Hindagala Temple - Kandy, Sri Lanka

The Hindagala Temple - Kandy, Sri Lanka

The Hindagala temple is an ancient cave temple famous for the art which adorns its ceilings and walls. Most of the paintings date back to the 18th century but there are a few poorly preserved paintings which are said to be from the 5th century. The temple itself was a hermitage used by meditating Buddhist monks for centuries.

More photographs inside.

Paintings at the Hindagala Temple - Kandy Sri Lanka

The main building, seen in the first image, houses a Buddha statue and a Dagoba. Unfortunately when I got there the priest was away and I was unable to photograph the interior of the cave as the doors were locked. Fortunately there were only a few people visiting the temple when I got there. This gave me plenty of time to set up the tripod photograph the exterior of the main building.

Paintings at the Hindagala Temple - Kandy Sri Lanka

There are two entrances to the main temple. The first is a flight of steep stone stairs that lead to the temple from the main road below. The stairs are easy to miss as there are no signs indicating the whereabouts of the temple. The second entrance is a small path accessed from a side road that is some distance away. The path winds its way through a number of large boulders and overgrown properties but is not as steep as the stairs. The photograph below is the  entrance to this path from the temple.

An entrance to the Hindagala Temple - Kandy, Sri Lanka

All photographs on this post were taken with a Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. No flash were used to photograph the paintings but the tripod did come in handy! I will try and photograph the interior of the temple on my next visit.

Bhaja Caves - Pune, India

Bhaja Caves - Pune, India

I was in Pune on work last week and managed to free up sometime (by starting pretty early in the morning!) to see a few of the local sights. Bhaja caves was one of two old Buddhist cave temples I visited during the week. The cave temples are said to belong to the Theravada stream of Buddhism and date back to the 2nd century BC.

More images, including a panorama of the complex, inside.

Bhaja Caves - Pune, India

The Bhaja cave temple is a complex of around 29 excavations. It is said to be one of the oldest Buddhist religious centers in the Deccan region. From an archeological point of view the temples are important in terms of the development of caves architecture. Bhaja caves and the nearby Karla caves are found near Lonavala which sits on one of the major ancient trade routes between the Arabian Sea and the Deccan region, the division between North and South India.

Carvings at Bhaja Caves - Pune, India

The main attraction in this complex is the twelfth cave which contains a Chaitya and a prayer hall. Its got a large horseshoe shaped entrance and a number of pillars holding up the arched ceiling. An aisle  circles the prayer hall and the Chaitya. Although the entrance to the main prayer hall is open now, it was once covered by a wooden facade. Reliefs of Indian mythological characters, a feature that Bhaja caves are famous for, can be seen on either side of the entrance of another cave.

Stupas at Bhaja Caves - Pune, India

Most of the other caves seem to have been used for accommodation. Seven of these caves contain inscriptions which describe their benefactors, one dating back to the 2nd century AD. Another cave contains 14 small Stupas. 5 of these are inside the cave while 9 can be found outside the entrance. This area has been identified as a cemetery and some of the stupas have been inscribed with the names of early Orthodox Buddhists.

 The Main Hall at Bhaja Caves - Pune, India

The panorama of the complex was made up of  53 individual images. Taking the photographs for the panorama was not easy as the ledge on which the temple was built is quite narrow. As a result I wasn't able to move back as much as I wanted to, to take the photographs. However, out of sheer luck, I did time the visit well as I made it to the temple at sunset and had good light to work with. I also had the whole place to myself which helped with the photography.