Inscriptions in caves 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19 and 20 are legible. Other inscriptions note the names
Gautamiputra Satkarni and
Vashishthiputra Pulumavi of the
Satavahanas,
Ushavadata and his wife Dakshamitra, of the
Western Satraps, and the
Yavana (
Indo-Greek) Dhammadeva. Since the caves were inhabited by the
Early Buddhism as well as Mahayana sects, one can see a nice confluence of structure and sculpture.
Caves No. 1-2 Cave No.3, "Gautamiputra vihara" (circa 150 CE) File:010 Cave 3, Exterior (33156264563).jpg|thumb|350px|Cave No.3 "Gautamiputra vihara" (circa 150 CE). 3D Tour. Cave No.3 at
Nasik is one of the most important caves, and the largest, of the
Pandavleni caves complex. It was built and dedicated to the
sangha in the 2nd century CE by Queen Gotami Balasiri, mother of deceased
Satavahana king
Gautamiputra Satakarni, and contains many important inscriptions.
The cave The cave is a
vihara meant to provide shelter to Buddhist monks. It is, with cave No.10, the largest vihara cave in the Pandavleni Caves complex. The hall is 41 feet wide and 46 deep, with a bench round three sides. The cave has six pillars on the front porch, roughly similar to those of the early cave No. 10 built by the viceroy of
Nahapana circa 120 CE. Inside, 18 monk cells are laid out according to a square plan, seven on the right side, six in the back, and five in the left. There is also another long inscription (No.3) by Sri Pulumavi himself, also in the 22nd year of his reign. As mentioned above, one of the most important Nasik Caves inscription was made by Gautamiputra's mother the great queen Gotami Balasiri, during the reign of her grandson
Vasishthiputra Pulumavi, in order to record the gift of Cave No.3. The full inscription consists in a long
eulogy of Gautamiputra Satakarni, mentioning his valour, his military victories, and then her gift of a cave in the Nasik Caves complex. The most important passages on this inscription related to the military victories of Gautamiputra Satakarni, in particular: • the claim that Gautamiputra Satakarni "destroyed the
Sakas,
Yavanas and
Palhavas", alluding respectively to the
Western Satraps, the
Indo-Greeks and the
Indo-Parthians • the claim that Gautamitra Satakarni "rooted out the
Khakharata race" and "restored the glory of the Satavahana family". The Khakharata refers to the Kshaharata dynasty, the family branch of
Nahapana, the important
Western Satraps ruler. The full inscription, located on the back wall of the veranda above the entrance, reads: The above inscription shows an odd but fascinating blend of Vedic-Bramanic beliefs, religious and cultural, in mentioning caste (the "twice born" Brahmins and the "varnas," or Four Castes) and characters from the Mahabharata (Arjuna, Bhima) and Puranas (Nahusha), while also espousing beliefs in Buddhism ("Renunciation to the enjoyments of every kind," "..this meritorious donation") and openly supporting the
sangha. Despite the eventual antagonism between Buddhists and Brahmins over royal patronage, the Satavahanas clearly supported both religious groups, perhaps trying to curry favor not only with the humans but also the divinities. The next inscription is located right under the inscription of the Queen, only separated by a
swastika and another symbol. The inscription (inscription No.3) was made by
Sri Pulumavi himself, in the 22nd year of his reign, and records the gift of a village for the welfare of the monks dwelling in the cave built by his grandmother. Since his mother made the final dedication of the cave during the reign of his son (inscription No.2 above), Gautamiputra Satakarni may have started the cave, but not finished it. The inscription is on the east wall of the veranda in Cave No. 3, under the ceiling. A final inscription, written as a continuation of the previous one, and only separated by a
swastika, describes a correction to the previous inscription, as the donated lands and villages turned to be inappropriate. The inscription reads:
Caves No.4-9 Cave No.10 "Nahapana Vihara" (circa 120 CE) File:036 Cave 10, Front (33928302236).jpg|thumb|350px|Cave No.10 "Nahapana Vihara" (circa 120 CE). 3D tour.
Western Satraps ruler
Nahapana built Cave No.10 circa 120 CE.
The cave Cave No. 10 is the second largest Vihara, and contains six inscriptions of the family of
Nahapana. The six pillars (two of them attached) have more elegant bell-shaped capitals than those in Cave No. 3, and their bases are in the style of those in the
Karla Caves Chaitya, and in that next to the Granesa Lena at
Junnar; the frieze also, like those that remain on the other small caves between Nos.4 and 9, is carved with the simple rail pattern. At each end of the verandah is a cell, donated by "Dakhamitra, the daughter of King Kshaharata Kshatrapa Nahapana, and wife of Ushavadata, son of Dinika." Cave No. 10 and the Karla Caves Chaitya are extremely similar in style, and thought to be essentially contemporary. It also documents the Indian tradition of
dana (charity) to Buddhist monks and of building infrastructure to serve pilgrims and the general public by the 2nd-century CE.
Caves No.12-16 Cave No.12 has one inscription mentioning it is the gift of a merchant named Ramanaka. The cave is dated to around 120 CE.
The cave ;Inside hall Cave 17 is the third large Vihara, though smaller than Nos.3, 10, 20, and has been executed close to the upper portion of the
Chaitya cave. The hall measures 22 feet 10 inches wide by 32 feet 2 inches deep, and has a back aisle screened off by two columns, of which the elephants and their riders and the thin square members of the capitals only are finished. The steps of the shrine door have also been left as a rough block, on which a
Hindu has carved the
shalunkha, or receptacle for a
linga. The shrine has never been finished. On the wall of the back aisle is a standing figure of Buddha, 3.5 feet high; in the left side of the hall, 2 feet 3 inches from the floor, is a recess, 18.5 feet long and 4 feet 3 inches high by 2 feet deep, intended for a seat or perhaps for a row of metallic images; a cell has been attempted at each end of this, but one of them has entered the aisle of the Chaitya-cave just below, and the work has then been stopped. On the right side are four cells without benches. ;Veranda The veranda is somewhat peculiar, and it would seem that, at first, a much smaller cave was projected, or else by some mistake it was begun too far to the left. It is ascended by half a-dozen steps in front between the two central octagonal pillars with very short shafts, and large bases and capitals, the latter surmounted by elephants and their riders, and the frieze above carved with the plain "rail pattern". They stand on a paneled base; but the landing between the central pair is opposite the left window in the back wall of the veranda, to the right of which is the principal door, but to the left of the window is also a narrower one. The veranda has then been prolonged to the west, and another door broken out to the outside beyond the right attached pillar; at this end of the veranda also is an unfinished cell.
Inscription " inscription on the back wall of the veranda, over the entrance, is about 3 meters in length (photograph and rubbing). Detail of the word "Yo-ṇa-ka-sa" (adjectival form of "Yoṇaka",
Brahmi ), with Nasik/
Karla-period
Brahmi script for reference. Cave No.17 has one inscription, mentioning the gift of the cave by Indragnidatta the son of the
Yavana (i.e.
Greek or
Indo-Greek) Dharmadeva. It is located on the back wall of the veranda, over the main entrance, and is inscribed in large letters: The city of "Dattamittri" may be the city of
Demetrias in
Arachosia, mentioned by
Isidore of Charax. The Yavanas are also known for their donations with inscriptions at the Great
Chaitya at the
Karla Caves, and at the
Manmodi Caves in
Junnar. ===Cave No. 18: the
Chaitya===
The cave File:Nasik Cave 18.jpg|thumb|Cave No.18, the corner of cave No.17 is visible on the right. 3D tour. Cave No.18 is a
chaitya design, comparable to the
Karla Caves Chaitya, although earlier and much smaller and simpler in design. It is the only Chaitya cave of the group, belongs to a much earlier date; and though none of the three inscriptions on it supplies certain information on this point, yet the name of Maha Hakusiri, found in one of them, tends to push it back to some period about or before the
Christian era. The carving, however, over the door and the pilasters with animal capitals on the façade on each side the great arch, and the insertion of the hooded snake, will, on comparison with the façades at
Bedsa and
Karla, tend to suggest an early date for this cave. It is thought that the chronology of these early Chaitya Caves is as follows: first Cave 9 at
Kondivite Caves, then Cave 12 at the
Bhaja Caves and Cave 10 of
Ajanta Caves, around the 1st century BCE. Then, in chronological order: Cave 3 at
Pitalkhora, Cave 1 at
Kondana Caves, Cave 9 at
Ajanta Caves, which, with its more ornate designs, may have been built about a century later,
Cave No.19 "Krishna vihara" (100-70 BCE) Cave 19 is at a rather lower level even than the Chaitya cave, and some distance in advance of it, but the front and interior have been so filled up with earth as to conceal it from general view. It is a small
Vihara, 14 feet 3 inches square, with six cells, two on each side; their doors are surmounted by the Chaitya-arch ornament connected by a frieze of "rail pattern" in some places wavy. In the front wall are two lattice windows, and in the veranda two slender square pillars, the middle portion of the shaft being chamfered to an octagonal shape. The cave has one inscription of king
Krishna of the
Satavahanas, which is the oldest known Satavahana inscription, dated to 100-70 BCE: The hall is surrounded by a low bench as in Cave 3, and in the middle of the floor is a low platform, about 9 feet square, apparently intended for an asana or seat; but whether to place an image upon for worship, or as a "seat of the law", where the Thera or high priest might sit when teaching and discussing, is impossible to say. On the right-hand side, and nearer the front, are three small circular elevations in the floor much like ordinary millstones. They may be seats also for members of the clergy, or bases on which to set small moveable dagobas. But when the cave was altered and extended backward, the floor seems also to have been lowered a few inches to form the low dais and these bases. The antechamber is slightly raised above the level of the hall, from which it is divided by two richly carved columns between
antae. On either side the shrine door is a gigantic
dvarapala, 9.5 feet high, with an attendant female, but so besmeared with soot for the cave has been long occupied by
Bhairagis, that minor details are scarcely recognisable. These dvarapalas, however, hold lotus stalks, have the same elaborate head-dresses, with a small dagoba in the front of one, and a figure of Buddha in the other, and have the same attendants and
vidyaharas flying over head as we find in the later Buddhist caves at
Aurangabad. In the shrine, too, is the colossal image of Buddha, 10 feet high, seated with his feet on a lotus flower and holding the little finger of his left hand between the thumb and forefinger of his right. He is attended by two gigantic chauri-bearer with the same distinguishing features as the dvarapala. All this points to about the 7th century CE or later, as the age of alteration of this cave. Fortunately there is an inscription of the 7th year of
Yajna Sri Satakarni (170-199 CE), stating that "after having been under excavation for many years " it was then carried to completion by the wife of the commander-in-chief. It is quite clear, however, that the inner and outer parts were excavated at widely different ages. This inscriptions shows, as the inscriptions of Yajna Sri Satakarni in
Kanheri caves, that the Satavahanas had reclaimed the area of Kanheri and Nasik from the
Western Satraps during the reign of Sri Yajna Satakarni. The pillars of the veranda have the water-pot bases, and the bell-shaped capitals of those in
Karle Chaitya. Those of the sanctuary are represented, and belong to a widely distant age. Like No.17, it has a side door near the left end of the veranda, and a cell in that end. The façade has four octagonal pillars between antae, the shafts more slender than in any of the other caves, but the bases of the same pattern disproportionately large, as if the shafts had been reduced in thickness at a later date. They stand on a paneled base, with five low steps up to it between the middle pair. A low screen wall in front is nearly quite destroyed, except at the east end, where a passage led to a large irregular and apparently unfinished apartment with two plain octagonal pillars with square bases between pilasters in front, and having a water-cistern at the entrance.
Caves No.21-24 ==Routes==