The morning of 25th August, 2012, saw us
standing at Dadar station, waiting for the arrival of the 7.01 local to Karjat.
Our group that consisted of 10 girls and 3 boys was headed for a trek to the
Kondana Caves. 
The journey to
Karjat was a long, but comfortable one. Once you cross Thane we were blessed
with beautiful views of open plains, fields and rolling hills. The only thing
lacking was the rain. It was quite sunny and there was not a cloud in sight.
This deficiency was rectified once we crossed Ambernath. From here on, until we
reached Karjat, we saw hill shrouded in
swirls of dark clouds and mist.
Once we alighted
at Karjat station, we pooled in a fair sum of funds and then walked for approx’
15 minutes towards Sriram Bridge from where we had to hire a 7-seater
auto-rickshaw that would take us to the village of Kondana. These autos,
commonly known as ‘Vikrams’, charge a sum of 250/- Rupees to drop tourists
right at the base village of Kondana. Being a fairly large group, we hired 2
vikrams and then began a long and bumpy ride towards our destination, Gogate’s
Van Vihar.
The Van Vihar is
a family run establishment that provides meals and accommodation for visitors
to Kondana. Here, we had a breakfast of the traditional Poha and then stopped
at a local tea-stall for chai and batata-vada, deep fried potato dumplings
stuffed into a loaf of bread. From here, tourists have an option of going for
any one of the following – a 6 hour trek to the Kondana Fort, or the much
shorter trek to Kondana caves. We chose the latter.
The trek begins
with a 10 minute walk along a narrow road, then there’s a board that guides
tourists/trekkers to turn left for the caves. From here it’s a winding up-hill
climb across streams, through bushes and brambles and across boulders. The
forest path here is narrow and mostly hidden by the plants and trees that grow
alongside the path, but it’s not easy to miss. After about an hour and a ½ of
climbing and walking, we got our first glimpse of the caves. Carved directly
out of the rock these caves enclose sculptures, vihara, and
stupa. Sculptures and stupas are specimens of the ancient period Buddhist
architecture. It is said that there was a natural disaster in the form of an
earth quake in early 1900 by which many stupas, front entrance and floor of the
caves were damaged. These caves attract
tourists and Buddhist pilgrims throughout the year. There is a flight of stone
steps leading to the caves and a waterfall that, like a sparkling curtain,
covers the mouth of the caves. We had to
pass under the waterfall in order to explore the caves. 
The outer façade of
these caves is beautifully carved and, at many places, depicts an almost
kamasutra-like imagery. I guess it’s the whole idea of leaving all desire
outside before entering. There are some rough stone steps leading to the first
level of the caves. Here one can clearly see little rooms cup-out into the
rock. Each one consists of some empty space and what must have once been stone
bets for the monks. The entire cave is clean and devoid of the damp, musty
smell one usually finds in caves. Apart from exploring the caves, one can enjoy
a shower under the waterfall or rappelling down the front of the caves. 
All-in-all, it
was a simple, but enjoyable trek. It was just what we needed to give ourselves a break
from hectic routines of city life.
Pics by Misha
