I am not a great outdoors guy. Not that I don't like the outdoors. But I rarely take the initiative.
But last Friday (Sep 26, 2009), I pulled myself out of my innate sloth and decided to take my vsiting sister and brother-in-law to some new place.
Taking the easiest option, I zeroed in on the ancient Elephanta caves, just off the Mumbai coast.
The three of us took off at around 11.30 am from the Gateway of India on a ferry with some 50 others. The one hour sailing time itself offers a delightful array of visuals.
As the ferry battles ahead on the restless waves, the city's skyline -- beginning with the majestic Gateway of India and the severely bruised, yet dignified, Taj Mahal Hotel -- begins to blur into the haze that lingers perpetually over the megalopolis.
We go around the Mumbai port, teeming with scores of ships, boats, tankers, frigates and patrol vessels. But towering above them all, one can see the now decommissioned INS Vikrant -- India's first aircraft carrier.
A sense of awe overwhelmed me when I conjured up images of the Seah Hawks taking off from the breast of the beast to terrorise Chittagong in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Yet, within a few more minutes even that giant of a ship seemed inconsequential with the country's coastline in the backdrop.
Circumventing the oil depot island and passing by the refinery, one got to see the white dome of the BARC nuclear reactor. And just then we arrived at the island that houses the famed caves.
A short toy-train ride and a 15-minute hike later we found ourselves at the entrance of the 5-6th century single rock structures.
Originally known as Agraharapuri, the Portugese called it "Elephanta" after they found a huge rock-carved elephant on the island, which is currently placed at a Museum in Mumbai.
The entire monument consists of five caves, most of which are today empty.
But the main one houses some of the most marvellous sculptures, ideas and messages I have ever seen. (Not that I have seen many).
While being a Shaivite monument, one of the Shiva sculptures actually carries the message of three religions -- Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism -- through the Deity (Shiva), Gyan Mudra and Padmasana respectively. If anything, this would kindle one's joy over and love for our syncretic culture.
Then there is the fantastic Ardhanareeswara, complete (!!) with the single breast on the left side -- the vaam-bhaag.
Each such scultpure has a seperate story to tell, sometimes out of Hindu mythology, sometimes through mere symbolism.
But what finally takes our breath away is the Trimurti Sadasiva -- perhaps the most famous of the Elephanta sculptors.
Easily around 25 feet tall, this sculpture shows Shiva taking on the forms of all three divinities in the Trininty -- Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva himself, the destroyer.
Of course someone with more knowledge and understanding of ancietn architecture would give you bookloads of gyaan on the caves. But or me Elephanta looked more like a precursor to its more famous and expansive cousins - Ajanta and Ellora.
Someday soon perhaps.
