Shawn and I were making our list of things to do in Nashik (Maharashtra, India) when a friend’s mother suggested visiting the Pandavleni caves. Since we had our mode of transportation getting to the caves was not an issue.
The weather however was wet and a cyclone on the west coast of India threatened to send showers our way. Despite the threat that the rain posed, we decided to take the risk and head out to see the Nashik caves anyway.
We thought we would catch a glimpse of them from the outside and then head back. As events turned out, we not only caught a glimpse of them, we also hid in them!
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The Pandavleni Caves
The Pandavleni caves lie around 8 kilometers away from the main Nashik hub. That meant that driving to them was not an issue.
The caves are a holy Buddhist site and I will go into a bit more detail about that in just a bit. The word ‘Leni’ in Marathi when translated to English means ‘Cave’. That is the reason why many of the versions of the name given to the cave (Pandu Lena/ Trirashmi Leni) have the word Leni in them.
At first, I thought that the word ‘Pandav’ referred to the ‘Pandavas’ from the Mahabharata. It was only after some research that I realized that I was wrong. The Pandavleni caves are also popularly known as the Nashik caves.
Getting To The Pandavleni Caves
The climb up to the Pandavleni caves.
Driving to the Pandavleni caves was easy enough. If you don’t have a vehicle of your own, then you always use Uber. I don’t know how well it works in the city because we haven’t tried it, but we have heard that it is good.
Initially we thought that we could just dive up to the caves. Then hop out, see the caves and be on our merry way. Turns out we were wrong. There was a long flight of stairs that needed to be climbed even before we reached the ticket booth.
The rain had abated, the skies were clear, and the walk looked pleasant, so we decided to climb. The way up was a shaded and pleasant. The steps were wide and easy to use even though the rain had made them slippery.
The entire journey to the top took around 15-20 minutes. I’m sure you could do it much faster, but we climbed up at very leisurely pace. There was no hurry… Or so we thought! Anyway, we paid the nominal fee (Can’t remember how much it was) and we entered the holy Buddhist site.
Our Adventures Within The Pandavleni Caves
One of the first Pandavleni caves we saw.
The entire site has a total of 24 caves. The structure of these caves is very different from each other as each cave served a different purpose.
The pathway towards the ticketing booth (and up the hill) is dotted with a few signboards that tell you the use of each cave and help you get a deeper understanding of its structure. Our understanding of the caves however was limited and just after we finished examining the first few caves, the heavens opened and showered us with rain.
The caves range from being enormous to tiny. One had a floor above and was particularly beautiful. The carvings on most of the walls are also well preserved. Take a torch though or use your phone flashlight because the light that enters is only from the doorways. In order, to see the rest of the caves in detail you will need some form of artificial light.
When the Pandavleni caves gave us shelter from the storm
At first, we were pretty sheltered from the rain because we were in the caves. Then came a point where we could go off the beaten path. There were no railings and the rocks looked mighty slippery, so we decided to turn back.
Hiding inside the caves gave us respite from the rain but not from the wind. That made us wonder how the Buddhist monks lived. It definitely was not an easy nor a comfortable life.
As time passed it became more and more apparent that the rain was not going to let off. The clouds were becoming darker (yeah! We noticed!) and we would get stuck for a long while if we didn’t get a move on it.
So, we headed down the path which since it was shaded gave a good respite from most of the waterworks. Except for those annoying big drops that sneakily managed to land on our necks and trickle down.
Pandavleni caves was certainly an adventure which I’m glad we embarked on. The view from above is amazing. I bet you can see the whole of Nashik city on a clear day. Despite the incoming clouds we could still see a good distance away. Other than the view, the structures themselves are beautiful and have a lot of history to share.
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