BHAJA CAVE
18.750000,73.416700
Description
Cave no. 1 of the rock temples at Bhaja (–>Bhaje Caves) is said to be a »natural cavern« (BROSSET 1962c: 596), complete with bats (Chiroptera) and, according to some, even fish. See also –>Bedsa Caves and –>Karle Cave. SITUATION: The village of Bhaja, along with the man-made rock chambers and the natural cave, lie about 15 km (NEWAR 2002: 11 km) east of Lonavla (note 1) and 5 km (along the road?) south of –>Karle (Karla, Karli) "Cave". APPROACH: The Bhaja caves are reached by a rough 3 km ride or a 40 minutes walk off the Lonavala - Pune road (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 841, 2003: 721-722) or Malavli railway station (note 2). SITUATION 1908: IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 8: 42-43) places the »cave temples« in the west face of a steep hill and about 125 m above the village of Bhaja (N18°44': E73°29' Everest 1830). SITUATION 1882: »The Bhaja Caves are on the … S. side of the Lanoli (Lenavali = "grove of the caves") railway station. The Bedsa Caves are on the S. side of the hills, in which Bhaja is« (SMITH, G 1882: 276).SITUATION 1880: RADDA BAI (alias Helena Petrova BLAVATSKY 1879-1882 letter IX, edited 1883-1886 letter IX) and BLAVATSKY (1892 edited 1899, 1908, 1918, 1934, 1950, 1975, chapter IX: 104) put »the historically famous caves of Birsa [sic! for –>Bedsa] and Bhaja about three miles [5 km] from Karli.« CAVE DESCRIPTION: BROSSET (1962c: 596) mentions »… a deep but very scanty natural underground near the Buddhist caves« (at Bhaja). CAVE LIFE: BROSSET (1961: 444) collected on 25th January 1960 in »Bahja Cave« (sic!) bat specimens (Chiroptera: Rhinolophus luctus), which he put for hours at 7°C to 8°C in a refrigator and watched if they survive, die or hibernate. BROSSET (1962c: 596) reports bats (Chiroptera) from »Baja« (sic!) where he noticed two to five Rhinolophus rouxi Temminck 1835 inside »… a deep, but very scanty natural underground, near the Buddhist caves.« KOTTELAT, Maurice (1990: 55) on fish (Pisces), mentions »… cave Nemacheilines (Osteichthyes: Balitoridae) … Indoreonectes evezardi (Day 1878) … MENON (1987: 193) lists material from Bhaje Cave [sic!], Karla [sic!], Poona [sic!]; he did not give any indication about colouration or eyes.« AGARWAL (1959 after THINES 1969; GREENWOOD 1976: 136; KOTTELAT 1990) mentions noemachelline fish in connection with a »Cave in India« without wasting efforts considering any locality or cave name. BISWAS (2009b): Hypogean forms of the otherwise epigean Hill Stream Loach (Cypriniformes, Cobitoidea / Balitoridae) Nemacheilus evezardi Day 1872 (note 3) occur only in Kotumsar Cave [] and near [sic!] the Bhaje Caves of Maharashtra.«
NOTE 1: The Sanskrit "lanavli" denotes a city surrounded by caves (NEWAR 2002). The small town of Lonavla (Lonauli, Lonavala, Lonawala) near N18°45': E073°24' (Everest 1830, IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909) or near N18°45': E073°25' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) lies on the Bor Pass (Borghat, Bor Ghat) and 106 km from Bombay (renamed Mumbai), on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the main railway line to Pune (LONELY PLANET 1997: 839; 2001: 752) and about 60 km along the road north-west of Pune / Poona (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 16: 172). NOTE 2: Malavli Railway Station N18°44': E073°29' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). NOTE 3: Synonyma of Nemacheilus evezardi Day 1872 Noemacheilus evezardi Day 1872 Talwar & Jhingran (1991), Menon (1999);Oreonectus evezardi Day 1872 Singh & Yazdani (1993), Hanel & Novák (2002); Indorenectus evezardi Day 1872 Kottelat (1990), Proudlove (2004).
Documents
Bibliography 23/03/2016- Biswas, Jayant 2009b; Blavatsky, Helene Petrovna [pseudonym Radda Bai 1879-1882 edited 1883-1886], 1892 edited 1899, 1908, 1918, 1934, 1950, 1975a, 1975b; Brosset, Andrè 1961, 1962c; Imperial Gazetteer 1907-1909; Kottelat, Maurice 1990; Law, Bimala Churn 1976; Lonely Planet, India 1997, 2001, 2003; Menon, A G K 1987; Newar, Supriya 2002.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | LONAVLA UNDERGROUND | ||
| 0.0 | TUNNEL, Lonavla (Sarkar et al. 1998) (aa -) | ||
| 0.0 | KANHUR PATHAR CAVE | ||
| 5.6 | KHANDALA RAILWAY TUNNEL | ||
| 5.6 | LOHOGAD CAVES | ||
| 5.6 | KHANDALA SUBTERRANEAN PALACE | ||
| 5.6 | KHANDALA PIPE TUNNEL | ||
| 6.4 | KARLA (Cave at) | ||
| 7.6 | KONDANE CAVES |