DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0242
220 EARLY BUDDHIST CAVE-TEMPLES.
south side of the railway and about a mile from it; Bedsa is on
the south side of the hills in which Bhaja is, and the others are
scattered about among the hills around.
Kondane.
About four miles from the Karjat station, on the Great Indian
Peninsula Railway, and at the base of the old hill fort of Rajmachi,
is the Kondane group of caves, first brought to notice about 30
years ago by the late Vishnu Sastri, and soon after visited by
Mr. Law, then collector of Thana.1 They are in the face of a steep
scarp, and quite hidden from view by the thick forest in front of
them. Water trickles down over the face of the rock above them
during a considerable part even of the dry season, and has greatly
injured them. So much so indeed that it is now difficult to determine
whether they or the caves at Bhaja are the earliest. They must be
nearly, if not quite contemporary, and as they must have taken some
time to excavate, their dates may overlap to some extent. The Vihara
at Kondane (Plate VIIL, figs. 1 and 2) certainly looks more modern,
while the Chaitya (Plate VIIL, fig. 3), which is very similar in
plan and dimensions to that at Bhaja, is so much ruined that it is
impossible now to decide which may have been first completed.
They face north-west, and the first to the south-west is a Chaitya-
cave of very considerable dimensions, being 66^ feet from the line
of the front pillars to the extremity of the apse, 26 feet 8 inches
wide, and 28 feet 5 inches high to the crown of the arch. The nave
in front of the dagoba is 49 feet in length by 14 feet 8 inches, and
the dagoba 9^ feet in diameter, with a capital of more than usual
height, the neck—representing the relic casket—being, as at Bhaja,
of double the ordinary height, and representing two coffers, one
above the other, carved on the sides with the Buddhist rail pattern.
The fillets that covered this are decayed, as is also the whole of the
lower part of the dagoba. The bases with the lower parts of all
the thirty columns that surrounded the nave, as well as that of one
of the two irregular columns that once ornamented the front, have
also decayed, and positions only of most of them can now be ascer-
tained. Between these two latter pillars a wooden screen or front
originally filled the opening to a height of about 10 or 12 feet, m
1 Dr. J. Wilson's Memoir in Jour. B. B. R. As. Soc., vol. iii. pt. ii. P- 46- ^
have also been fully described by W. F. Sinclair, Bo. C.S., Ind. Ant., vol. v. p. 309-
south side of the railway and about a mile from it; Bedsa is on
the south side of the hills in which Bhaja is, and the others are
scattered about among the hills around.
Kondane.
About four miles from the Karjat station, on the Great Indian
Peninsula Railway, and at the base of the old hill fort of Rajmachi,
is the Kondane group of caves, first brought to notice about 30
years ago by the late Vishnu Sastri, and soon after visited by
Mr. Law, then collector of Thana.1 They are in the face of a steep
scarp, and quite hidden from view by the thick forest in front of
them. Water trickles down over the face of the rock above them
during a considerable part even of the dry season, and has greatly
injured them. So much so indeed that it is now difficult to determine
whether they or the caves at Bhaja are the earliest. They must be
nearly, if not quite contemporary, and as they must have taken some
time to excavate, their dates may overlap to some extent. The Vihara
at Kondane (Plate VIIL, figs. 1 and 2) certainly looks more modern,
while the Chaitya (Plate VIIL, fig. 3), which is very similar in
plan and dimensions to that at Bhaja, is so much ruined that it is
impossible now to decide which may have been first completed.
They face north-west, and the first to the south-west is a Chaitya-
cave of very considerable dimensions, being 66^ feet from the line
of the front pillars to the extremity of the apse, 26 feet 8 inches
wide, and 28 feet 5 inches high to the crown of the arch. The nave
in front of the dagoba is 49 feet in length by 14 feet 8 inches, and
the dagoba 9^ feet in diameter, with a capital of more than usual
height, the neck—representing the relic casket—being, as at Bhaja,
of double the ordinary height, and representing two coffers, one
above the other, carved on the sides with the Buddhist rail pattern.
The fillets that covered this are decayed, as is also the whole of the
lower part of the dagoba. The bases with the lower parts of all
the thirty columns that surrounded the nave, as well as that of one
of the two irregular columns that once ornamented the front, have
also decayed, and positions only of most of them can now be ascer-
tained. Between these two latter pillars a wooden screen or front
originally filled the opening to a height of about 10 or 12 feet, m
1 Dr. J. Wilson's Memoir in Jour. B. B. R. As. Soc., vol. iii. pt. ii. P- 46- ^
have also been fully described by W. F. Sinclair, Bo. C.S., Ind. Ant., vol. v. p. 309-