Thursday 31 July 2008

The Kondana Caves Near Karjat

Kondana CavesSurprised that I have not even heard of the Kondana caves let alone visit them, I came across them while I was searching for information on how to get to Karjat, which we will soon put up. For now lets go on a journey to the 8 Buddhist caves of the Hinayana Buddhist tradition which is a one hour trek from the Kondane village.

Kondana Cave CarvingsThe Kondana caves enclose sculptures, vihara, cahitya and stupas, specimens of ancient Buddhist architecture. Although there was an earth quake in the early 1900s many stupas, the front entrance and the floor of the caves were damaged. But what remains intact is the beatuful Chaitya that welcomes you to the rock cut caves that were created around 200 BC - 100BC.

If your fond of ancient sculpture it sure will fascinate you, the carvings feature dancing men and woman all held together with octagonal pillars. Although now that the masses have visited this cave it seems the trek is quite littered, although there are still some very cool things like rappelling under the waterfall besides the Kondana caves that are organized by various trekking groups a quick Google search will come up with some results.Waterfall Rappelling

Apart from the lush green that the monsoon provides, you can spend your time getting a cold fresh water massage as you sit under the cascading waterfall. If you plan on doing this trek during another season it is advisable to carry enough drinking water as you wont find any around the place.

How to get to Kondana Caves:

Take a bus or rickshaw (Rs.150 - Rs.200) from Karjat to Kondivade village and from Kondivade proceed to Kondane or Kharvandi village as from both these villages the Kondana caves are a one hour walk.

The other way is from the Ulhas valley, get to Thakurwadi railway station from Pune/Mumbai. From here you can proceed to famous valley of Ulhas River. A road to left from Ulhas river goes straight to Kondhane caves. Ulhas valley is a scenic trek besides waterfall and wildflowers.

8 comments:

  1. thank u dear for this information.

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  2. this is a great short trek...easy and very scenic. Wht made me feel bad was that people were littering the place with liquor bottles and wafer packets. Why not carry your waste with you? These lovely places need to be maintained.

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  3. Loved the post but preeti's comment tempted me to write a reply. I have been to many such destinations and really fed up of people littering liquor bottles and inorganic waste. Seriously, what is the point of teaching people moral values when they do not a little value of respecting the place and not destroy its beauty.

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  4. these sites have become a spot to create a scene drink alcohol..this should be stopped. GOvt should take some action so that families can also visit such places in monsoon.

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  5. @ prasad, government will not do anything, its only left upto us, perhaps we can help put a board up asking people to keep the place clean...

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  6. please let me know , if any1 is going again.. i want go there..

    rohn.shetye@yahoo.co.in on FB

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  7. Can we visit Kondhane caves by car. How long we need to walk and climb. I am having severe knee joint pain. I can't walk more than 100.meters,but want to see Kondhane caves.

    Anil V. Chaudhary

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  8. you can reach upto konduvidae village by car. from there you need to walk. with knee joint pain its not advisable to take this trek since you might aggravate the pain.

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