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| Ghorawadi Caves Ghoradeshwar caves Shelarwadi caves | |
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_Leni.jpg) The caves | |
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| Coordinates | 18°41′32″N73°42′15″E / 18.692251°N 73.704056°E /18.692251; 73.704056 |
TheGhorawadi caves, also known asGhoradeshwar caves orShelarwadi caves, are around 25 km (16 mi) northwest ofPune, India, were originally Buddhist caves, and now contain carvings and statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities.
They are close to the NH4 highway connecting Pune andMumbai. The caves were carved out of a single rock formation around the 3rd and 4th century CE.
There are nine rooms formeditation adjoining thechaityagriha. An inscription inBrāhmī script on one of the walls says that theChaityagriha is dedicated with affection to theBuddha and theSamgha by the daughters of "Dhapar", who was a disciple of "Bhadantsingh". The chaityagriha is now known asShri Ghorwadeshwar Temple.
The caves are situated at the top of a hill. Several caves contain representations of deities includingVitthal,Rakhumai andSaint Tukaram. It is said thatSaint Tukaram used tomeditate at Ghorawadi caves and also at places likeDurga Tekdi nearNigdi,Bhandara andBhamchandra nearDehu.
A large cave contains a representation ofShivlinga that is visited duringMahashivratri by people seeking the blessings ofShiva.
The caves were earlier known as Chaityagriha or Chaittagriha (inPali) caves which carried various inscriptions on it by Buddhist scholars stating these caves were built as a sign of affection toBuddha and theSangha of Buddhist scholar Dhapar.It still contains various ancient Buddhist relics. Some evidences prove the existence of Buddhist Vihara here.
The Cave structure and the Shiva Linga are of the same stone, thus proving that the temple is as old as the cave. Later, Buddhism dominated the Deccan Plateau region during medieval age, after which Hinduism dominated again. As per Hindu legends, due to unavoidable situations and disasters including famines, the natural beauty in this region started dying. Rivers died, forests started to burn due to heat and as its effect, the biodiversity here stated to vanish. Unique birds like the Great Indian Bustard of this region started to vanish. In order to prevent this, the people of the villages started to worship Shiva by establishing a shivalinga inside these caves. Even though after severe efforts, there was no relief from famines. After all this, in order to protect its clan, a bustard bird started worshipping the Shivalinga. By seeing devotion of an innocent bird to relieve from the disastrous nature, Shiva appeared before the bird and granted him the boon. Today, the Lord here is worshipped as Ghoradeshwar, which is made of two words, Ghorad and Ishwar. The word Ghorad stands for The Indian Busters in Marathi and Ishwar stands for Lord. The word Ghoradeshwar means Lord of the Bustard.
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