Bedsa cave architecture: a field report
Subhrajit Banerjee
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Abstract
Bedsa is a well-decorated cave temple situated in Maharashtra. This well preserved architecture is a fine product of the post Mauryan times. On the basis of the inner architectural representation it is very clear that this particular cave temple was a Buddhist monument; and a residential religious centre for the Buddhist monks of 1 st century B.C.E (approx.). In this cave structure through the epigraphic evidence we also can reconfigure the relation between the then Buddhist Sangha and the traders; which actually reflect the contemporary socio economic structure in a fluid manner.
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I became a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order 45 years ago. Since then, I founded a charity to fund social work in India, I co-ran the London Buddhist Centre and I co-founded the North London Buddhist Centre. I am currently the President of the North London Buddhist Centre. My academic interests are the early development of Buddhism in India and its spread out of the subcontinent. I studied the historical development of Buddhist traditions as well as the archaeology of Buddhist art and architecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies. My special interest is in the rock-cut Buddhist monasteries of Western India, since they have the best-preserved remains of early Buddhist monasticism. Of these, I chose Bhaja, Bedsa and Karla for the subject of my PhD research, because their close proximity to each other enabled me to make a detailed study of local Buddhist history from the regional physical remains. I finished this study and graduated in 2022.
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