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The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan
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Navaratri Preparations - Part 5 - Almost done!

My house is in a mess, stuff strewed all over, cardboard and paper turning up at the most unexpected places and the floor is sticky with the glue that has spilled! Doesn’t that sound like I am living in a pigsty? Well, it does feel like that, but I am still thrilled, for almost all the preparations for the golu are done! The toys have been unearthed from the attic, the slotted angles for the steps have been found, and ALL the houses are ready!! All I now have to do is clean up, set the steps and arrange everything! Of course, there are other things left, such as the rivers, roads, etc., but that’s part of the layout which can only be done when I have made the steps!


Without more ado, let me show you the result of our hard work of the last few days!




Thats the age-old trunk which keeps our toys safe,year after year.....




Those are the houses, cut out from paper,and stuck on cardboard, ready to be assembled. A tip for anyone wishing to try it out: DON'T  use cardboard! use Card or chart paper... its much much easier and the effect is better!

And finally, here are the houses, all ready!!




Come, take a closer look....

That's the railway station - front and back







This is supposed to be a bus stand, but we don't have buses, so we are going to use it as the village railway station!



And here are the different types of houses we made.....














And these are totally Samhith's work, the painting  work, I mean.....



Another house, with some of the shops....




And these are part of the farm buildings...



This is the barn and silo(where grain is stored)  ......







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Comments

  1. sriSeptember 18, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    hurrey! all set up for golu and park, I am so excited for this glou as equal as my trip :)

    Kudos to Samhit, when I meet you you are going to get a nice gift from me for sure :)

    I can see so much hard work being put in to these houses, coloring and assembling them , great work hats off

    Thanks for the tip the chart paper , Yes I think is a better option. In one website they have asked to use think card board paper, may be they meant very thin one like the chart paper, because thier model houses are all lookinmg thing.


    ut look what you have done with cardboars is equallu

    ReplyDelete
  2. SumoSeptember 18, 2009 at 2:22 PM

    Lovely! what efforts you have taken but it looks so much nicer and different compared to putting up toys bought from shops. Am going to come back here for ideas, though I dont think I can do all this!

    Cheers,
    Sumo
    (directed from parentree)

    ReplyDelete
  3. rohiniOctober 1, 2010 at 9:27 AM

    really gr8 work by u & ur son .

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pbharadwaj4September 18, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    Hi I want to buy the Navrathri Steps(Slotted Angles).Please let me know where can I buy them in Bangalore.(I stay in malleswaram)
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete

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