I still don’t believe it. Thirty one years in Mumbai and I never went there. And it was not much anyway, took me all of 12 hours for the entire experience. But I had to get away from the humdrum of daily life….. and across the sea is where I went!!
Now, for Mumbaikars, Elephanta may be a lame destination for a getaway. Most of us have gone there as kids…. Well, I’ve not!!! So I do my little schoolboy curiosity and set out, by road, rail and sea!!!
The end of my rail journey brought me to Victoria Terminus Station, a heritage treasure in its own right. Search on google and you’d find a thousand pics of the grand building. But that morning, as I was testing out the zoom on my camera, two main details caught my eye:
Below is the masthead, the uppermost figurine adorning the very top of the structure. This is from the side of the building, as against most pics that show it from the front. Holding a torch for light [which nowadays also catches lightning in the famous Bombay monsoons], and a wheel to signify progress, the lady stood watch and still stands watch over South Mumbai.
Given my hurry to get to the Gateway of India, I walked the distance. It was quite an experience walking through an empty dockyard section of Mumbai, which is normally packed with people on a weekday. Having just finished reading “Shantaram”, the curiosity to notice the little nuances of the surroundings, cats outside the Mint, the tight security of the Harbour, the gleaming brassware of the dockyard gates, all of which only the mind’s eye captures and manmade eyes are forbidden to….
About 10 minutes of brisk walking brought me to undoubtedly the most famous of Bombay’s landmarks, the Gateway of India. The grandeur of the structure is enough to overwhelm the most stoic of travellers. Its supposed to be an ornamental gate, a gate raised to welcome a monarch. And while there may be a thousand buildings around it today that dwarf it in physical size, the Gateway towers above them with the sheer force of royal attitude.
While the sea journey itself made unassuming sailors of us all, the ferry ride was what I was looking forward to. Somehow I’ve always found the call of the sea extremely inviting. So you can count on me to take the helm of the boat, but it had to be Mohammed to do the Leonardo DiCaprio part. He manages the ferry and makes 8 trips daily, to and fro. Not exactly my type of sea-faring life, but its a living…….
The place has a wharf where launch boats such as mine keep docking and undocking all the day long. The first boat touches there at 9:45 am and the last boat leaves there at 5:30 pm. If you miss that one, you’re pretty much stranded there overnight!!!
I have never figured out grown adults fascination for little trains. Be it the small park trains in Borivili National Park, Mumbai or Cubbon Park, Bangalore or the quaint mountain trains of Nilgiris or Darjeeling, every adult wants a ride. No wonder that the small train that starts off at the wharf and takes you about a kilometer inland to the start of the steps to go up to the caves has so many takers. Moreover its a free ride and who doesn’t like those
The caves are situated a little higher up the hill from the shore. So rock cut steps existed to take people from the shore edge to the top of the hill. Given the fact that the caves are a Unesco protected heritage site, proper stone and mortar steps have been built.
The steady stream of tourists has also spawned a small market economy around the caves. So walking up the stairs, which is a rather steep climb, is also an experience. The main attraction here are little arts and crafts, small jewellery made out of beads and Lapis Lazuli [or so they claimed], wood carvings, paintings are fun to look at. And also it helps to break the climb, providing enough distraction to take a break. I tried the straight nonstop climb up, so take my advice when I tell you to take a break.
The Gharapuri caves [renamed Elephanta by the Portuguese] were originally a sort of hostel accommodation for wandering Jain and Buddhist monks to take their rest during travels. As the surrounding area began to get wealthy, these functional cave dwellings became significant centers along trade routes. As Buddhism declined, the local Shaivites [Shiva devotees] took up the maintenance and enhancement of the complex. As a result, the Gharapuri caves are a harmonious combination of Buddhist austerity and Hindu art celebrations.
The enormity of the complex is evident in its vast layout. There are 6 cave structures in all, the largest being Cave complex no. 1. Cave complex 1 is actually a temple hall complex, housing a huge shivling inside an ornate sanctum sanctorium as well as the famous Trimurti. More about that later.
The adjoining photograph is the courtyard outside the temple hall, which is to the right. As can be seen, the courtyard is huge and it has got this large circular podium in the center. I could just imagine monks and novices sitting around in this courtyard, with the main speaker delivering his discourse from this center podium. Its a overwhelming experience overlooking this courtyard, a tribute to the strong heritage of educational development that this country has. And today we go out for higher education….. Ironic, isn’t it??
The austerity of the Bhuddhist influence is evident in the residential chambers in another cave complex. Neatly cut in stone, the interior of these chambers is bare and unfurnished, with only the floor being smoothed out. The walls and ceiling are raw, unfinished rock faces. Considering most of the time was spent in prayer, meditation and sleep, interior decoration was not exactly a concern.
However, presentability of the quarters, however humble, was of importance as is evidenced in the simple but neatly cut doorways of the quarters. In India, the maxim “Athithi devo bhava” [The guest is the manifestation of God] takes new meaning when such detail is seen in this transit home complex of the ages.
But the ancients did know their architecture, for standing right there between the two doors, in that corner, the view was breathtaking.
Talk about a room with a view!!! I happened to see these places at noon, so essentially in the middle of summer, the sun is blazing at a hellish 34 degrees celsius outside.
What was surprising is that inside these stone rooms, the temperature is a cool 23 degrees celsius. [And I checked it with a pocket thermometer]. Now isn’t that the exact temperature that most of us set our Air Conditioners to??
To top that, if you touch the rough rock walls, they’re cold!! Not cool, COLD!!! And despite the fact that the room has only one entrance opening and no windows, the wind makes a natural circulation into the room. They might have been ancient stonecutters under the supervision of an architect, but these folks sure knew their architecture. And how?? You’ve got to see it to believe.
And that’s the shelf. Unbreakable, water proof, sturdy… Absolutely guaranteed for 20 centuries or your money back!!
Cleverly L-shaped to provide for a mechanism to store valuables in the back. I’m sure the monks of old kept their books and manuscripts at home. And I could not help thinking about my bookshelf at home which already has started to buckle under the weight of my books!!
I sure could use one of these.
And finally this is what it was all about. The Trimurti Sadashiva. The largest relief carving in the entire complex. Just like the Gateway of India is the symbol of Bombay, the Trimurti is the symbol that identifies the Elephanta caves.
The most important sculpture in the complex is carved in relief at the end of the N-S axis. The image is around four times my height, and I’m a modest 5 ft 9. The relief represents the Panchamukha Shiva [Five headed Shiva]. Three faces are visible and the fourth face is assumed to be behind. The fifth face is supposed to be an ethereal face and is envisioned in the mind of the sculptor, hence never depicted.
The right half-face shows him as a young person with sensuous lips, embodying life and its vitality. In his hand he holds something that resembles a rose bud — again with the promise of life and creativity. It is this face that is closest to that of Brahma, the creator or Uma or Vamadeva, the feminine side of Shiva. This is Shiva the Creator.
The left half-face face on the side is that of a young man. It is moustached, and displays anger. This is Shiva as the Aghora Bhairava [The angry Shiva], as the one whose anger can engulf the entire world in flames leaving only ashes behind. This is Shiva, the Destroyer.
The central face is calm and meditative, as the preserver of the universe, Vishnu. This is Shiva as the yogi — Yogeshwar — in deep meditation praying for the ‘preservation’ of humanity.
Now I know this is not a front facing shot of the relief, but this is my view of the sculpture. The fact that it dwarfs you with its sheer size and the calm on the face of the diety, is enough to overwhelm you.
Add to that the fact that I had a rather lousy camera that gave up on me during the low light conditions and the numerous clowns who wanted to hold hands with their spouses and hogged up the space to get clicked in front of this magnificence!!!
I sat there on that island for a long time, contemplating the past of this place and how it would have felt to be part of that ethos. How it would have felt to sleep in those cool caves at night. How it would have felt to discuss with the elder monks and gurus. How it would have felt to walk amidst the serene embrace of nature and gaze upon the calm fury of the sea!!!
