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Five miles to the south of Naṣik, on the Naṣik Mumbai Highway, lies the Triraṣmi mountain (Pali: Tiranhų; Sanskrit: Triraṣmi) in which 24 Buddhist caves were excavated between 150 BCE to 600 CE. These caves face northwards and thus enjoy sunlight throughout the day. The caves were not excavated in a numbered sequence as seen now, but for convenience, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) numbered these caves from west to east.
Capt. James Delamaine first discovered these caves in 1823, while surveying the area. Between 1831 and 1840, Dr. J. Wilson took estampages (Estampage or stamping, is a term commonly used in Epigraphy to obtain the exact replica of an inscription that cannot be transported. In a way, it is a process of ‘lifting’ the inscriptions from the stone on to a piece of paper for a clearer read) of the inscriptions seen in these caves. Since the images posed difficulty in reading, Rev. Stevenson and Lieutenant Bret made eye copies of these inscriptions and published them in “The Journal of Bombay Branch of Royal Asiatic Society”. Scholars the world over were excited on seeing these inscriptions and epigraphists like Prof. R.G.Bhandarkar, R. Buhler, Bhagwanlal Indraji, E. Hultzsch, Edward and Arthur West and Senart discussed these at length. Buhler published a translated copy of these inscriptions in the Archaeological Survey of India journal whereas Senart published it in Epigraphica indica.
These caves have been erroneously called as ‘Pāndava Caves’. It is quite interesting to know how this word has derived. In Pali language,Pandu (pNDU ) means yellow or ochre color. The monks (as per their rules) staying in these caves wore the cloth of this color called aschivar. The people staying in nearby villages, used to call this mountain as “Pandu (color cloth) people staying here”. Hence these caves came to be known as Pandu Caves, which was later corrupted to Pāndava caves. Even the ASI now refers to them as “Pandu caves”. However, as the inscriptions clearly mention, these caves should be called as “Trirashmi Caves” since they were excavated in the Trirashmi mountain for Buddhist monks.
By the end of 11th CE, Buddhism had nearly disappeared from this region and these caves were deserted. Some ascetics started staying in these caves. The Bodhisattva images in cave no.20 were smeared with oily substance. The burning of flambeau ended up darkening the interiors of the cave. During British India, a contractor blasted some portion of the Trirashmi mountain to use the black basalt rock for highway maintenance. Some of the caves got damaged as a result. One can still see the damage marks between cave no.2 & 3 and beyond cave no 15.
Excerpted from ‘A History of the Trirashmi caves’ by Atul Bhosekar