Situated 60km north-west of Pune and 9km north-west of Kamshet in Maharashtra, Uksan Cave lies close to ancient trade route that climbs up the western ghat ridge from the Konkan over to the Deccan plateau near Kusur and Dhak. This ancient trade route was used to transport goods from the eastern economic centers on the Deccan plateau to the ports of Sopara and Kalyan on the west coast of India.
Visiting this cave can be easily combined with the nearby Pale Cave which lies 500m to the south, although I suggest any attempt to do so should be accompanied by a guide. The route is less than obvious, any hint of a path has been almost obliterated by the rapid growth of vegetation on the hillside.
Uksan Cave is another volcanic lava tube cave, and has many similarities with the neighbouring Pale Cave. Here however, the modification of the cave for human habitation is slightly more subtle, and sadly there is an absence of any detailed ornamentation or inscription to help us get a fix on when this cave was inhabited. It’s tempting to assume that this may well be another cave with Jain origins as it lies so close to Pale Cave, and therefore may have a similar date of circa 1st century BCE.
The south-west facing cave measures just under 18m in length, with a short low bench having been chiseled out on the east side by the entrance. On the opposite (west) side of the cave entrance, two small cells have been chiseled out from what were already natural cavities that existed a little way (approx 1.5m-2m) above ground level. The smaller of the cells would almost certainly only accommodate a single individual, the larger cell perhaps two individuals at a squeeze.
The front part of the cave tunnel is approx 3m wide and just over 2m high, with some evidence of chiseling, most notably at the base of the eastern wall where a small step has been created. I’m not sure what the purpose of this extremely low ledge would have been, perhaps it indicates that once the floor level was a little higher than it is today. There are also four socket holes carved into the walls of this section of the cave, probably to make provision for a wooden structure of some description.
Beyond the tunnel section, the back of the cave opens up into a natural chamber which itself has been subjected to a little reworking with chisels. It measures approx 6m wide and 4m high. Unlike the modifications that can be seen at nearby Pale Cave, here there is the absence of any additional cells, or alcoves.
Next to the chiseled bench outside the cave entrance, a small socket hole carved into the bedrock was full of empty snail shells. It was a bit of a curious sight, my guide said that even today indigenous tribes use these caves for shelter during the monsoon, and the snail shells were likely to be the result of a shared meal.
My thanks to Vivek Kale and Sai Upalekar for showing me the caves and accompanying me.
Please ‘Like’ or add a comment if you enjoyed this blog post. If you’d like to be notified of any new content, just sign up by clicking the ‘Follow’ button. If you have enjoyed this or any other of my posts, please consider buying me a coffee. There’s a facility to do so on the righthand side of this website for desktop users, and just above the comment section for mobile users. Thank you !
If you’re interested in using any of my photography or articles please get in touch. I’m also available for any freelance work worldwide, my duffel bag is always packed ready to go…
KevinStandage1@gmail.com
kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com
Categories: India, Maharashtra, Uksan Cave
Kevin Standage 
Thx, Kevin
LikeLike
Dear Kevin
I like your spectacular and superb photographs of caves in western Maharashtra. I am a geologist , attempting to describe the geological details including their origin . Requested to grant permission to use some of the photod of Uksan-Pale caves. We reached there at wrong time and so our photos are not so illustrative.
Whenever you are in India please let me know. All the best.
Prof. K S Misra
LikeLiked by 1 person