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Quick trip to Bedse Caves: A Hidden Gem

tháng 8 18, 2015 Bedse Cave, Bhaja Cave, Chaityagrha, Kamshet, Karla Caves, Pavana Dam, Vihara No comments

I was planning for quick half day trip in monsoon. I decided to visit Bedse Caves as it is one of the few places less crowded and worth visiting.

I was the solo traveller for this trip.

Bedse Cave

About Bedse Caves:

Bedse Caves (also known as Bedsa Caves) are situated in Maval area, Pune District. Bedse Caves are comparatively less known and less visited. People know about the nearby Karla Caves and Bhaja Caves but have hardly heard of Bedse Caves. The trilogy of the caves (Karla - Bhaje - Bedse) in Mawal Region can't be completed without Bedse.

The routes to reach at Bedse Cave is Pune -> Chadani Chowk -> Old Mumbai-Pune highway (Do not take left turn to join express way) -> Kamshet village –> from main Chowk, take left –> Cross Expressway from underground tunnel –> Bedse village –> Take right from Bedse village –> Drive for 1.5 km to reach at the base.

Another route is Pune -> Chadani Chowk –> Pirangut –> Paud –> Take a right at Paud after Bus stand –> Hadashi (No need to take Hadashi temple route) –> Javan –> Pavananagar village -> Take right for Bedse village –> Drive for 1.5 km to reach at the base.

18th August, Bedse caves 2015: (Total Distance traveled: 139 km):
I started journey at around 6 AM. In morning I decided to go for a half day trip. Always advisable to start the journey early morning so you can spend more time nearby the caves area. Also Bedse cave is east facing so prefer visiting in the morning time. I usually travel to Mumbai/Lonavala by Express highway so the old highway was a good change. Old Highway is in a good condition – it’s smooth and wide.
I took left at Kamshet for caves. Cave is about 6km from highway. Weather condition was cloudy with light rain shower. Sometimes rain and sun were busy in their hide and seek game. Soon I reached at base village Bedse. From this point cave is hardly 1-1.5km. Around 100meter before cave, there is enough parking space. After parking the car, I began climbing to the cave. For caves, you have to take stairs route. The climb is steep and if you are not regular at exercise, you will definitely need to take at least one break. Due to an odd day, I was the only tourist there. Within 20-25 min without any break, I reached at the cave.

Steps To Bedse Caves

The caves appear suddenly from one point on, and what you see is some fabulous architecture. The most impressive cave is right at the entrance, with open, horseshoe-arched entrance. The best known cave is the chaitya (prayer hall) with comparatively large stupa, the other cave is monastery - vihara. There are many small rooms around Vihar. There is also a small "Stupa" outside to the right of the main caves.

The Chaityagrha in the Bedse Cave

Stupa at Bedse Cave

Vihara at Bedse Cave

There are total 12 water trenches within the cave area. Locals say, rain water from rocky mountain drips into the trenches and it is perfectly filtered water. Even during summer, these trenches contain a lot of water. Entire place is a masterpiece of architectural design... as always one wonders how people must have built them in the 1st Century AD.

Rooms at Vihara in Bedse Cave

At Bedse Cave

After some research and information from the locals, I got to know very interesting fact about Bedse cave. The people (Buddha) who carved these caves followed one specific technique. After carving the cave, they use to remove all rocks which were in front of caves. Due to some unknown reason, Bedse cave was incomplete and hence rocks in front of cave aren’t removed. Due to these rocks, no one can spot the caves from distance or from the base. It has helped to retain Bedse cave in a good shape from Mughal or British attack.

Bedse Cave Map

There are few monk rooms above cave area but for that you need to climb a little bit. At the end of cave area, there are rock-carved steps which lead to few monk rooms. This route is closed/banned in monsoon. There is one waterfall which you need to cross. Route is highly slippery and if you miss single footstep then you may fall down causing fatal accident. I checked that route but skipped the rooms considering safety factor.

Bedse Cave Panorama...Clicked by iPhone

After spending an hour, I came down in 10 minutes. For return journey, I preferred Pavana – Paud route. From Pavana Nagar village, there are 2 routes; one goes to Lonavala and other to Pune. I drove few km towards Lonavala to enjoy the scenic view of Pavana dam. You can also spot the four fantastic forts from Maval area namely Lohagad fort, Visapur Fort, Tung Fort and Tikona Fort. After enjoying nature’s monsoon beauty, I reached home safely by 12.30 PM

Tung fort at Pavana Dam wall

Pavana Dam

Other places which you can combine with Bedse caves for Day picnic:

Bedse Cave – Karla Cave – Bhaje cave and Waterfall at the base of Bhaje cave
Bedse Cave – Karla Cave – Bhaje cave and Lonavala
Bedse Cave – Pavana Dam – Hadshi temple
Bedse Cave – Pavana Dam – Tikona / Tung Fort
Bedse Cave – Pavana Dam – Lonavala

Other related Blogs

Expense:

Car Petrol: INR 500/- (approx. 7 lit: INR 71/lit)
Toll on Old Pune-Mumbai highway: INR 30/- (one way)

Tikona Fort, Tung Fort, Pavana Dam and my Uber cool machine i20...

Fantastic Four: Tikona Fort, Tung Fort, Lohagad Fort and Visapur Fort

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune

Quick trip to Karla caves

tháng 4 17, 2014 Bhaja Caves, Ekvira devi, Karla Caves, lonavala, Vihara No comments

After casting vote on Election Day, we decided to have a small trip. Due to summer time, we were unable to decide the location. Finally Karla caves came in our mind as

in last monsoon we missed it due to heavy traffic and heavy rain nearby Karla caves.

About Karla Caves:

It is a Caves complex of ancient Indian Buddhist rock-cut cave shrines located in Karli near Lonavala. It is developed over two periods – from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, and from the 5th century AD to the 10th century. There is small temple of Lord Ekvira Devi in Caves premises.

The routes to reach at Karla Cave is Pune -> Chadani Chowk -> Old Mumbai-Pune highway (Do not take left turn to join express way) -> Take right at Karle village(Lonavala is 9km away from Karli junction) -> from this junction, you will climb up a small hill -> Reach at official parking at Karla caves.

Karla Caves and Ekvira Devi Temple

17th April 2014, Pune to Karla caves:

We (Me and my wife Renuka) started our journey at around 9.45 AM after casting our votes. This location is on old Pune-Mumbai highway but we preferred Express highway to enjoy drive. After taking small fuel stop at expressway, we reached in Lonavala. From Lonavala we joined old highway and headed towards Karli phata. There are 2 routes on highway near Karli village. One which goes towards left for Karla caves and right for Bhaja Caves (Considering that you are traveling from Lonavala to Pune direction). Both are about 4-5km from highway. We took left to visit Karla caves. After climbing small hill by car, we reached to official parking at caves.

Karla caves and Ekvira temple are on top of hill and it is moderate climb of around 20 min. Because of temple, this place is always crowded on weekends. We were here on odd day hence it was bit less crowd. There are many shops and street food stalls from parking point to temple. Place is not maintained by locals so my advice is if you are looking for caves then better to visit Bhaje caves instated of Karla caves. Karla caves are much bigger than the Bhaje caves but noise, cleanness tampering its beauty.

Entry to Caves and temple

Our main intention is to visit caves. There is a small entrance fee of Rs.5 for the Bhaje caves, which they utilize in maintaining the caves as it comes under the Archeological Society of India. The most impressive cave is behind temple area and can be seen from Entrance point as well. There is a large prayer hall and several caves that must've served as resting rooms for the monks, complete with a water storage area. The main hall is magnificent and hosts a large stone stupa... as always one wonders how people must have built them in the 2nd Century AD. The best thing is wooden roof which act as support for main vihara (Prayer hall). There are upper levels caves where you can reach using some stairs. The Bhaja caves share the same set of architectural designs as Karla caves. Carving on stones, pillar and at entrance is beautiful. It is good place for photography but if you are coming on monsoon or in winter. Due to harsh light condition, I was unable to click some good photos.

Elephant carving at entrance of Cave

Vihar (Prayer Hall)

Wooden curve from Vihar

Carving on pillar

Resting Rooms

As Temple is in caves premises, we decided to take darshan of goddess Ekvira Devi. The temple is worship for the Koli (fisherman) People. But along with the Koli (fisherman) people, goddess Ekvira is worshipped by people especially belonging to the CKP caste as their presiding family deity. This goddess is an avatar of goddess Renuka Devi. This temple was built by Pandavas during their secret exile in the forest (ajñātavāsam). We got to know story related to a temple from Pujari. When Pandavas came to this place goddess Ekvira appeared. She asked then to build temple but on one condition that it must be done overnight. Pandavas built this in one night and got boon from goddess that they will not be discovered by anybody during their secret exile. You can combine Bhaje caves along with Karla caves to make a perfect day trip. Better to visit in monsoon!

Vihar's entrance and temple on right

After this visit, we left to Lonavala for lunch. To avoid return journey in noon, we spend more time in restaurant. There were hardly any tourists in Lonavala or in any restaurants. For return journey, we preferred another route for Pune which is via Tung-Pawna dam-Paud-Pirangut. Road condition was not up to the mark but route is scenic. We took halt at restaurant name Pawna picnic spot at Hadshi Dam. We witness beautiful sunset and reached home safely by 7 PM.

Car Petrol: INR 700-800/- (approx. 10 lit: INR 80/lit)
Toll (Express highway): INR 195/- (One Way)
Toll (Near Lonavala): INR 30/- (One Way)
Car parking at Karla caves: INR 20/-
Entry fee by Archeological Society of India: INR 5/- per person
Lunch in Lonavala: As per order!

Other places which you can combine with Karla caves for Day picnic:

Bhaje Caves (Click here for Bhaje Cave blog)
Bedse Caves
Sunil Kandalloor Celebrity Wax Museum in Lonavala (entry fee INR 100/- per person)
Bushi Dam in lonavala (for monsoon)
Tiger point / Lion point at Lonavala (for Monsoon)

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy Traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni
Pune

Day Trip to Bhaja Caves

tháng 8 05, 2012 Bhaja Cave, Bhaja Caves, Bhaje village, Karla Caves, Malavali, MTDC Karla, Old Mumbai-Pune highway, Pune – Mumbai express highway No comments

After a long break, we decided to have a half day trip nearby Pune area. Personally, I wanted to avoid Lonavala because of the crowd so we chose Karle-Bhaja caves. It is one of the few places less crowded and worth visiting.

Main vihara (Prayer hall) of the Bhaja Caves

About Karle-Bhaja caves:

Bhaja Caves (Marathi: भाजा) are a group of 22 rock-cut caves dating back to 200 BC located at Karli, near Lonavala, Maharashtra. The location of Bhaja caves is not far from the location of Karla Caves and these are stylistically similar to the Karla Caves.
The Karla Caves or Karle Caves are a complex of ancient Indian Buddhist rock-cut cave shrines developed over two periods – from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, and from the 5th century AD to the 10th century. The oldest of the cave shrines is believed to date back to 160 BC. Located in Karli near Lonavala, Maharashtra, the caves lie near a major ancient trade route, running eastward from the Arabian Sea into the Deccan.

The routes to reach Bhaja Cave is Pune -> Chandani Chowk -> Old Mumbai-Pune highway (Do not take left turn to join expressway) -> Take Left at Karle village -> Cross Malavali railway station and express highway bridge -> Reach Base village Bhaje (Approximately 60km)

Map

During our return journey, we headed towards Lonavala and took Pune – Mumbai express highway.
You can also visit this place by Local train which runs between Pune to Lonavala. Get off at Malavali station and then 2km walk.

5th August, Bhaja caves 2012: (Total Distance traveled: 136 km)

We (Me and my wife Renuka) started our journey at around 9.45 AM. In morning we decided to go for a half day trip so we started a bit late. Always advisable to start the journey early morning so you can spend more time nearby the caves area. We took a pit stop for fuel on the way and then moved ahead for Bhaja caves. We took the old Pune-Mumbai highway, which by the way makes for an amazing drive. I usually travel to Mumbai/Lonavala by Express highway so the old highway was a good change. Old Highway is in a good condition – it’s smooth and wide. That helped us to reach Bhaje village speedily.
There are 2 routes on a highway near Karli village. One which goes towards left for Bhaja caves and a right turn takes us to Karle Caves. Both are about 4-5km from the highway. We took left to visit Bhaja caves. Our 2nd pit stop was at Malavali railway crossing where we waited for few minutes so 2 railways can move ahead on their journey. The weather condition was very cloudy with heavy rain shower. Sometimes rain and sun were busy in their hide and seek game.

At Malavali railway Crossing

We parked our car at the base village Bhaje. Many local children asked us for money and they assured us to protect our car. I generally don’t like handover cash to any children so we offered them to have breakfast with us which they refused and ran away. There is sufficient parking space for vehicle and they charge nominal parking charges. We ate vada-pav (Indian Burger) as our breakfast and then moved ahead for caves. The same route takes you to historic duel forts- Lohagad & Visapur. In Rainy season there is a huge waterfall near the parking. We saw a lot of people enjoying themselves in that waterfall. For caves, you have to take stairs. The climb is steep and if you are not regular at exercise, you will definitely need to take at least one break. We were fortunate to have amazing weather on that day.

Waterfall at Bhaje village

Way to Bhaja Caves

Nature view from Bhaja Caves

There is a small entrance fee of Rs.5 for the Bhaje caves, which they utilize in maintaining the caves as the premises are clean and well conserved by the Archeological Society of India. Because of heavy rain, water running on stairs was giving a feel like we were climbing through the waterfall. The caves show themselves suddenly from one point on, and what you see is some fabulous caves Architecture.

Stair to Bhaja caves & Ticket counter building at left

The Bhaja caves share the same set of architectural designs as Karla caves. The most impressive cave is right at the entrance, with open, horseshoe-arched entrance part. There are a large prayer hall and several caves that must've served as resting rooms for the monks, complete with a water storage area. The main hall is magnificent and hosts a large stone stupa... as always one wonders how people must have built them in the 2nd Century AD. The best thing is wooden roof which acts as a support for main vihara (Prayer hall). There are upper levels caves where you can reach using some stairs. A notable part of the monument is a group of 14 stupas, five inside and nine outside an irregular excavation. These stupas used to be constructed in the memory of the Buddhist Acharyas. You can see the names of these Acharyas carved out on these stupas.

Bhaja Caves

Bhaja main hall Cave

Main vihara (Prayer hall) of the Bhaja Caves


Wooden roof which acts as support for the main vihara

Restrooms for the monks

There is a small-medium size waterfall at the end of last cave. There is a proper fencing with a small loophole in it which gives direct access to the waterfall. Because of strong water current, it is very risky to enter into it. It is very difficult to imagine what the ambiance would have been at that time.

Waterfall at the end of last cave

Our next destination was Karle caves so we left this place. There were a lot of local shops selling sweet corns at the base village and really difficult to ignore that for corn lovers. After having delicious sweet corn we moved ahead to Karle Caves. We attempted going there but gave up mid-way as the route was jammed because of traffic. There is a Goddess Ekvira temple which is on the right side of the caves.

For Corn Lovers

Way to Karla Caves

Heavy Rainfall

As we dropped this plan so we decided to visit Karla MTDC resort. We liked the overall ambiance and it can be a nice relaxing weekend halt at MTDC. As we were too hungry so we had food at Manashakti. We purchased some Maganlal Chikki which is famous in Lonavala and then took Pune – Mumbai express highway. Driving on the express highway during monsoon is always refreshing to me. Please follow proper rules while driving on the expressway to avoid accidents.

MTDC Karla

Mumbai Pune expressway

Toll at Mumbai Pune expressway

Car Petrol: INR 600-700/- (approx. 8 lit: INR 75/lit)
Toll on Old highway (Dehuroad): INR 26/- (One Way)
Car parking at Bhaje village: INR 20/- (INR 10/- in summer)
Entry fee by Archeological Society of India: INR 5/- per person
Sweet corn: INR 20/- per piece
Toll (Near Lonavala): INR 26/- (One Way)
Snacks at Manashakti: As per order!
Toll (Express highway): INR 99/- (One Way)

Must visit Places which we miss due to lack of Time:

Karle Caves and Goddess Ekvira temple
Bedse Caves
Sunil Kandalloor Celebrity Wax Museum in Lonavala (entry fee INR 100/- per person)
Lohagad fort (I have been there many times)
Lonavala hill station (I usually avoid Lonavala because of crowd and also because I have been there many times in my college days)