MUMBAI Gateway to Elephanta Island

We started our morning at the Gateway to India to hop a boat over to Elephanta Island. 

First we had to get through security, of course

and take a photo. 

The arch was built right on the edge of the harbor in 1911 to commemorate the royal visit of King George V. It was also the place the British paraded off its last regiment when India become independent. 

We boarded this boat with this friendly crowd for the one hour jaunt. 

The view from the boat of the Taj Mahal palace hotel and the Gateway to India. 

Once on the island we walked down the pier, past all the souvenir stalls, 

the holy cows, 

the lemonade stands

and paid for our tickets. 10 rupees for Indians, 250 for foreigners. 

Elephanta Island has a group of caves carved deep into the basalt rock. Five of them are Hindu caves. No one knows for sure, but guess they were built between the 5th and 8th centuries AD. Two of the caves are Buddhist and are believed to be much older. 

The main caves are dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and were used as temples and sanctuaries with shrines for everyday worship as well as festivals. The sculptures depict the famous stories told of Shiva (his marriage to Parvati, killing the demons, carrying a river, etc.)

The sculptures were so impressive. Huge and detailed. 

This main sculpture is the Trimurti and shows Shiva as three headed, describing the three aspects of Shiva - creation (feminine face), protection (meditative face) and destruction (angry face). Every detail was symbolic. and gorgeous. 

I felt like I was sitting back in my Art History 212 class. 

Shiva performing a ceremonial dance surrounded by Parvati, the elephant god Ganesh, and even Brahma at the top.

Indian graffiti

Awkward moment of "Will you take a photo of us?" Oh, of course. "No not of us, of us together." Oh, ok sure. "No not of us together, of you and us together." Oh, with me?! Sure, why not.

Each cave was filled with similarly gorgeous reliefs and sculptures and filled with admiring tourists. 

We stopped in the shade of this cave and snacked granola bars and mango slices while we read our wikipedia printed guide.

Next we hiked up Cannon Hill because we thought that's where we would also find the Buddhist caves. We missed the caves somehow but saw the big cannons left over from the Portuguese to protect 'their' harbor. 

The short hike was lovely. Walking past clusters of mango, tamarind and karanj trees mixed in with palm trees. Although everything was quite dry. The best part was being with Handsome Dave, of course. 

Watch out for the monkeys. We saw this one swipe a water bottle from a man and sprint off. 

One view from the top of the hill. Interesting contrast between the small village they say has been here for 400 years and the industralization on the opposite coast.