We went to three ancient Buddhist rock caves–two were about 2 hours outside of Bombay, and the other is on an island about a 1.5 hour boat ride from the port on the south side of Bombay.
These are some of the scenes on the way to the caves, the bottom is the side of a large slum. Apart from the poverty and bad sanitation, I think they look pretty fun. They resemble the types of playgrounds kids really like with all the winding passageways and little secret chambers.
The pollution from Bombay spreads far and wide. The haze in front and behind this point has traveled miles from Bombay.
A fierce camel.
This is the beginning up to the first cave, Bhaja Cave. Rice fields fill up the background, and this area would have had to support the cave and the nearby forts over the years.
Here is the main hall. This is a Buddhist place of worship and a monastery. The whole thing is modeled after free-standing wood buildings of the same sort, so the wood beams are added to make it look even more similar. Some beams have been recently replaced, but most are supposedly original–2200 years old. People would come from miles around.
The wood on the right is supposedly 2200 years old. For some reason wood from before Jesus existed is quite amazing to me, even though the rock right next to it was there too.
Inside one of the monastery large rooms looking out.
The luxurious life of the monk.
Climbing up to some of the higher rooms.
More stupas.
Another smaller sanctuary farther down the cliff face.
These two reliefs were fun to look at because the brochure we had described them a bit and gave a bit of background. On the top some warrior is conquering a demon, and on the bottom another powerful leader is riding on an elephant.
This is Karla Cave, only a few minutes away from Bhaja. It has the best main hall in India. The tent on the right is a contemporary Hindu temple, and there were a lot of people walking up in order to go to it.
The small man talking to Jill is our guide. He attached himself to us as we walked up to the cave and kindly gave his guidance services without us even asking! He helpfully point out the waterfall we walked passed, pointed out the very trail we were walking on, our car in the parking lot below, and other things that we certainly wouldn’t have noticed. In his use of English he focused on depth rather than breadth, so made sure to repeat his main point (a key practice of a good educator) about 800 times. So we will forever remember “Buddhist top there” but unfortunately not have a clue what it means.
He of course asked for money when we got back down to the bottom, first indirectly and then directly. I tried to time it so that I would give some money to him right as we drove away so I wouldn’t have to deal with any more begging, but the girls decided to go to the bathroom right after I gave it and threw off my plan. I gave him 100 ruppees which is a little over $2, but the purchasing power over there is much more, and I figure he could buy 5-6 solid meals with it, which is at least the equivalent of $15. For an hour’s work of doing nothing, unasked for, I thought that was more than fair. But he had manage to master some more English for just such an occasion and was mumbling things to me while I waited for the girls to return to the car including the phrase “very slight.”
Relief on one side of the entrance.
Our guide continuing to enlighten Jill. Kids were trying to throw coins and get them to land on top of the wood shelf above the stupa. I wonder if kids in ancient time were the same or more reverent.
This is the boardwalk to Elephanta Island.
Main cave entrance.
Huge Buddha statue.
Another smaller cave.
View from the top of the hill.
The Island was used for military by the English in more recent times, since it is in a good defensive position for Bombay.
Cow on the path on the way down.
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