News Highlights
A group of tourist amenities at Kanheri Caves was inaugurated by Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of the North Eastern Region .The inauguration coincided with the occasion of Buddha Purnima.
About Kanheri Caves
- The Kanheri Caves are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai
- There are 129 caves in Kanheri where the Buddhist monks lived, studied, meditated, and spread the teachings of Gautama Buddha. The caves were also used as shelters during the monsoon.
- History of Kanheri Caves
- Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit Krishnagiri, which means black mountain.
- These caves are the earliest example of superb rock-cut architecture in the Western Ghats.
- The caves were cut between 200 and 600 A.D, according to historians.
- They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century CE to the 10th century CE.
- Kanheri was mentioned in the travelogues of foreign traveller Fa-Hein who visited India during 399-411 CE
- By 1560, Buddhism had been gradually lost in Maharashtra, leading to the caves’ abandonment.
- Following India’s independence, the Archeological Survey of India decided to take over, revitalise, and conserve the heritage site.
- Inscriptions at Kanheri
- Nearly 51 legible inscriptions and 26 epigraphs are found at Kanheri, which include inscriptions in Brahmi, Devanagari and 3 Pahlavi epigraphs found in Cave 90.
- One of the significant inscriptions mentions the marriage of Satavahana ruler Vashishtiputra Satakarni with the daughter of Rudradaman I
- There are also two inscriptions of Yajna Sri Satakarni of the Satavahanas (170-199 CE), in cave No. 81 and in the Chaitya cave No. 3
- A 494-495 CE inscription found at Kanheri mentions the Traikutaka dynasty.
- Important caves and their features
- Cave No.1: Cave No.1 is a vihara, a Buddhist monastery
- Cave No.2: On the right of the court of the Great Chaitya is Cave No.2, pressing very closely upon it.
- Cave No.3:
- The most important one in the whole series, is the great Chaitya cave.
- Inscription of Yajna Sri Satakarani found here
- Cave No.4: On the left of the court of the Great Chaitya is a small circular cell containing a solid Dagoba
- Cave No.5 and cave No.6:
- An important inscription over these (No 16 of Gokhale) mentions that these were donated by a minister named Sateraka.
- The inscription also mentions the queen of Vashishtiputra Satakarni (130-160 CE), as descending from the race of the Karddamaka dynasty
- Cave No.11(Darbar Cave):
- cave bearing the name of the Maharaja or Darbar Cave
- It is not a Vihara in the ordinary sense of the term, though it has some cells, but a Dharmasala or place of assembly
- Cave No 41:
- pillars of the Elephanta type in front and by square ones behind of the pattern occurring in Cave 15 at Ajanta.
News Source – Deccan Herald