The Karla and Bhaja Caves tour from Mumbai begins with hotel pickup at 8 am in a private air conditioned vehicle. Lonavala, the gateway to both cave complexes, is approximately 85 kilometres from Mumbai, a drive of around two hours on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway through the Western Ghats.

Karla Caves are the first destination, a complex of 16 rock cut Buddhist caves carved between the 2nd and 5th centuries on a hillside above the ancient trade route. The caves were patronised by successive Buddhist communities — the earlier Theravada tradition and the later Mahayana tradition — and the shift between them is visible in the evolution of artistic style and iconography across the cave complex. The highlight of the Karla and Bhaja Caves tour from Mumbai at this site is the great chaitya griha in Cave 8, one of the largest and most complete rock cut prayer halls in India. The horseshoe arch entrance, the tall interior colonnade, and the stupa at the far end create an architectural sequence of extraordinary power. The wooden ribs on the ceiling of the cave, installed by the original 1st century builders as reinforcement and decoration, are the oldest surviving structural timber in India — two thousand years old and still in place. Your guide explains the Buddhist theology expressed in the architecture, the role of the stupa as the focus of meditation and the significance of the horseshoe arch window that floods the hall with morning light.

Cave 12 at Karla is the other exceptional stop, a vihara or residential monastery whose pillared hall is covered in sculptures of couples in poses of remarkable naturalism and sensuality — unusual in a monastic context and a reminder that the Buddhist tradition at this period was deeply engaged with the full range of human experience.

Bhaja Caves are reached after a climb of 200 steps up the hillside to a complex of 22 caves set 400 feet above the valley, dating from the 2nd century BC and among the oldest Buddhist rock cut structures in Maharashtra. The chaitya here has a vaulted horseshoe ceiling of extraordinary elegance and a pillar showing the Buddha in his pre-iconic forms — the Bodhi tree, the lotus, the elephant, the wheel and the throne — from the period before Buddhist art depicted the Buddha in human form. The sculptures in the adjacent cells include some of the most remarkable early Buddhist narrative carving in India. And in one of the smaller caves, your guide will show you the carving of a woman playing a drum that historians believe to be the earliest known depiction of a tabla, a finding that has pushed the known history of one of India’s most beloved musical instruments back by over a thousand years.

Hotel drop in Mumbai by 6:30 pm.

This private Karla and Bhaja Caves tour from Mumbai is fully inclusive. We take care of hotel pickup and drop in a private air conditioned vehicle, your expert cultural guide throughout the day, all entry fees and lunch.