Kanheri caves
Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Kanheri caves are a group of more than a hundred Buddhist rock-cut caves. They are inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. Monks used them from c. 1st century BCE for many centuries. The site has a large chaitya hall (a prayer hall with a stupa), many viharas (monks' cells), rock-cut water tanks and many inscriptions. It shows how a big monastery could grow near busy ports and trade routes on the western coast.
Example
Cave 3 is the great chaitya hall, made in c. 2nd century CE. It has a long pillared hall with a stupa at the end and tall standing Buddha figures near the entrance. An inscription in it names the Satavahana king Yajna Sri Satakarni.
Don't confuse with
- Karla caves near Lonavala form a smaller group. Karla is famous mainly for one magnificent chaitya hall, while Kanheri is a very large monastic settlement.
Related concepts
- Rock-cut architecture
- Barabar caves
- Lomas Rishi cave
- Nagarjuni caves
- Rock-cut monasteries
- Chaitya and vihara
- Bhaja caves
- Karla caves
- Nasik caves
- Guntupalli caves