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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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Rock Face?

Walking up the steep path to the Edakkal Caves, I stopped for a while to catch my breath, and leaned against this huge rock - one of many such along the path. 


"Amma, it looks like a face" said Samhith, and I wondered what he was talking about. It was only when I heaved myself up that I was struck by the look of the rock I had been leaning against! It did look like a face.... in fact, to me, it looked a bit like a gorilla! A throwback to the ancestors who left their mark behind on the caves? What do you think? 
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Location: Edakkal Caves, Nenmeni, Kerala 673595, India

Comments

  1. Exploring the Elephanta Caves-Swati SinghAugust 16, 2013 at 1:39 PM

    Yes it certainly looks like a face, not of a gorilla to me but more like a Buddhist monk.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SudhageeAugust 23, 2013 at 5:12 PM

    Hmm.. it does look like a face. A mummified face to be precise to my rather overactive imagination ;)

    ReplyDelete

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