Talaja Caves

Inside view of Talaja Cave

Pilgrimage to
Buddha's Holy Sites
The Four Main Sites
Bodh Gaya Kushinagar Lumbini Sarnath
Four Additional Sites
Rajgir Sankassa Shravasti Vaishali
Other Sites
Chandavaram Devadaha Gaya Kapilavastu Kesaria Kosambi Nalanda Pataliputra Pava Varanasi
Later Sites
Ajanta Caves Barabar Caves Bharhut Ellora Caves Lalitgiri Mathura Pandavleni Caves Piprahwa Ratnagiri Sanchi Udayagiri Vikramashila

Talaja Caves are located in Bhavnagar district of the Indian state of Gujarat at Talaja. The rock cuts are carved out into deserted conical rocks. The rock cut group include 30 caves among which about 15 are water tanks. The cave has unique architecture known as Ebhal Mandapa. The halls are plain. "On the facade there are chaitya windows with a broad bank of vedika below them." The chaitya and cells were carved during Buddhism influence in 2nd century BC. During the Kshatrapas' regime in 2nd-3rd AD Jainism emblems were carved on the cells and the halls.^[1]

The cave contains figures of Bodhisattva.The caves were carved out before rock cut architecture begins in the Maharashtra.^[2] According to few Historians the date of caves can not be traced out however some believe that carving started by the end of 1st century CE.^[3]

Further reading

• Fergusson, James; Burgess, James. The cave temples of India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 201–202. ISBN 1108055524. 

References

Indian Buddhist caves Andhra Pradesh Adapur Caves Belum Caves Chandavaram Erravaram Caves Guntupalli Caves Kotturu Dhanadibbalu Pandavula Metta Caves Ramatheertham Caves Sankaram Undavalli caves Bihar Barabar Caves Lomas Rishi Cave Saptaparni Cave Gujarat Dhank Caves Junagadh Buddhist Cave Groups Bava Pyara caves Kadia Dungar caves Khambhalida Caves Sana Caves Siyot caves Talaja Caves Karnataka Aihole Badami cave temples Pandava caves Mangalore Madhya Pradesh Bagh Caves Dhamnar Caves Dharmrajeshwar Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary Maharashtra Ajanta Caves Bedse Caves Bhaja Caves Dharashiv Caves Elephanta Caves Ellora Caves Gandharpale Caves Ghorawadi Caves Jogeshwari Caves Kanheri Caves Karla Caves Karad Caves Kondana Caves Kuda Caves Lenyadri Mahakali Caves Mandapeshwar Caves Nadsur Caves Nenavali Caves Pandavleni Caves Panhalakaji Caves Pitalkhora Shelarwadi Caves Shirwal Caves Shivneri Caves Thanale Caves Tulja Caves Wai Caves Odisha Udayagiri, Odisha Rajasthan Binnayaga Buddhist caves Hathiagor Buddhist Caves Kolvi Caves Tamil Nadu Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram