May 5, 2024–Caves of Elephanta, Mumbai, India

Our second day in Mumbai, and the last of seven consecutive days of excursions in Sri Lanka and India, and it provided yet another fascinating experience at a UNESCO World Heritage Site that I had never heard of before this cruise. Let me know if you are familiar with the Caves of Elephanta.

The Caves, which I’ll describe below, are located on Elephanta Island, one of the six islands in Mumbai harbor, and about six miles out from the city. They are reached by both regularly running ferries and chartered motor launches, most of which leave from the Gateway of India, the waterfront monument we visited yesterday. So it was with us, as 8:45 am found us climbing aboard a small launch tied up in the shadow of the edifice commemorating the visit of England’s King George V to India in 1911.

As has been the case so often lately, it was sunny, hazy, hot and humid, but the waters of Mumbai harbor were relatively calm, so our hour long ride across the bay was uneventful, and we arrived at island well before the heavier crowds that would follow later in the day. Launches and ferries tie up at the end of a very long pier, so long that there’s actually a toy train to shuttle visitors the rest of the way to the island. Given the heat, humidity and lack of shade on the concrete pier we were happy to jump aboard and ride what I figured was around a quarter of a mile to its terminus.

Time to tell you about why we came all this way. The Caves of Elephanta are man made, are carved into solid basalt rock, and date back to the fifth through the ninth centuries A.D. Their purpose was religious, and they were dedicated to Shiva, the powerful god of a sect of Hinduism that is still practiced today by some in Asia. Shiva is the god of creation, protection, and destruction (of evil), and is often portrayed with three faces. The caves contain several sculpted images of Shiva and other Hindu gods, and are a remarkable achievement of architecture, engineering, sculpting, and just plain hard work. I can’t imagine the amount of time and effort that went into creating this marvel, and I think you’ll agree when you see the photos below.

But to see this ancient wonder we had to earn it, because the caves are high up on the island’s mountainside, and we had to climb a long and fairly steep stone walkway, lined with vendors selling souvenirs, food and drinks. The heat and humidity made the climb tough, but at least the vendors had covered much of it with tarps, so at least it was shaded. I suppose we could have paid thirty dollars each to be transported up the mountain on litters carried by four strong men, and some did, but we chose to walk.

There is one large finished cave at the site, along with a few others that were started but were well short of completion. Our well informed guide walked us through the finished cave, taking us from one stone sculpture to another and explaining what they depicted and signified, then turned us loose to explore the other caves independently. We were given a time to meet back at the bottom of the mountain, and good time management allowed us to do a little shopping on the way down. I bought an ice cold Coke Zero for 70 rupees (about 80 cents), and if the vendor had known how badly I wanted it he could have charged me five times that amount. Indeed, while I was drinking it a litter passed by carrying down a member of our group who had passed out above from the heat.

The walk down also demonstrated how wise we were to get an early start, because the crowds were growing and it was only getting hotter. I was happier than ever to hop on the toy train that spared us the long walk down the exposed pier to the launch that would carry us back to Mumbai. The launch was open air, but was covered, and the breeze generated by the small ferry made the ride back a pleasant respite from the heat. And speaking of crowds, the crowds back at the Gateway of India had grown considerably in our absence. Wading through the sea of humanity to reach our bus was crazy, but in the best way. Once again a young woman stopped Michele and asked if she could have her photo taken with her.

And that is the perfect segue to the closing paragraph of this report and our five days in India. At the end of the day, wherever we’ve gone the most important thing has been the people, and the people of India are wonderful. Nowhere else have children and adults smiled and waved in such numbers as our bus passed by, and many on our ship have had experiences similar to Michele’s. The Indians we have met have been kind, gracious, warm and friendly, and I will remember them as fondly and I do the Taj Mahal. If you’ve never visited India, come. It’s wonderful.

Two sea days await as we cross the Arabian Sea, followed by stops in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. More adventures await, and I can’t wait to share them with you, so stay tuned.

I thought this was going to be our launch, but two more tied up outside it, and we had to climb through the inner two to reach ours.

On our little launch for the one hour, six mile trip across Mumbai harbor to Elephanta Island.

Fishermen working their nets as we went by.

This is the toy train that takes visitors down the long pier to the start of the walk up to the caves.

Where the train stops, the vendors begin.

The path up and down the mountain is narrow, steep in many places, and lined with vendors.

This was the main entrance to the main cave. Visitors now enter through a side entrance.

Side entrance to the main cave, and the way visitors are now directed in.

Inside the main cave. Carved out of solid basalt rock.

The three faces of Shiva—creator, protector, and destroyer.

Our excellent guide walked us through the main cave, explaining the meaning of each sculpture.

Age and vandalism have damaged many of the sculptures, but they’re still impressive.

Some of the sculptures are very elaborate and detailed.

Another impressive sculpture in the main cave.

The main cave is too large to capture in a single photo.

This tunnel goes all the way around the giant block of basalt rock on the right.

Entrance to the uncompleted next cave over from the main cave.

Sculpture in the corner of the uncompleted cave.

As we continued down the path from the main cave the uncompleted caves were in increasingly earlier stages of development.

Inside one of the uncompleted caves.

Did I mention the monkeys? They’re aggressive if they think you have food or anything interesting that they can steal. They’re best kept away from.

On the way back down. For $30 you can get a ride up or down on a litter.

Food vendor along the path.

This vendor was grinding sugar cane. Ever try cane juice?

The Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace hotel from our launch on the way back from the island.

The area outside the Gateway and Taj Palace was a sea of people.