: Chinmaya Panda | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kondana Caves: The Sculptor's Signature

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kiranpawar3210, CC BY-SA 4.0. On the left side of the facade, partially destroyed, is a fragment of sculpture in high relief: the head of a single figure, about twice life-size. The features are gone, but the details of the headdress show careful, meticulous finishing. Over the left shoulder, a single line in...

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Image: Kiranpawar3210 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kondana Caves: Where Monks Slept in Stone Beds

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand, CC BY 2.0. Cave No. 2, a Vihara or monastic residence, lies a short distance to the northeast. Its veranda, 18 feet long and supported by the unusual number of five octagonal pillars, is mostly destroyed except at the left end. Inside, a hall 23 feet wide by 29 deep holds 15 pillars arrange...

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Image: Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand | CC BY 2.0