This article was written a few months back. After a long hiatus, I'm uploading it now - coinciding with Oktatabyebye's heritage theme.
“You must be joking” exclaimed my friend when he learnt about my intended visit to Elephanta caves. I chided him that he’s the kind for whom holidaying means relaxing in front of the TV. It takes an hour to reach Apollo Bunder, in Bombay Fort Area, from my hotel in Bandra and another hour by boat to the Gharapuri Island. To reach the entrance of the Elephanta Cave Temples, it’s another arduous climb of about 250 steps. Added to this is the hot sultry weather of Mumbai and I eventually understood the friend’s concern.
The Maharashtra tourism counter at Apollo Bunder issues luxury and normal tickets. The luxury ticket ensures you get a plastic chair in the boat rather than a wooden bench. I ran to the assigned pier and jumped onto to a boat ready to leave. The boat was full and the only chair available was next to an old lady in traditional Maharastrian sari. To my right were a young couple, fresh out of college, more interested in each other than the ride. Across me sat a middle aged couple engrossed in family gossip and failed to notice the beautiful coastline of Bombay. The boat was quite old and worn out and I looked curiously at the ‘luxury’ seat. Most of the seats are luxury, in more than one sense, since families use the adjoining chairs as snack table; some usurp the chairs with a view for amateur photography and small kids try to test the fitness of an empty chair by jumping up and down.
As the Bombay coastline disappeared, so did my cell phone network. We passed the Reliance Gas offshore fields and the Indian Navy ships as the motor boat chugged towards the direction of the Gharapuri for an hour. At the pier of island, a toy train ferries tourists to the steps that lead to the cave entrance - this is about a kilometre. Enthusiasm pushed me to walk in the humid heat while the others preferred the train. Centuries ago religious craftsman would have silently climbed up the hills. Now, on either side of the steps, small makeshift shops sold idols of every Hindu god, meditation beads, shawls, key chains, books on Yoga and Indian history. Surprisingly none of these shops had the bust of Elephant statue which inspired the Portuguese to name the caves as ‘Elephanta’.
The museum at the entrance provides information not only on Elephanta but also on other similar sculptures at Ajanta and Ellora. It’s a good idea to visit here before entering the caves. There are 6 caves in this UNESCO recognised world heritage site. Only the first one has huge carvings of Shaivite Mythology. The other caves follow the same architecture of a courtyard and an inner sanctum sanctorum but do not have any sculptures. There’s not much information on the caves’ history. The Kalachuri Dynasty is credited as most likely patrons of these sculptures built in 6th Century. Another theory states that it was built during the Chalukyan reign. Whatever be the history, one can only admire the ingenuity of the craftsmen who used pillar architecture to support the mountain above the caves. In 600 AD, I wonder what kind of chisels they might have to carve these 20 feet goliaths.
Leaning on the pillars in the main cave, I could almost hear the chiselling of the artisans who created the magnificent colossal rock images. ‘The Tatpurusha’, ‘Vamadeva’, the ‘Aghora mukha’, ‘Nataraj Shiva’, ‘Gangavatarana’ - these names might be on the resume of the craftsman looking for a job at Badami. I opened my eyes to see the colossal Shiva smiling at my imagination. Visiting each cave along with the others and clicking photos this looked more like a picnic spot rather than any serious archaeological site. The Buddhist Stupa served as a gazebo for many families who had brought lunch from home. Walking further uphill on a narrow path you reach the canon hill where you can enjoy a good view of the Arabian Sea.
The last boat departs from the Island at 5.30pm and it takes nearly half an hour from the canon hill to the caves’ entrance. Racing down the steps, I scanned every shop for a bust of Mahesh Murti (Shiva) but could only find the ever popular Ganesha idols. The boat, in the return journey was new and had good chairs. I wanted to click a photo of the Gateway as we approached mainland but a group of noisy raucous young boys crowded at the boat’s helm. Standing on the mainland an hour later, it dawned to me that the actual journey had been several hundred years back to an island that still exists & witnesses the growing bustle of modern Mumbai. I wonder if the boys realised this.