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
Now that our own Ganesha has left, we have time to go and see a few more Ganeshas around us.... Here are a couple of interesting ones we came across....
This one was Krishna-style, with a flute and Gopis in attendance.....
This one scored for its unusual design and the decorations....
We were welcomed by turkeys and ducks....
Here is how it looked .... those gazebo like structures are where the birds and tortoises were placed... the fountains were a great touch!
This one was Krishna-style, with a flute and Gopis in attendance.....
This one was simple, sort of like the Dagdu Sheth Ganpati in Pune...
but we liked its trunk and have decided to try and make one like this next year!!This one scored for its unusual design and the decorations....
I clicked quite a lot of pics of this Ganpati....under the different effects of the lighting...
The Chinese theme drew quite a crowd here....the kids loved those cut outs....
while I loved the lanterns...
We were welcomed by turkeys and ducks....
and the last exhibits were a couple of tortoises.. these were the only eyesores in the entire display for the poor things had too little space to move in, and even Samhith felt that they should have at least given them a pond or something so that they would have been happier!
Here is how it looked .... those gazebo like structures are where the birds and tortoises were placed... the fountains were a great touch!
they look so lovely, mumbai comes alive during these 11 days...
ReplyDeleteOh Yes, Santosh! Mumbai does come alive... just wish i had more time to go and see more ganeshas!
ReplyDeleteNice series of photos.. Ganesh festival is catching up in other places too.. Chennai also had its share this time..
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed viewing these photos..!
Thanks Sridharan! yes, these days festivals are spreading all over the world! I even got a link to ganeshotsav in a temple in France!
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