Karla Caves

The Karla Caves were once a Buddhist monastery and consist of 16 excavations/caves. Most of the caves belong to the early Hinayana phase of Buddhism, except for three from the later Mahayana phase. The main cave is the huge prayer/assembly hall, known as a chaityagriha, that's believed to date back to the 1st century BC. It has a magnificent roof made out of carved teak wood, rows of pillars decorated with sculptures of men, women, elephants, and horses, and a large sun window at the entrance that deflects rays of light towards the stupa at the rear. 

The other 15 excavations are much smaller monastery living and prayer spaces, known as viharas. Reaching the Karla Caves requires a walk up 350 steps from the base of the hill or nearly 200 steps from the car park around halfway up the hill.

Tickets are required to go inside the caves. The ticket booth is at the entrance at the top of the hill. The entry fee is 25 rupees for Indians and 300 rupees for foreigners.The shrines were developed over the period – from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. 

Karla is located just off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, near Lonavala. Travel time from Mumbai is around two hours, and it's under an hour and a half from Pune

.Try to  Trek on top of Karla  cave, you  will  find the western ghats Red crabs on Rock Patches .

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dated- Nov 2012