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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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I am back at last!

I am back, after a long hiatus...... and thanks to the gap, don't know what to write... Theres actually lots to write about..... Apart from my trip to Hampi, Badami, Aihiole and Pattadakkal, which most of you know about, I also made a trip to Ajanta and Ellora, and later even one to Elephanta. So now I have so many cave temples I want to describe, and I dont know where to start!! Apart from that, there have been lots more interesting things happening.. such as a book launch, the Kala Ghoda Festival, which is now over... and lots more.....



Before I get back with my posts, here is a bit of good news for all of you. Thanks to all those of you who voted for me in the Best of Indian Blogosphere 2010 Polls, this blog is one of the winners in the Personal Category. Once again, my sincere thanks to all of you. You can see the badge on the top right hand corner of the blog. You can see the complete list of selected blogs here. 

Meanwhile, since I am still wondering how to make up for all the time I missed, here are a few pics for you.....






These are 'Book art' from the Kala Ghoda Festival, which was held at the beginning of Feb. These are made from old, torn books. They look fascinating, don't they? Samhith loved them, and wondered if he could make these too, and wanted to use his books for the purpose, but I have deflected the intention for now. Do any of you know how to go about making such masterpieces? Would love to hear from you... and maybe Samhith can learn and try it out on some of his old books too!

Now that I have started again, I hope to keep writing at least one post a day, so wish me luck! Meanwhile, there are some interesting things coming up, so please do keep coming back!!


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  1. Sankara Subramanian CFebruary 26, 2011 at 1:30 AM

    Welcome back and Congratulations for your blogjunta award.

    The book art is very interesting.Some of them are really creative.

    ReplyDelete

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