New Years Day
We had a “quiet” New Years Eve. When I say quiet I actually mean that we didn’t go out to a late night party. The girls were sick so Kate and I went around the corner for an early meal and a glass of wine which was very pleasant. I clarify the definition of quiet because Mumbai is never quiet and New Years Eve in Mumbai gets the volume dial “turned to 11” to quote David St Hubbins from Spinal Tap. I can understand fireworks that produce colorful star bursts but the most popular party device in India is a fire cracker that sounds remarkably like the standard issue demolition charge block used by the Australian Army. There no bright colours, no OOOHHHs and AAAAHHHs just a loud bang. This combined with the cracker strings that sound like machine gun fire results in the suburb sounding like a residential address in Syria for most of the evening.
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| New Years Day is also a good time to wash your cow |
The next day I thought that a trip out of Mumbai would be a good way to bring in the New Year and Karla and Bhaja Caves seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, half of Mumbai also thought that a visit to Karla Cave to honour Ekvira with a Pooja would be a good idea.
The next day I thought that a trip out of Mumbai would be a good way to bring in the New Year and Karla and Bhaja Caves seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, half of Mumbai also thought that a visit to Karla Cave to honour ???? with a Pooja would be a good idea. Karla Caves or Karle Caves are a complex of ancient Indian Buddhist rock cut cave shrines developed over two periods, from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, and from the 5th century AD to the 10th century. Retreats to caves are a long part of the Buddhist religion but when you don’t have caves then you need to carve your own! The oldest of the cave shrines is believed to date back to 160 BC.
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| The main chaitya with wooden beams carved from the cliff |
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| The solid stupa carved in one piece from the cliff |
The main cave features a large, intricately carved chaitya, or prayer hall, dating back to the 1st century BC including what is thought to be original wooden beams in the vaulted ceiling. This is among the largest rock-cut chaityas in India, measuring 45 metres (148 ft) long and up to 14 metres (46 ft) high. The hall features sculptures of both males and females, as well as animals such as lions and elephants.
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| Carvings in the cave walls |
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| Columns along the wall of the chaitya |
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| Big breast women on elephants. Must be the playboy mansion! |
In addition there is a Hindu shrine to Ambika, which is Kate’s Hindu name as assigned by her Yoga teacher Prasaad so our visit on New Years Day just after Kate’s 50th . There was a very long queue and permanent queue managers to conduct a Pooja. It was interesting to see the total lack of reverence for the Budhist shrine when compared to the adjacent Hindi shrine.
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| A pile of shoes from people queuing for the Pooja |
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| Looking down the stairs from the monks cells on the upper level. The light is from holes in the rock wall |
While all this sounds interesting, the second most interesting things at the cave was Ada, Kate and myself who were constantly being asked to have our photos taken. As I like to take photos of the locals to include in my blog I feel morally obliged to reciprocate. As a result i photographed shaking hands with various people in a pose that is struck when hand over the cheque to a lottery winner. Ada, with her broken arm, was in no mood for crowds so we didn’t stay too long.
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| A procession of Hindu devotees heading down the hill after their Pooja. My penance for this shot was 10 photos shaking hands with locals |
Next was Bhaja Cave which share the same set of architectural designs as Karla Caves. The most impressive monument is the chaityagriha with its open, horseshoe-arched entrance and carvings from Indian mythology. Other caves have a nave and aisle, with an semi-circular vault at the end of the cave containing a solid stupa and the aisle between the vault and the stupa providing the mehdi for Pradhikshina.
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| The chaitya at Bhaja cave |
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| The monks cells at Bhaja. Where is the bar fridge and are you sure this a non-smoking room? |
Apart from the main chaityagriha there is an amazing group of 14 stupas, five inside and nine outside an excavation from the rock face which is further along the cliff line. Both sites also included small rock rooms or for the monks paying at the Cave. complete with sleeping platforms, candle shelve and the inserts for the rail that would have held a blanket over the opening for the door. I wonder how they reviewed on Trip Advisor.
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| One of 14 solid stupa in a cluster carved out of the cliff |
The Cave was set below the 16th century Lohagad Fort which was on a much higher plateau and provided a great view over the local farming communities. The Fort was too distant to get a meaningful photograph but certainly inspired me for more visits to local sites in the Western Ghats
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| Bhaja village and the countryside |
