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
Our trip to Coorg was on a sudden impulse. Three short days were nowhere near enough to do justice to the beauty or the heritage of the region. The first image that comes to mind, when I now look back on those three blissful days is this....
Samhith swimming in the Cauvery at Bhagamandala. It was meant to be a short halt, on the way back from Tala Cauvery, but the cool waters and the lack of crowds encouraged us to spend a lot more time than we intended. Later, we spent more time on the banks of the Cauvery, this time at the Dubare elephant camp.
If we were stunned by the amazingly beautiful and elaborate paintings at the Monasteries in Bylakuppe...
We were equally fascinated by the ruined fort at Madikeri.
We had been trying to visit Coorg for all of 11 years. We actually made the bookings twice, and had to cancel each time, for some reason or the other. That we broke the jinx this year, only makes me happier, though the duration of the trip made it impossible for us to do anything off the beaten track. Yet, it was great trip to start off the year with!
Related Posts:
- The Cauvery and her stories at Coorg
- Exploring Madikeri Fort
- Dubare - Elephants and the River
- Omkareshwara Temple
- All Coorg related Posts
Nice photos Anuradha. Loved the post.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my photographs on City and Architecture, hope you will like them!
URL: http://picsonia.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-bit-of-city-and-architecture.html