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Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India A number of loose icons are scattered in the village, most of which are Jaina and must have been installed in the caves, while some are Brahmanical. Of these, there is a varaha image in zoomorphic form, a Ganesa icon and a four-armed deity, Balaram. On the way to the village from Ankai kila railway station, there is a small isolated boulder, which is scooped out to make a shrine. It is known as a Siva temple and houses two figures of Nandi, a Ganesa icon and a Visnu icon. There is mosque in the village, which contains pillars of a Yadava period temple. Most of these icons can stylistically be dated to the Yadava period. To the east of the village, in the middle of the field, is a small Maratha period temple. On the hill, near the Jaina caves, is a structure with Yadava period pillars, though much simpler. It is probably a secular structure and built possibly in the Maratha period using remains of old temple.
However, the most important monuments are the forts on both the hills. The Ankai fort is the strongest fort of the district. The sides of the hill were scraped artificially wherever natural scarp did not exist. At one time it was protected by as many as seven lines of fortification (Naravane 1995: 65). The fort is well preserved with strong bastions and is reached by a stairway, passing by the Jaina caves.
On the southwestern face of the Ankai hill, there is a crudely cut cave, high up in the steep scarp. On the perpendicular scarp above this cave, is carved an icon, said to be of Matsyendranatha. At present, it is a celebrated place of jātra, held in honour of Matsyendranatha and Goraksnatha (Wilson 1847-48: 71). The cave is distinctly marked in the scarp with paint.
Thus, it is clear that from the 10th century CE to the Maratha period, the site was an important and active centre. It was most active during the Yadava period, as indicated by the architectural remains, most of which belong to this period. The site holds its importance mainly due to its strategic location, commanding one of the major trade routes, from Sopara to Bahal (Maurya 1998: 122). This route was later on protected by the strong fort at the site. The Ankai cluster of forts consists of nine forts. This cluster is considered the gateway to upper Konkan from the Deccan plateau. The cluster forms the first line of defence against any foreign advance into upper Konkan, which was mainly from the Devagiri-Nasik route. Similarly, the north-south axis, Malegaon-ManmadKopargaon-Ahemadnagar, passes through this cluster (Naravane 1995: 64-65).
Thus, the main factor behind the selection of the site was its strategic and very vital location along the major routes. Though Saivism and Vaisnavism flourished at the site, it is Jainism, which appears to have been very influential here. Even today, when the Jaina population of the village is almost negligible, the modern Datta temple houses icons of Pārsvanātha along with Vithoba and Dattatreya. But at present, only the icon of Ambikā in the verandah of Cave II is worshipped as a local goddess and the Jaina caves are protected by the Archaeology Department.
TRINGALWADI
The Jaina cave at Tringalwadi dates from the same period as Ankai caves. The site was part of Mulaka during the Satavahanas (Mahajan 1989: 73). Later the site came to be part of Goparashtra visaya (Mahajan 1989: 106).
