Mystic Cave Temples of Mumbai Hidden in India’s Urban Jungle

It is a hot unforgiving summer in Mumbai. I am in Andheri, a bustling hub in the west of the gigantic cosmopolis. However, here in the basalt, rock-cut cocoon of the Mahakali caves, time seems to have been trapped in a bubble.

The skies are silent, blue and only interrupted by the flight of a coppersmith barbet. Red gulmohur trees sway gently, and the rocks feel surprisingly cold inside the caves. In the darkened silence, they seem to be meditating exactly as their inmate monks would have, about 2000 years ago.

Buddhist Caves

At first glance, these 19 Buddhist caves seem uninteresting, belittled by the high-rises of the 21st century all around. They seem nothing spectacular. However, closer inspection will reveal minimalist viharas (cells where Buddhist monks used to meditate). Incidentally, this term gave the state of Bihar its name.

There is also a slightly larger chaitya (prayer hall where the monks would congregate). It contains a pockmarked stupa (hemispherical structure that would in larger ancient monasteries contain relics). This triumvirate completes any Buddhist monastery.

Further scrutiny will reveal dilapidated rock-cut sculptures standing as silent sentinels over two millennia since the times of Ashoka. In addition are cisterns for rainwater harvesting and inscriptions in Pali, a language older than Sanskrit.

It was in this time bubble of the Mahakali or Kondivite caves (apparently named after a Kali temple nearby with the stupa often mistaken for a shiva-linga) that I first realised that, besides the pinnacle in Ajanta and Ellora, there were scores of rock-cut caves strewn all over the Deccan. Many can be found right here within the city.

The Mahakali caves were, in a way, a revelation or a prologue to my quest to further understand more of these rock-cut shards of history that lie unobtrusively in Mumbai and beyond.

Patronage From Buddhist and Hindu Rulers

As in any city from ancient times, Mumbai (or Bombay from a few decades back) has multiple layers. Although, these are perhaps not as celebrated as Delhi or Ahmedabad.

Walking back in time before the Parsees, the British, the Portuguese, the Muslim rulers of the Bahmanis and the Gujarati sultanate, we can trace Bombay to be the land of seven islands.

In ancient times, Bombay was recorded by Greek geographer Ptolemy as Hepta-nesia or seven islands. In the 19th century, the British merged these islands with the islands of Salcette and Trombay. This formed the modern-day city with the moniker ‘Bombay’. The name had been provided by the Portuguese three centuries earlier to mark the archipelago as a ‘good bay’ or bom bahiain.

In the 3rd century BC though, these swampy islands along with the Deccan were part of the mighty Ashokan empire. This was further validated by the existence of Ashokan edicts near the present-day Nalasopara, which was once known as Sopara. It was one of the largest ports on the western coast of the peninsula trading with Arabia and Egypt.

Trade flourished from Sopara, and its wealth ensured constant patronage for Buddhism and, later, Hinduism. In turn, this financed the development of multiple monasteries and cave temples.

Over centuries, multiple rulers—the Satavahans, the Vakatakas (patrons of Ajanta), the Chalukyas, and the Rashtrakutas (patrons of Ellora)—flourished in the Deccan. Some supported the Buddhist Sangha. Some the Brahmanical Hindus. Both contributed to the many cave temples of the Deccan.

The Elephanta Caves

Perhaps the grandest of all the Hindu caves around Bombay is the Elephanta Caves. Others are Jogeshwari and Mandapeshwar, though much smaller in scale.

It was perhaps a Buddhist site first, evident from a few Buddhist caves. However, today it is largely famous for its Shaivite sculptures. The site was developed by the Kalachuri dynasty after the 5th century AD.

The statues showcasing various stories from the Shiva Purana are grand both in size and exquisiteness. It is one of three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mumbai. The gargoyle-laden CST station and the Art Deco buildings in the Fort area are the others. The Ajanta and Ellora complete the UNESCO list for the state of Maharashtra.

Once called Gharapuri (the village of caves), travellers to Elephanta will find the ferry journey from the Gateway of India delightful. As I felt the salty breeze, it felt quite mystical to sail this far to see medieval Hindu caves. I reminded myself again that this was once archipelago land.

The name Elephanta came from the statue of an elephant that once stood on this island. The statue was used as the most important landmark for disembarking boats. Today, the reconstructed and renovated elephant statue can still be seen at the Jijamata Udyan.

Elephanta Caves & Island Guided Private Tour

Sculptures in the Mumbai Caves

The grandest sculptures in Elephanta can be seen in the Great Cave. There are four entrances guarded by gigantic dwarpalas or gatekeepers. Inside are many larger-than-life sculptures of Shiva in his various forms.

There is almost a sense of poetic fluidity in these sculptures – dynamic, full of gestures and seemingly arising from the rocky walls on which they were carved.

The magnum opusis is the 3-headed Trimurti or the Sadashiva (the eternal Shiva). It depicts Shiva with three heads and symbolising the trinity of creation, preservation and destruction within himself.

The right-headed face holds a lotus (reminding me of Ajanta’s Padmapani) and is Uma or Vamadeva – the feminine side of Shiva, and hence symbolic of creation. To the left lies a moustachioed Bhairav or Rudra – the enraged harbinger of destruction holding a serpent.

Delicately balancing these two ends is the calm, meditative face in the centre. The face is that of the Tatpurusha Mahadev, who fuses masculinity with femineity and beholds citrus, symbolic of fecundity or preservation of the universe.

The central image has a resplendent headdress that towers in the shape of the linga. Meanwhile, the thick lips, meditative eyes and elongated ears are strikingly similar to depictions of the Buddha. This displays the syncretism of art between Buddhism and Hinduism. Together with Jainism, it would reach its pinnacle in another 200 years in the Ellora caves.

Shiva

For those in search of the mystic intangibility of Shaivism, this sculpture is also called the Pancha-mukhi Shiva or five-headed Shiva. In addition to the three visible forms, there is one more head of Shiva in the wall. The transcendental fifth head is above this quartet, but, of course, it is invisible and not meant for mortal eyes.

This depiction of the Mahadeva encompassing all of creation, preservation and destruction is also a metaphor for the conceived superiority that Shaivism would bestow upon Mahadev over any other gods in the pantheon.

It is reminiscent of a story from the Shiva Purana where Brahma and Vishnu fight between themselves, claiming superiority. Shiva comes in the form of an infinite beam of light that neither can surpass, thereby proving his transcendence over all others in the cosmos.

Many other depictions of Shiva are found in this cave of grandeur. There is the exuberant multi-armed depiction of Nataraja, the divine dancer.

The graceful Ardhanarishwar is the androgynous version of Shiva that conjoins male and female, worshipper and worshipped, black and white, reclining on the Nandi. It is an almost anthropomorphic version of the Hindu Yin-Yang.

Another depiction is of Mahadeva as the Gangadhar Shiva, who receives Ganga from the heavens on Earth to cleanse and redeem the sons of Bhagiratha.

There are perhaps very few places in the subcontinent where the stories of Shiva are brought to life in this grandeur in a rock-cut montage. It must have been a great pilgrimage centre in the revival of Hinduism in the first millennium.

While the Portuguese occupying forces destroyed much on this island of ingenuity, much still remains. The British and the Archaeological Survey of India preserved and restored it.

Indian Mysticism

A day spent in Elephanta will surely rekindle your interest in the Puranic stories. Perhaps also in the wider realm of Indian rock-cut architecture where this small island undoubtedly joins the likes of Ellora and Mahabaleshwar.

Dwarfed by these immense statues laced with metaphors, and hidden in dark brooding caves, I felt like Indiana Jones and had a great learning experience, in a rediscovery of Indian mysticism.

The ferry journey back to the city towards dusk was the icing on the cake. Against the backdrop of the orange candied skies of an Arabian sunset, it seemed almost like a journey in both space and time, bringing history-pilgrims like myself back to the present day after 1500 years. This amplified the magnificence of all I had seen.

If in Bombay, Bollywood can wait – but a visit to Elephanta should definitely be on your list.

The Kanheri Caves

The Kanheri Caves were perhaps Buddhism’s reply to Elephanta. The caves are located near Borivalli in the western part of Mumbai within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. This is one of the largest urban national parks (housed within a city) in the world.

Today the urban sprawl that is Mumbai, has swallowed the forests around the National Park. However,  centuries back, the pilgrimage to these caves at the top of the Krishnagiri (or Kanhagiri, thereby Kanheri) would have been as big an adventure as sailing over to Elephanta.

The excitement of reaching this time bubble, which has thankfully been preserved quite well, includes climbing the crest of a volcanic hill, crossing dense forests, and crisscrossing rivers and waterfalls.

Lasting over a millennium, from the 1st century to the 10th century AD, the precinct has over 100 caves. The scale is a representation of the importance of Kanheri as a Buddhist centre in medieval India. It was apparently also visited by Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang on his Buddhist pilgrimage across India.

Developed over three hills, Kanheri is enormous. If you go with the curiosity of an explorer, every inch of the carved caves will fill you with excitement and amazement.

A series of steps carved onto a bald red hill lead to the caves here. Channels are scoured atop the caves to collect rainwater. A modest hidden cave with just a rock-cut plinth shows the level of austerity of the monks’ everyday life.

All are extant signs of a bygone time that will fill you with wonder. It may also evoke melancholy that you were not there to see the sober splendour that was Kanheri.

Kanheri Caves Heritage Tour

Donors

Heptanesia, with its ports of Sopara and Kalayan, was a known trading pit-stop from ancient times. The trade, in turn, progressed via land routes into the Deccan. This led to the flourishing of many townships that have become everyday names in today’s Greater Mumbai – Thane, Ghorbandar, Chemula, or Chembur, Vasai, to name a few.

The wealth of these towns led to the flourishing of Kanheri, which is evident from its scale and longevity. Not just kings, the common man, merchants, brahmins, administrative officers and trade guilds all contributed to the caves in want of religious merit.

Some of these donors—contributing to a pillar, a staircase, or a cistern—have their names carved in stone within the caves. Inscriptions in Brahmi, Devanagari and Pahlavi record the names of these donors, some as far away as Gaur (Bengal).

There are records of donations by Shilahara kings from the 9th century. It is interesting to note that donors were not just Buddhists but people of all religions (such as the Shilahara Hindu rulers who supported Kanheri in its last days even as Buddhism was in its decline). This implies that, unlike today, religions, despite their differences, helped bind people together with noble causes.

Back to the Present

As I walked around the caves with these thoughts, the rock-cut inscriptions seemed to whisper that, perhaps, sadly, we are one thousand years too late.

While Kanheri is large and austere, it also has sections with incredible sculptures. There are rock-cut figures of donors, exquisitely carved pillars with rich capitals, a cavernous chaitya hall, stupas and entire walls decorated with depictions of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas and Nagas.

Giant statues of the standing Buddha greet you towards the very beginning at Cave 3 and may remind you of Bamiyan with its similar standing Buddhas, carved out of a rocky mountain face. 

If you visit Kanheri, do take some time to sit down and look at the sprawling city as well. Parts of the Mumbai skyline make a valiant effort to bring you back to the present. Meanwhile the Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai glint gracefully in gold (based on Myanmar’s Shwedagon pagoda) and remind you that the message of the Buddha is still alive, relevant and offering a source of strength even today after centuries.

There are other Buddhist caves in Mumbai, much smaller in scale – such as the Magathane and Jogeshwari caves, though some of these have heavily dilapidated over time. Nonetheless, if you are still thirsty to purse Buddhism and its cave temples, you will need to head out of Mumbai, towards Pune, following the ancient trade routes where more surprise, subtlety and sublimity await in the Sahyadris.

The Karla Caves

Just 10 km from the tourist hotspot of Lonavala, 90 km southeast of Mumbai, lies yet another spectacle – the Karla or Karli Caves.

The Mumbai-Pune expressway zips nearby, but time will tell you that this modern-day superfast highway has only been built on layers of the past. This was indeed an important trade route in the Deccan, leading to frequent travels by traders and merchants and prompting the development of Buddhist monastic caves that not only supported and sheltered these traders but also benefited from their benevolence.

This is what led to the rise of the Bhaja caves, the Bedse caves, and the grandest of them all, the Karla caves, which date from the 2nd Century BC to the 5th century AD.

Though there are only 16 caves here, it is the grand Chaitya Hall of Karla that earns it. Its laurels, at a height of 14m and running 45m long, are the largest chaitya hall in India, complete with a series of 15 octagonal pillars on each side. It is topped with exquisitely designed capitals and filled with sculptures of men, women and animals.

It is said that the artistry of the chaitya hall improved over centuries, first at Bhaja and Ajanta, then at nearby Nasik Caves and Bedse Caves, and finally perfected at Karla.

The chaitya hall at Kanheri was made later and is a replica of Karla. Not just large, Karla also retains the chaitya in its original form, replete with the wooden semi-circular beams supporting the roof (and making one feel as if he is inside the ribbed belly of a leviathan).

In addition, the wooden umbrella (indicative of enlightenment akin to halos on Christian saints) atop the rock-hewn chaitya still remains intact from its original times.

Outside the Caves

Outside the Chaitya is a large facade carved with windows, ensuring ample illumination of the structures within. Large statues of elephants (reminiscent of Elephanta) are within the caves and are also amply represented on the capitals of the pillars carrying men and women.

Inscriptions on the caves remind us of the donors, particularly the Satavahan kings, while mention of Yavan donors (Greeks or Greek-speaking people) reminds us how cosmopolitan this place was even two thousand years ago.

If you happen to visit these caves during the monsoons, the greenery of the hills veined with waterfalls will take your breath away. When I was visiting post-monsoon, there was also a pilgrimage of the koli (fishermen) community who worship the mother goddess Ekveera here in a temple built just in front of the caves.

I found their raucous revelry a bit annoying until it dawned on me that this tolerance was the very bedrock that sustained both Hinduism and Buddhism (and Jainism) for centuries on these hills, the past indeed showing the way for the future.

If you travel around the Sahyadri Ghats of Mumbai and Pune, you are sure to come across some of these fascinating caves that will take you back in time.

New Findings

Perhaps besides the popular names and finds, there are many more that have been obscured and are yet to be found. New caves in the Kanheri complex were discovered as recently as 2016, while some were found in Nasik in 2021.

I still remember hiking in the hills of Igatpuri (100 km from Mumbai) when I stumbled upon an old cave dripping with the monsoons, clad in moss but still full of sculptures and pillars. Later, I found that these were Jain caves with carvings of Rishaba, and though derelict, they were revered by the locals.

Perhaps the volcanic basalt of the Deccan traps, which is easier to carve, helped these cave temples proliferate. Or perhaps it was the Indo-Roman trade or the religious tolerance and need for religious merit that helped these cave temples succeed and last for centuries.

Whatever the cause, their existence in the 21st century is reason for celebration enough and we should make every effort not just to preserve them but also to learn from them the tales of history.

So, if you ever find yourself in the time bubble of these cave temples, inside or out of pulsating Mumbai on a hot sunny day, do take your time to look beyond their rocky veneer. Let the caves whisper to you, just as they have been whispering for centuries, that time flies, but eternity is written on these very rocks.

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How to Reach the Mumbai Caves

All caves within Mumbai (Kanheri, Mahakali) are easily reachable by public transport. UNESCO heritage-listed Elephanta will require a public ferry from the Gateway of India. Those on the bustling Mumbai Pune highway are reachable by car in 2 hours.

When to Go

Autumn and Winter are the best times (October – February), though the caves are accessible throughout the year

More Sights

The pinnacle of rock-cut art, architecture and painting from this era lies in UNESCO-listed Ellora and Ajanta Caves, requiring a 1-hour flight from Mumbai to Aurangabad. Mumbai is a destination by itself, and is a multilayered metropolitan city full of museums, art galleries, multi-cuisine restaurants and medieval fortresses from the times when it was a Portuguese colony and a Maratha stronghold.

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Author Bio: Ayan is a professional consultant who loves traveling and has been to nearly 30 countries. He likes writing about his travel experiences, as well as scribbling poetry, short stories, and essays.

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