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APRIL, 1891.)
BUDDHIST CAVES AT NADSUR AND NENAVALI.
121
RECENTLY DISCOVERED BUDDHIST CAVES AT NADSUR AND NENAVALI
IN THE BHOR STATE, BOMBAY PRESIDENCY.
BY THE REV. J. E. ABBOTT. THE portion of the Bhor State which lies in the Konkan is, I believe, seldom visited by
1 Europeans, and as a consequence two series of Buddhist caves have thus, till recently, remained undiscovered, in the mountains forming its eastern boundary, — the one near the village of Nå dsûr, Lat. 18° 34' and Long. 73° 21'; the other near the village of Nenavalî (or Kharsambla), Lat. 18° 30' and Long. 73° 23.
A study of the location of other known caves among the Western Ghauts drew my attention to the fact that they all seemed to be situated along what must have been, in ancient times, the highways from the Dekhan above to the sea-port towns of the Konkan below. These highways were doubtless then, as now, narrow foot-paths, descending the upper sources of the Konkan rivers, and following these streams to their outlets into the large creeks common along the coast. If Chanl, near the modern Rêvadanda, was the important city of ancient times it is supposed to have been, it seemed strange that the highway, along the Kundalika River to this sea-port, should not have, somewhere along its course, the extensive Buddhist monasteries common to many of the other highways to the north and south.
Believing in the possibility of their existence, I bad often inquired of the inhabitants of the Rôla Taluka, where my missionary operations largely lie, whether they knew of any such rock caves; but it was not until about a year ago that I received any hint that my conjectures were correct. In December 1889, I was informed that at Gomasi, a village in the Bhôr State, there was a small rock temple dedicated to Rishidáva. I visited this cave on the 10th December, and found it to be a plain single cell in the gorge of a hill about half a mile to the south of the village. The cell is about 15' x 7', with an image of Buddha in the bhúmisparía-mudrá, placed on a platform at its farther end. I here learned that there were extensive caves, a few miles further up the stream, near the village of Nenavali, which I immediately visited. While examining these caves, I was informed of still others about six miles to the north. Availing myself of an early opportunity to verify this information, I descended the mountains near Khaodala, and walked southward along the foot of the Sahyadris until I reached the village of Nadsar, making constant enquiries as I went along. Here my search was rewarded by the discovery of a series of twenty caves. I give below a brief description of these two Buddhist Vihdras.
The Nadsor Caves. The village of Nadsar, belonging to the Konkan portion of the Bhör State, is in Lat. 18° 34' and Long. 73° 21'; and the caves, which I first discovered on the 8th January 1890, are to be found to the east of the village about an hour and a half's climb up the mountain. The scarp of rock, in which the caves are cut, runs north and south, and the caves face the west. They are twenty in number, including a natural cave to the north. The caves are, on the whole, in good. preservation, although their front portions seem to have fallen away.
The arst cave of interest, commencing at the southernmost of the series, is No. III., measuring 34' x 20', and containing twelve dágobús. Six of these are of solid stone, varying from 4' to 6'6in diameter. Two small stone dágobás are placed in niches in the walls. Four dagobás are structural. Two of the solid stone dágobús have their Tees remaining on them, one resembling in shape the Tee on the dugohá of the Karla Chaitya cave. The rail pattern appears on the base of the stone dágobås. One of the niches in the wall is perfectly plain, the other is ornamented with the window facade and rail pattern resembling that found at Bedsa and Kärla. The structural dágobás are more or less ruined, and appear to have been at some time opened with the expectation of finding treasure within. One of these lies a little outside of the cave.
The next cave worthy of mention is No. VII., a large hall 48' 9" x 39' and 11' high, with cells on the three inner sides. Between each cell is a niche in the wall. The upper part of the
