No town in India has more caves around it than Junnar. More than 200 of them, cut into four hills that ring the town, most of them by Buddhist monks two thousand years ago. Most visitors come for one: the Ganesh temple at Lenyadri, or the fort at Shivneri. Give it a full day and you see what this place really was, a busy monastic city on one of the richest trade routes of the ancient world.
Why Junnar has so many caves
Junnar sat on the old road from the Arabian Sea ports, up the Naneghat pass, to Paithan, the Satavahana capital on the Deccan plateau. Goods, money and travellers passed through, and the people who grew rich on that trade paid for caves for the monks. Their gifts are written on the walls: merchants, officials, a minister of the Western Satrap ruler Nahapana, and Yavanas, Greeks who had settled in western India and taken up Buddhism. The town may take its name from Jirnanagar, “the old city”.
Most of the caves were cut between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE. They are simple compared with Ajanta: plain cells for monks, a few prayer halls with stupas, and rock-cut water cisterns everywhere. The joy of Junnar is the setting and the sheer number, hill after hill of doorways in the cliffs.
The four cave hills at a glance
| Group | Where | Caves | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenyadri (Ganesh Lena) | 5–6 km north, across the Kukdi river | About 30 (26 numbered) | Prayer hall (Cave 6) and the Ashtavinayak Ganesh in Cave 7 |
| Shivneri | 2–3 km south-west, on the fort hill | Around 50–60 | The great chaitya (Cave 47) with painted ceiling; Yavana inscriptions |
| Tulja Lena | About 4 km west | 11–14 | A round prayer hall |
| Manmodi | About 3 km south | About 45, in three groups | Nahapana’s minister’s inscription (124 CE); the Yavana façade |
Counts differ between surveys, so treat them as approximate.
1. Lenyadri (Ganesh Lena)
The best-known group and the busiest. About 30 caves face south along the hillside, 26 of them numbered from east to west. Caves 6 and 14 are prayer halls (chaityas); the rest were homes for monks. Cave 7, a large monastery hall, now holds the Girijatmaj Ganesh, one of the eight Ashtavinayak temples, and pilgrims come all day. Climb the roughly 300 steps (283 by the classic count) in the morning, see the temple, then walk along to the prayer hall in Cave 6. There is an ASI ticket at the foot, a doli (palanquin) for those who cannot climb, and monkeys on the steps: keep food out of sight.
2. Shivneri Caves
Shivneri hill is famous as the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, but its cliffs were full of monks a millennium and a half earlier. Around 50 to 60 caves are scattered over the east, west and south faces. Look out for Cave 26, a two-storey monastery; Cave 45, the “Bara-kotri”, with twelve cells; and on the south face, Cave 47, a prayer hall with a stupa under a stone parasol and traces of painted concentric circles on its ceiling. An inscription records it as the gift of a merchant named Virasenaka. Two inscriptions record gifts by Yavana donors: two water cisterns from one, a dining hall for the monks from another. Several caves sit right beside the fort path, so you can see some on the way up. See my Shivneri Fort guide for the climb.
3. Tulja Lena
The quietest and one of the oldest groups, cut around 50 BCE on a hill about 4 km west of Junnar, beyond Shivneri. Its treasure is a round prayer hall, about eight metres across, where twelve plain octagonal pillars stand in a circle around the stupa. Cave 4 is now a shrine to the goddess Tulja Devi, which gives the group its name.
4. Manmodi Caves
Three groups strung along a hill about 3 km south of town, around 45 caves in all:
- Bhimashankar group, on the east, about 10 caves. An inscription here records a gift by Ayama, minister of the Western Satrap Nahapana, in 124 CE. Its prayer hall was never finished.
- Amba-Ambika group, in the middle, about 19 caves, with another unfinished prayer hall. It is named after a carving of the Jain goddess Ambika added to one cave in medieval times. A road runs towards it from the old bus stand in Junnar.
- Bhutling group, on the north-west, about 16 caves, has the finest façade on the hill: a prayer hall front with a carving of Lakshmi and elephants above her. The inscription on it says this façade was the gift of a Yavana named Chanda.
A day in Junnar
- Early morning: Lenyadri. Beat the pilgrim crowds and the heat on the steps.
- Late morning: Shivneri. Climb to the fort and see the caves along the way.
- Lunch in Junnar town.
- Afternoon: Manmodi or Tulja Lena. Manmodi if you like stories in stone; Tulja Lena if you want the round hall and a quiet hill to yourself. Fit both in if you start early and have your own transport.
Staying over? Naneghat, the ancient pass that made Junnar rich, is about 20 km north-west. See it in my list of cave treks.
Getting there
- From Pune (about 90–96 km): via Rajgurunagar, Manchar and Narayangaon. Buses run from Pune to Junnar.
- From Mumbai: via Kalyan, Murbad and the Malshej Ghat.
- Around town: the four hills are within 6 km of Junnar. Hire an auto or cab in town to go between them; the last stretch to each group is on foot, by steps or hill paths.
Before you go
- Start early and carry water and snacks for the quieter hills.
- Wear shoes with grip for the hill paths, especially after rain.
- Keep food hidden from the monkeys at Lenyadri.
- Respect the caves: no touching or writing on the carvings and inscriptions, which are the reason we know Junnar’s story at all.
- Fees and hours change. Lenyadri has an ASI ticket; the other groups are being checked.
More caves: caves near Pune, caves in Mumbai and cave treks in Maharashtra.