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CHAPTER 2
DESCRIPTION AND CHRONOLOGY OF CAVES
The Jaina caves are excavated in the western, hilly area of Maharashtra like Buddhist and Brahmanical caves, with the largest concentration in Nasik district. The chapter deals with detailed description of each cave, arranged chronologically.
PALE, MAWAL TALUKA, PUNE DISTRICT (18° 50'N; 73° 32' E)
About 13 km from Kamshet railway station, on Pune-Mumbai railway line is the village of Pale. The cave is excavated in a hill nearby. After crossing the railway lines and Indrayani river, one reaches the small village of Govitri on the stream Kundalika. From here, climbing over the broad terrace, called Patangana and leaving the village of Pale to right, one reaches the foot of the hill. The cave is cut at the height of about 70 m from the plain. (Sankalia and Gokhale 1969: 167, Sankalia 1975: 2-3).
This cave was brought to light by Sankalia and Gokhale who, on the basis of an inscription in the cave, claimed that it is a Jaina cave (1969: 167-168). Later on. Sankalia elaborated and emphasised this claim with further evidence (1975: 1-9). No other account or reference of the cave is available.
Description
The cave is a large room with a cell. The main room is 22.75m wide and 5.67m deep with ceiling reaching to the height of 7.27m. The ceiling is unfinished. On the left sidewall is a cell with a bench. The cell measures 1.27m by 1.2m. It is 1.21m high. The cave is plain and devoid of any sculptures.
On the left sidewall, near the entrance is an inscription. It is engraved on a prepared surface, 0.5m by 0.4m and about 2m from the ground. It consists of four lines. The script is Brahmi, while the language is Prakrit influenced by Sanskrit. On palaeographical grounds, it is dated to the 1st century BCE. It begins with the invocation Namo ārahamtanam'. It records the donation of the cave and a cistern by one Indarakhita
