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Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India pillars, wherever present, plain ceilings, almost no decoration on doorways, rough and uneven walls, floor levels as well as ceilings. Instead the focus is only icons, as almost all of these 'rough caves' are profusely carved with sculptures both in the shrine and on verandah or hall walls. It does not mean that in these caves, loose icons were not installed at all. In fact, the practice was first introduced at Patne. And some of the other sites like Bhamer also must have made use of loose icons as indicated by presence of niches. In fact, installing loose icons appears to have become a common practice during this period. But in general, the proportion of carved icons in the 'rough caves' is much higher after 10th century.
The number of icons appears to increase with the passage of time. While the early caves at Dharashiva, Ambejogai and Kharosa have only shrine images and handful of icons in the hall, a large number of icons, carved in situ or loose, as the case may be, occur from Ellora onwards.
While the 'rough caves' are excavated at some height, the 'decorative caves' are almost at the base of the hill, the exception being Mohida, where the caves are cut in the bedrock.
All these caves have door fittings either in the shrine or hall or both, in the form of circular or rectangular grooves suggesting the use of the wooden doors. Though these door fittings are of different types, no particular pattern of development is noticeable.
Except Tringalwadi, Ambejogai, Kharosa, Bhamer and Mohida all the caves have one or more water cisterns nearby, while Ambejogai and Mohida are on the banks of the rivers Jayanti and Gomai respectively.
The three early sites, Dharashiva, Ambejogai and Kharosa, all in the Marathwada region, have a peculiar rock-cut structure in front of the cave. The size and shape of all the three structures vary. While at Dharashiva, it is large and looks like a stūpa, at Ambejogai it is in the form of a squarish, low platform, while at Kharosa, it is a high pillar-like structure. It is difficult to determine the nature of this structure. It could be a platform to install a chaumukha.
Some of these caves display very distinct and unique feature, not noticed at any of the other sites, Buddhist or Brahmanical. The enclosed courtyard with a doorway and passage in the ceiling of Cave II at Dharashiva do not occur at any of the contemporary sites. A memorial pillar at Patne and Chandor, carved probably in the memory of some ascetic or the donor, is an unusual occurrence. The perforated screen and large lion figures at Ankai-Tankai II are also very unique as far as cave architecture is concerned. This cave with two large elephants, though now ruined, at the ends of lower storey and lions at the ends of upper storey must have been very spectacular. Large monolithic elephants at Ambejogai and Ellora caves, though not very unusual, are quite spectacular. The elephants with warriors and musicians at Ellora J30 are unique in this region.
Another unusual feature is the presence of secret rooms in the shrines at some of the sites. Thus, there exists a rough room, cut in the floor of the shrine of Cave III at Ankai. There is a small room, more like a hole, cut in the sidewall of the shrine of J17 at Ellora. In the shrine of J21 too, there is a small room. These rooms or holes are very rough and well hidden in the darkness of the shrines. Obviously, these were cut to hide the icons in cases of emergency. In fact, a loose icon of the Jina was found from one such room at Ankai. Perhaps the fear of iconoclasts was one of the reasons why loose icons
