What are Kanheri Caves?
Kanheri is a collection of rock-cut monuments representing Western India’s traditional art. It significantly contains art from subsequent periods of Buddhist art. A vast Vihara known as a prayer hall and stupas may be seen inside the Kanheri caves. The caverns include 109 Buddha Viharas that were explicitly built for Bhikshus.
Buddhist sculptures and artwork are used to adorn shrines. About 30 of the Buddha paintings are unfinished. Most of these paintings were created by Buddhists who visited and meditated in the cave. These ancient drawings are distinct from the Indian cave sites’ other images in that they are older.
Kanheri Caves
The Kanheri caves are the first Buddhist caves with unique rock-cut construction. The history of Kanheri caves is 2000 years old and is located in Sanjay Gandhi National Park near Borivali, Mumbai, among the serene beauty of the western ghats. Kanheri’s old caverns are on the slopes of Sanjay Gandhi National Park’s enormous forest. It sits at the height of 1500 meters above sea level. These caves are used as shelter or home for Buddhists during the cold season and are one of the oldest heritage sites in India.
Kanheri, which is also known as Krishnagiri or Kanagiri thanks to an ancient inscription in Prakrit, literally translates as “black mountain,” with “Krishna” standing for “black” and “Gari” for “mountain.” It appears in the Vasisthiputra Pulumavi’s (monarch of the Satavahana dynasty) Nasik inscription. Black basalt stone is a distinctive feature of Kanheri. Buddhist monks lived at Kanheri (129 caverns), where they practiced meditation, studied the teachings of Gautama Buddha, and preached them. The tunnels are frequently utilized as shelters during the monsoon.