Nasik Cave 18

INDIA, Maharashtra, Aurangabad

This cave is the only caitya cave at the site and is the most valued of the Nasik Caves. An inscription suggests that it was built between the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE. Three inscriptions are preserved within the cave, two on the entrance wall, and the other engraved on a column within the hall.
The facade is embellished with false caitya windows and imitation wooden architectural elements, in addition to stupas, human figures, and animals. Door guardians, measuring 1.8 m high, flank the entrance to the cave, but only the left one remains.
The cave itself is relatively small, at 6.5 m wide and 12 m deep. The hall has a simple apsidal layout, with 17 octagonal columns forming a colonnade on each side. The columns are unadorned and have round bases. A stupa, 3.6 m high, is located at the rear of the hall, with a cylindrical base that composes over half the structure. The top section of the base is carved with a lattice pattern. A small inverted bowl is depicted above the base, and reverse corbeling is located on top of the harmika above. This type of stupa is similar to the stupa relief found in Cave 3.