Breathtaking Cave Temples In India: By Ayan The Cave Temples of Bombay and beyond email: [email protected] Ayan 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 and 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, 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, 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 from 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) implying that unlike today, religions, despite their differences, had helped bind people together with noble causes. As I walked by 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 – 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 – in fact, 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 while 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 away from the tourist hotspot of Lonavala, 90 km south east 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 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, dating 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, it is the largest chaitya hall in India, complete with a series of 15 octagonal pillars on each side, topped with exquisitely designed capitals and filled with sculptures of men, A TO Z INDIA ● JANUARY 2023 ● PAGE 28