Karla Caves, Lonavala!!!

These pics of Karla caves are from my visit 8 years back to Lonavala and since I posted recently on Tiger's Point, thought of covering other places of Lonavala in few of the upcoming posts, from my different visits. Lonavala being on the way to Pune, we just drop by on most of our drives to Pune, but the visit to Karla caves was during our weekend trip. We stayed at The Adarsh, it was quite a comfortable stay. Just opposite to Adarsh is Hotel Chandralok, we couldn't get a booking there, so had to opt for Adarsh. Chandralok, serves the best Gujarati food and we used to have most of our meals there. Hotel Purohit just close by too serves very good Gujarati food.

Maharashtra has many Buddhist caves, be the world famous Ajanta and Ellora caves or many of the caves well with-in Mumbai, Kanheri caves, Jogeshwari caves, Mahakali caves and Elephanta caves or Karla caves of Lonavala, with nearing Bhaja caves and Bedse caves, to name few of many caves of Maharashtra. That really proves the Buddhist influence in Maharashtra, just after Bihar and Nepal, as its origin.

Its around 350 steps climb to reach the cave complex with few shops selling snacks on the way. So, if you are travelling with kids, be prepared for the climb.

Dating back to 2nd century BC, Karla caves is the rock cut Buddhist cave complex, with chaitya(the prayer hall) and viharas(dwelling places of Buddhist monks). The inside walls are intricately carved with sculptures and inscriptions. You can know more about Karla Caves here on Wikipedia. Most of the complex area is occupied by hindu temple dedicated to goddess Ekveera.

Travel Info:

Check out my post here for the travel guide to Lonavala. Karla caves are around 12km from Lonavala city. You can hire an auto rickshaw or taxi to visit the caves along with other tourist places of Lonavala. 

Timings: 8:30AM to 6PM
Entry Fee: Rs. 5 for adult

A visit to Sanjay Gandhi National Park

We frequently visit SGNP, but we head straight to the Jain temple in the National Park and we are back.. But with my daughters vacation last month, we played a visit for her. After long long time we were going in that toy train, which we used to enjoy as kids. A visit to the park needs at least half a day to explore.

The park notified in 1974, lies on the northern fringes of Mumbai covering an area of 104sq km. It is one of Asia’s most visited National Parks with 2 million annual visitors and claims to be the largest park in the world located within city limits.

Main entrance to the National Park