Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Captain Underpants enjoying the run-off
at the entry to a Chaitya

Mumbai is a crowded city with over 20,000 people per square kilometre which makes it the most densely populated of the worlds large cities. By means of comparison, New York's population density is half Mumbais!  You would think that, given my love of green space, I would have visited Sanjay Gandhi National Park which is on the boundary of the City.  Perhaps I was scared of what I would see but it has taken 2 and half years for me to make the short journey.  What is even funnier I ended up visiting twice in a month.

A stupa in the main chaitya.  You can zoom
in to see the 19th century graffiti on the stupa

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Jules, the 17 year old son of a good French friend was staying with us for a few weeks while working for an NGO.  He is of the X-Box generation and, in an effort to get him out of the apartment, I had arranged with him to take an early morning visit Kanheri Caves, the Buddhist Caves in Sanjay Ghandi Park.  I woke him at 7.00 am on Sunday morning and he was not keen to go, mumbling something about being tired and feeling run down. As I was up and motivated I convinced Kate and Ada, who had previously visited the Park, to join me.

A vihara, a 10th century Buddhist condo
minus the home theatre

The Park was busy by the time we arrived and, after being screened for plastic disposable water bottles by zealous volunteers, we drove the 6km inside the Park to the Caves.  Most of the caves are Buddhist viharas, which is a dwelling meant  for living, studying, and meditating.

An impressive Buddha at the main chaitya

The larger caves are chaityas, halls for communal worship and the structure and design were similar to others near Mumbai. The chaityas were intricately carved with Buddhist sculptures, reliefs and pillars; and contained rock-cut stupas. Between the caves are rock cut canals which channel water run off into large cisterns to provide drinking water for the monks during the long period between monsoons.

Not as ornate as some but still with amazing carvings

Although they are not as ornate as the many other Buddhist Caves we had visited in Maharashtra there were still some significant carvings but it lacked the painting that were a feature of Ellora and Ajanta.

A row of viharas in an ancient
planned community

The biggest difference with Kanheri was that the layout gave you the impression of a real working "village" with stairs and walkways connecting the viharas with the chaitya. This combined with the channels and cisterns to give you a picture of a large and developed community

Which way to the water slide?

It was raining when we visited and the water running through the channels was a source of great amusement for the Park vistors.  Men in underpants sitting under waterfalls was a common sight and there was much yelling and yahooing.  It was all very festive, a bit like an amusement park, but I am not sure what I would have made of the festivities if I was a Buddhist to whom there was religious significance to the site.

The park was relatively clean and and certainly very green.  It was encouraging enough for a friend, Pat, and I to return for a run on a Sunday morning.  Although it was steamy and without a hint of a breeze for most of the run, it made a pleasant change from the monsoonal streets of Bandra or the gym treadmill.