________________
304
Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India now. Some time back, a fair used to be held in honour of Khandoba on the full moon day of pausa. It is now discontinued (Nasik District Gazetteer 1975: 879).
There is a fort, immediately above the town. It is accessible from only one point, which was fortified by a strong gateway. Moreover, the town itself was fortified by a wall, bastions and three gateways (Naravane 1995: 59). There is a Badshahi mosque with Persian inscription. About 4.2 km from Chandor, there is Indragad fort, built on the hill to the west of the highway. It has caves, a well-fortified entrance and a huge tank at the top (Naravane 1995: 61).
Thus, this early capital of Yadavas was an important town right up to the Maratha period. Its significance was due to its strategic location, commanding the Chandor pass, which is an important opening between Khandesh and Nasik. It must have been an important trading centre in the early period. Later on, this important route was protected by the forts at Chandor and Indragad.
Thus, the main factor for selecting this site for the excavation of Jaina cave was its strategic location and possibly existence of a large, urban town. Another factor, which appeared to have worked in its favour was the strong position of the sect in the town, at least from the 9th century CE as attested by the evidences from Vividhatirthakalpa. The period, when the cave was excavated, witnessed the emergence of a number of Jaina centres of worship, especially in the neighbouring region of the site.
The cave is now worshipped as the temple of Kalikā devi as one of the Jaina goddesses is worshiped as the Hindu goddess Kālikā. The cave is visited regularly, mainly by women, who offer bangles to the goddess and tie strips of cloth to a small tree outside the cave at the fulfilment of a vow. The Jainas have also attempted to claim the site and enclosed the main icon of Chandraprabha within an iron grill. However, the cave is more popular as a Hindu shrine and most of the locals are not even aware that it is originally a Jaina cave.
BHAMER
The cave at the present site dates from around the same period as Chandor. There are no literary references to the site, but a few epigraphic references and the wealth of architectural remains, scattered in the village indicate that the village had been a town of some importance in the past.
Epigraphic references
In the Ambejogai inscription of Kholesvara (Khare 1930: 55-68) as well as in the Paithan (Fleet 1885) and Purushottampuri (Mirashi 1939-40b) plates of Yadava king Ramachandra, dated to 1271 CE and 1310 CE respectively, he is credited with victory over lord of Bhambhagiri, of Abhira family. Hemadri in Vratakhanda of 'Chaturvargachintamni identified this ruler as Laksmideva (Mirashi 1939-40). Though there is no agreement over the identification of Bhambhagiri, it is generally identified with present Bhamer (Mirashi 1939-40b: 203). The Abhira family is also known from an earlier inscription on the lintel of the entrance door of a temple at Balsane, Dhule district,
