Place · rock-cut Buddhist caves · India
Pitalkhora Caves
The 3rd century BCE to 7th century CE Buddhist rock-cut cave complex at Pitalkhora in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, 40 kilometres from Aurangabad on the Satmala range — one of the earliest Buddhist cave groups in the Deccan with 14 excavated caves, cut under Satavahana patronage. The site preserves distinctive Satavahana-period architectural elements: elephant-shaped column bases, a chaitya hall with wooden-form derived stone pillars, and the earliest known Yaksha figures in Buddhist Deccan sculpture. The 1st-century BCE Yaksha pair (now in the National Museum, Delhi, after James Fergusson's 1853 removal) are among the finest surviving pre-Ajanta Buddhist sculptures. The site extends the rock-cut Buddhist Deccan tradition beyond the better-known Ajanta-Ellora corridor. ASI protection since 1912.
- Function
- Religious institution & practice
- Tradition
- Deccan archaeology and Maratha history
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 20.320, 75.240
Connections (3)
- Companion in the same setAjantā caves
Pitalkhora in its ravine and Ajantā in its gorge are both on the roads between the Deccan plateau and the Konkan coast, about a hundred kilometres apart. Pitalkhora is the earlier and much the more damaged, but its Sātavāhana yaksha figures are among the finest early sculpture in the Deccan.
- Site adjacencyBedsā Caves
Bedsa and Pitalkhora belong to the same first phase of western Deccan excavation and both sit at the head of a pass — Bedsa above the Bhor Ghat, Pitalkhora on the route to the Tapi valley. Pitalkhora's yaksha figures and its elephant-carved doorway are contemporary with Bedsa's capitals, and both sites were abandoned and then partly reoccupied in the Mahayana phase five centuries later.
- Site withinAurangabad / Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Pitalkhora — an early Buddhist cave complex — sits 40 kilometres northwest of Aurangabad in Aurangabad district within the Satmala range. The caves are among the oldest Buddhist excavations in the Deccan and are administered from the Aurangabad ASI office alongside Ajanta and Ellora. Project Bharatam records the specific site and the city together.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Pitalkhora”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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