Kondana Caves

The Kondana caves are a group of 16 Buddhist caves at the small village of Kondhane, about 33 kilometres north of Lonavala and 16 kilometres north-west of the Karla caves, below the old hill fort of Rajmachi. They were excavated in the 1st century BC, and their carving closely imitates timber construction. Vishnu Sastri first drew attention to them in the 19th century. One approach is to walk down from Rajmachi village.

The caves are cut into a steep scarp and screened by thick forest. Water seeping over the rock for much of the year has damaged them, which makes it hard to say whether they or the Bhaja caves came first. The chaitya, similar in plan to Bhaja's, measures about 66 feet deep and 28 feet high to the crown of its arch, with a stupa 9.5 feet across, and an inscription on its front names donors.