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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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Happy Deepavali

It's that time of the year when lamps are lit outside every house and the skies resonate with the colours and sounds of firecrackers. Its Diwali once again... or, to give it its right name - Deepavali - the festival of lights. 



My earliest memories of Deepavali have to do with lamps... lighting lamps and candles all around the house.. Firecrackers I usually stayed away from, apart from maybe a couple of sparklers and the stray flower pot. These days, lighting so many lamps isnt all that easy with a kid in the house, and crackers seem too noisy and smoky, so I would much rather stay away from them. Samhith, however, disagrees. He can't understand why he should stay away from crackers, and so, every year, we buy crackers and light them up - him with much enthusiasm, me with a lot of perturbation! 

When we travel, Diwali becomes that much more memorable - like the one I spent at Kashi, more than 20 years back, but which is still fresh in my memory..... or the one time we were at Saptashrungi, where, for the first time, I saw how people drew such beautiful rangolis, and made mud forts... or like last year, at Sringeri, where we spent the morning at the Ashram, and then the rest of the day at the market, looking for firecrackers! The fun of lighting firecrackers was simply multiplied by the way everyone staying at the ashram guest house joined in the celebrations... Thats what makes a festival really memorable. 

This year, while you read this post, I shall be somewhere else.... in interior Maharashtra once again... probably at Shegaon. I have no idea what the celebrations there will be like, but I look forward to it! 
Meanwhile, wish you all a very happy and safe Deepavali!! I shall be looking forward to reading all about your experiences of the festival when I get back!
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  1. travel ufoNovember 12, 2012 at 10:20 AM

    बहुत बढिया । आपको दीपावली की शुभकामनायें

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 11:10 AM

    Happy diwali anuradha...:-)
    ..Dr.A

    ReplyDelete

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