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Located at Karli, 60 kms from Lonavala, Maharashtra, India, “Karla caves” are one of the oldest and beautiful rock-cut Buddhist caves. It is believed that these caves were carved from a living rock. The wooden beams had been superbly used in this beautiful architecture from which some are still alive. Karla cave is the largest Hinayana Buddist Chaitya; that means a temple in India. Karla caves’ Chaityagriha is the grandest and largest caves out of all such monuments in India. There is a beautiful 148 feet long chaitya at this place. It takes around 20 minutes to climb up the Karla caves. Since Karla caves are one of the wonderful rock-cut architectures, tourists from all over the world visit this place every year.
There are many other places to see near Karla Caves:
Ekvira Devi Temple:
Located near to Karla caves, Ekvira Devi temple is one of the beautiful temples. This temple is devoted to Goddess Renuka, who is also known as the mother of Parshurama. The Goddess Renuka is worshipped by the local koli fishermen community and other local people. It is quite tiring to walk to the temple, so one has to take care like wearing proper pair of shoes and carrying enough water.
Sausage Hills:
Sausage hills can be considered as one of the best picnic spots in Lonavala. The sausage hills are surrounded by the dense forests and these forests are the home for varieties of birds. Tourists find this place a worth visiting since it is an ideal and perfect place for hill climbing, trekking and bird watching. Beautiful views of Pawna Lake and Tunga Fort are one of the attractions at the Sausage Hills.
Devi Durga Parmeshwari Temple:
Many famous temples increase the number of tourists that come to visit this place every year. The temple of Devi Durga Parmeshwari is one of those temples devoted to devi Durga. This temple was built in 1993 and it consists of a huge and beautiful hall, called as Dhyan Mandir. The whole temple is constructed in the while marble; including walls, roofs and pillars. The temple is one of the beautiful constructions in the Lonavala.
Wax Museum:
The Celebrity Wax Museum is a famous and must visit place in Lonavala. Wax Museum is located at around 8 kms i.e at 15 mins from the Karla caves. The museum contains the wax models of many celebrities including Indian cricketer Kapil Dev, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Maratha ruler), Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Anna Hajare, Indian politicians like Narendra Modi, Atal Bihari Vajpeyi, Chagan Bhujbal etc.
Other than these there are many places to visit neat to Karla caves; like Tungarli Lake and temples like; Rukmini Mandir, Ganpati Mandir etc.