PITALKHORA CAVES
20.333300,75.000000
Description
Two groups of altogether 13 modified natural caves (temple caves) in Deccan trap contain relics of paintings (rock art) dating from the 1st century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. and inscriptions referring to the king and merchants of Pratisthan. Caves 1 to 9 (group I) are adjacent to each other and face north and east and. The other 6 (group II) face southwards. Compare: Cave of –>Ai (Pitalkhora). SITUATION: In a wild picturesque ravine in the Satamal (Satmala, Chandora) range (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 2: 112) near a village called Bharmarwadi N20°20': E75°00' (DESHPANDE, M N 1959, 1986: 66), about 15 km south-west of the Chalisgaon Railway Station (N20°28': E75°01'), and 40 km north-west of Ellora (N20°01': E75°10'), 80 km as the crow flies west-southwest of Ajanta (N20°33': E75°42'), and 80 km along the road north-west from Aurangabad (N19°53': E75°20'). Pitalkhora lay on the trade route from Tagara —the modern Ter (note 1) in the Osmanabad District— to »Ujjayini« (note 2) in the north and to Shurparaka (Sopara N19°25': E72°47') in the west. CULTURAL HISTORY: Pitalkhora (Pitalkhara, Pittalkora) is probably identical with Pitangalya mentioned in the Mahamayuri as the residence of the Yaksha Sankarin (Ancient India 15: 66 f). There are two groups of rock chambers at Pitalkhora, the first comprising nine and the second four caves. Most of the caves in the first group were excavated in the second century B.C. Those of the second group are somewhat later, two of them being of the first century B.C. and the remaining two of the 1st or 2nd century A.D. (CE). Some of the rock chambers are of the Chaitya and others of the Vihara type. They were decorated with various kinds of cutplates such as those of elephants, Yakshas, dvara-palas, Gaja- Lakshmi etc. One of them depicts the Great Departure of prince Siddhartha from Kapilavastu. Another represents a Jataka scene. The stupas contained crystal reliquaries, of which six have been discovered, All the caves were of the Hinayana, though some of them have on their pillars the figures of the Buddhas and Bodhisatvas painted later on (Ancient India XV: 69). CAVE LIFE: BROSSET (1962b: 39 table) saw in »August« (1960? or 1961?) about 1000 or 2000 individuals of the black-bearded tomb bat (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae: Taphozous melanopogon Temmick 1841) at »Pittalkora [sic!] in the hypogean temples and big vertical faults of cliffs (hilly country).«
NOTE 1: Ter (Tair, Thair, Ther) N18°19': E76°09' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). NOTE 2: Ujjain N23°11': E75°46' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003).
Documents
Bibliography 01/05/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: All rock chambers at Pitalkhora were excavated in the Satavahana period, some in the second or first century B.C. and others in the first-century A.D. First mentioned by WILSON (1853: 357-360), described by SINCLAIR (1872), BURGESS & FERGUSSON (1880 edited1988: 242-246, plates XV, XVI, XVII), BURGESS (1883: 11-12), DIKSHIT (1941: 112-121) and DESHPANDE (1959 edited in 1986: 66-93).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | AI, Pitalkhora (Cave of) | ||
| 8.7 | SITA's BATH, Ellora | ||
| 22.8 | NAGAD CAVES | ||
| 69.3 | GHATOTKACHH CAVE | ||
| 186.1 | CHANDIGARH SHELTER | ||
| 190.2 | BHIMKUND, Burhanpur / Khandwa | ||
| 201.9 | PATUR CAVES | ||
| 216.7 | GHATAK SHELTER | ||
| 227.0 | Bagh Caves |