Kanheri cave temple

Water-colour by William Carpenter of the Kanheri cave temple, dated 6th January 1851. Inscribed: 'Entrance to the principal cave at Kennery Salsette. Jany. 6th 1851'. Kanheri near Bombay was a flourishing Buddhist site for nearly a thousand years during which period more than a hundred caves were excavated. The great chaitya or prayer hall there dates from the second century and has very similar features to the famous one at Karli. The rock-cut wall of the exterior is flanked by large columns with sculpted bases and capitals. The facade of the hall has three doors and the window above is an unadorned semicircular opening. The large reliefs of the standing Buddha on the side walls of the verandah date from the fifth to sixth centuries.