Karla
Caves, an example of Indian rock-cut architecture, is
a complex of cave shrines built by Buddhist monks around
3rd to 2nd century B.C. It is located in Karli near
Lonavala, a hill station, in the western state of Maharashtra
between the cities of Mumbai and Pune in India.
The Buddhist monks generally chose isolated rocky outcrops
and hillsides to make rock-cut caves, which housed appeal
halls or chaityas within them. From the late 2nd century
BC until the mid-2nd century AD, thousands of caves
like Karla were excavated in the Sahyadri Hills. |
