Around 50 kilometers from Pune, aloof in the middle of Paddy fields and Ghats, a small road head towards a hill top where one of the oldest Buddhist caves are located. These shrines came into existence within the period of 2 nd century BC to 2 nd century AD. The place,definitely made for prayers by Buddhist monks corroborated by Stupa kind of structure in its main hall.Not very far away and dated around the same time,are the caves of more celebrated Ajanta and Ellora. We climbed around 500 steps before reaching the cave site. Karla and Bhaje are situated on different hill tops but the kind of architecture and model does replicate. There are around 16 caves out of which cave 8 is main hall and only accessible to visitors. It is believed these caves are of Mahayana Buddhism. The Caves used to act as Buddhist monastery. There are pillars on both sides of the hall and a stupa is present at the end of hall. On some pillars,eng...