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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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Sunrise and Sunset for Skywatch Friday

Considering that Samhith's school is extremely miserly about holidays, we had completely forgotten that Guru Nanak Jayanti would bring us a day off. By the time we realised it, it was too late to plan something properly. But some frantic googling and lots of phone calls later, we finally headed out, before sunrise, on our unplanned, last-minute-holiday to Bhimshankar! The trip was special because it had been a long time since we had headed out of town on an impulse, but even more because, Bhimshankar, home to one of the 12 Jyotirlingams (of which I have now seen 10) had been on my radar for a long long time, but it had eluded me for so many years! The Lord seemed to want to make up for all the times my trip had been postponed, because the trip was memorable, not just because of the temple, but because of so many other experiences... You will have to wait to read about them, though, till I manage to sit down long enough to write all of them down.... Meanwhile, here are some photos for you to enjoy, as my contribution to Sky Watch Friday....

The sun rises over a small, sleepy town on the road to Bhimashankar


Peeping from behind the only tree I can see standing tall in the area!

The view from the hills on the way to Bhimashankar... 


The sun prepares to set behind the mountains as we wind our way back home on the expressway



For more beautiful skies from around the world, go to Sky Watch Friday!

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Comments

  1. Lakshmi SharathNovember 18, 2011 at 1:24 PM

    lovely

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  2. Lady FiNovember 18, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    Such gorgeous skies! Unplanned trips are often the best kind.

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  3. Anu ShankarNovember 18, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    Thanks, Lakshmi!

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  4. Anu ShankarNovember 18, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    Thanks, Lady Fi! Unplanned trips are always the best! probably because we start out with such low expectations!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rniranjan_dasNovember 18, 2011 at 1:53 PM

    Nice shots.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. PradeepaNovember 18, 2011 at 2:10 PM

    Wow, such lovely shots. I like the one where the sun is peeping from behind the tree.

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  7. magiceyeNovember 18, 2011 at 2:17 PM

    beautifully captured!

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  8. RajeshNovember 18, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    Superb shots.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anu ShankarNovember 18, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    Thanks, Raj Niranjan!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anu ShankarNovember 18, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    Thanks Pradeepa! thats one of my favourites too... and it was completely a chance shot.. taken from the moving car!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anu ShankarNovember 18, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    Thanks Deepak!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anu ShankarNovember 18, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    Thanks Rajesh!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Eileen3600November 18, 2011 at 3:45 PM

    beautiful series of skywatch shots. the last one is my favorite. Happy skywatching!

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  14. chitraNovember 18, 2011 at 3:48 PM

    Nice pics. The view from hilltop is fantastic. 

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  15. Mridula DNovember 18, 2011 at 7:51 PM

    Lovely pics Anu.

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  16. A-kayNovember 19, 2011 at 5:19 AM

    I came here from Zephyr's Cybernag and your pictures are very nice.  Looking forward to the post on the Jyotirlingam itself...

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  17. ArtiNovember 19, 2011 at 7:23 AM

    I cant imagine you not having visited Bhimashankar till now!! Its really a very beautiful place, especially in the rainy season...
    Lovely captures.

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  18. Aravind GJNovember 19, 2011 at 1:43 PM

    Nice!!

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  19. RahulBhatiaNovember 21, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Lovely pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anu ShankarNovember 21, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    THanks Chitra!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anu ShankarNovember 21, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    Thanks Mridula!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anu ShankarNovember 21, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    Thanks Aravind!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anu ShankarNovember 21, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    Thank you Rahul!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anu ShankarNovember 21, 2011 at 6:54 PM

    THanks a lot, A-kay! the write up will come soon.. as soon as i can get down to the serious business of writing :D

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anu ShankarNovember 21, 2011 at 7:00 PM

    Thanks a lot, Eileen!

    ReplyDelete
  26. NamitaNovember 23, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    While we were in pune ,we visited Bheemashankar twice-once in rainy season another in winters and experienced two entirely different moods of the place,nature display wise.now I am eagerly waiting for your subsequent posts to feel it once more.

    lovely pics.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anu ShankarNovember 24, 2011 at 9:24 AM

    Got to sit down and write, Namita! lots and lots to write!

    ReplyDelete

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