Ancient Buddhist Caves With Beautiful Stone Carvings.
The Pandavleni Caves are located besides the Mumbai – Nashik Freeway and it is in the Buddha Vihar Complex on the right side of the Freeway, 3 km before reaching Pathardi Phata, and 8 km before Nashik. The Dada Saheb Phalke Smarak and the Trirashmi Buddha Smarak are also located in this compound. There is sufficient free parking space nearby.
We had a stiff climb of about 200 hundred steps, and had to pay an entry fee of Rs.15 per person. The historic archaeological site is managed by the ASI. There are 24 caves cut into the hillside, with carvings of various Buddhist monks, although the carvings of the Buddha himself were later additions by the devotees of the Mahayana faith between 4th to 6th centuries CE. The original cave excavations date back to between the 1st to 4th century CE. The interior of the caves have simple carvings whereas the exteriors are more elaborately and intricately carved. Cave numbers 3, 8, 10, and 23 are bigger, more well planned and better than the rest of them.
The beauty of these caves lies in their dignified façade. These caves are not at all connected to the five Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata, as the name may imply.
Visiting hours are from 8 am to 5.30 pm. It is a good place to visit for history and archaeology buffs. Situated about 300 feet above the ground level we got an excellent bird’s eye view of the entire city of Nashik. It will look even better in the months of July and August after some more rains helping to cover the land with a carpet of emerald green.
We had a stiff climb of about 200 hundred steps, and had to pay an entry fee of Rs.15 per person. The historic archaeological site is managed by the ASI. There are 24 caves cut into the hillside, with carvings of various Buddhist monks, although the carvings of the Buddha himself were later additions by the devotees of the Mahayana faith between 4th to 6th centuries CE. The original cave excavations date back to between the 1st to 4th century CE. The interior of the caves have simple carvings whereas the exteriors are more elaborately and intricately carved. Cave numbers 3, 8, 10, and 23 are bigger, more well planned and better than the rest of them.
The beauty of these caves lies in their dignified façade. These caves are not at all connected to the five Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata, as the name may imply.
Visiting hours are from 8 am to 5.30 pm. It is a good place to visit for history and archaeology buffs. Situated about 300 feet above the ground level we got an excellent bird’s eye view of the entire city of Nashik. It will look even better in the months of July and August after some more rains helping to cover the land with a carpet of emerald green.
Ask EkMusafir about Pandavleni Caves
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
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