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
The Summer of 2015 was a memorable vacation. We set out on a trip which took us across the country, starting from Tadoba in Maharashtra to Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, and finally, Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu. This was the trip I literally travelled all the way from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean! The trip lasted all through the month of May, but the resulting posts kept me occupied for the rest of the year. I completed the series just before the year ended, and here is a look at the whole journey.... first, through my attempt at Storifying the series.... and with links to all the individual posts...
- The Himachal Series
- The Southern Jaunt
- Our Tirunelveli Temple Run
- Part 1: Introduction and Nellaiappar Temple
- Part 2: Valliyoor, Thirukkurungudi, Kalakkad, Athalanallur
- Part 3: Thiruppudaimarudhur
- Part 4: Sorimuthu Ayyanar Kovil, Mannarkovil, Tenkasi, Kuttralam
- Part 5: Nava Tirupati
- Part 6: Tiruchendur
- Part 7: Nava Kailasam
- Part 8: Karungulam
- Part 9: Sankarankovil
- Part 10: Some Temples around Sankarankovil and thoughts on our disappearing heritage
- Part 11: Kazhugumalai
Nice trip!! and good photos!!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Aravind!
DeleteThere are so many great stories and snaps just in your condensed version! I'm looking forward to the detailed blog posts. As I was looking through your pictures there were a lot of dramatic skies with all the rain you encountered. I know it was probably dismaying to have to deal with the bad weather, but it made for some beautiful photo compositions. And your sister-in-law's gardens are absolutely gorgeous! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Natalie!!! and yes, the rains were actually welcome... we expected it to be burning hot, and the rains ensured that the weather was perfect!
DeleteWonderful teaser. Look forward to those lovely stories. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Niranjan!!!
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