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Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India excavated, though many of the deserted Buddhist and Brahmanical caves were used by mendicants or yogis. The reason again appears to be that with the revival of trade activities, the trade routes became very important, most of which passed through hilly areas due to the physical features of the region. Since mercantile community favoured Jainism, many caves belonging to this faith were excavated. The fact that many of the caves are situated on trade routes supports this assumption. The possibility of the involvement of traders from other regions cannot be ruled out. We have evidence of traders from Gujarat constructing temples at the Yadava capital Devagiri (Sheth 1953: 158-160), śresthis from Telugu country donating the Parsvanatha icon at Satgaon in Buldana district (Hiralal 1916: 141) and a person possibly from Kathiawar making donations at Ellora. Thus, the period was marked by great movement between the regions. The sites, which have fine, large caves like Ankai-Tankai and Tringalwadi, are situated on very active trade routes, while the other areas were comparatively less favoured. Most of the other caves are not very elaborate or 'grand' and were possibly patronised by small traders with limited resources. Again the apparent emphasis only on the icons in most of these 'rough' caves points to the very focused interests of the patrons.
In some other parts of the country too, the Jainas are known to become prominent in the areas along trade routes, during medieval period. In Bengal, the Jainas became very prolific in Purulia, Bankura, Burdwan and Midnapur districts from 8th-9th century CE onwards as indicated by finds of a large number of Jaina icons from this area. This region was connected with north Bihar plain and Orissa through old routes. It has been suggested that the distribution and location of Jaina sites near and around major linkage routes in this region indicate that Jainism was primarily patronised by traders (Mitra Dutta 2004: 53). A number of other prominent medieval Jaina centres, such as Deogarh in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, occupied important position along trade routes.
The preference of Jainas for caves in the period when they became prominent in the region could also be because of special importance of mountains in the religion, which has always considered mountains more sacred. Mountains are usually associated with penance and meditation in Jaina literature. The Jaina cosmology speaks of a number of legendary, glorious mountains like Mountain Simananga (not identified), located at the confluence of five rivers, which has a shrine of Rṣabhanatha and Astapada or Kailasa mountain, which has a number of shrines built by Bharata, but is now inaccessible to humans. The mountains are respected and revered as holy places, often possessing magical powers. They are considered the abodes of various gods like kinnaras. In an inscription on the main door to the Jaina temples at Girnar, the mountain is praised for its beauty and it is stated that "O, mountain, even sun-constellations are so lost in your love that they have forgotten their way (i.e. they are circumbulating you)" (Jain K. P. 1939: 186-187). There are numerous accounts describing the beauty and power of the mountains, particularly famous tirthakshetras. Thus, the mountains held a special position and meaning in Jainism. The Jainas preferred to build their temples on the top of high mountains and a number of such Jaina temple-cities evolved during medieval period. With limited resources and already existing cave-architecture tradition in this region, the Jainas excavated caves in the hills while also patronising structural temples in the plains.
