Kanheri Caves – A Little-Explored Treasure Trove

 

The caves, located in suburban Mumbai deep in the dense forests of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, West Borivili, are little known outside the city.  But Kanheri Caves are uniquely enchanting, loaded with history in their cliffs that command a dramatic view of the region nestled between Mumbai harbor and Bassein Creek. Kanheri perhaps derives from Prakirit and means black mountain, or Krishna Giri in Sanskrit, so called for being carved out of a mammoth dark basaltic rock outcropping.  

 

According to a 9^th century inscription the caves were referred to as Krishnagiri Maharaja Mahavihara, meaning the great king of great monasteries. The caves, however, it is believed date from the first century BC to the 9^th century CE.  5km away from the Park on a scenic route, the caves are best reached by one’s own conveyance or by hopping on to the Park’s buses which ply hourly to the caves. We climb a long flight of steps that are cut in the basalt slope to reach the cave complex. From a height of 460m above sea level where the highest of the 109 caves are located, we are privy to a captivating overview of Mumbai with greens jostling for space with its towering apartment buildings.

 

Most of the caves are spartan with little or no adornment. The inscriptions on pillars, most of them in Brahmi, express the spirit of Buddhism while recording the donations of philanthropists towards its development and the progress of Buddhism which was a dominant religion, beginning early 1^st century BC to the second century A.D. 

 

This period, according to historical records, coincided with thriving trade and industry between western India and the outside world, mainly with the Roman empire. The western Indian ports of Chaul, Sopara and Kalyan witnessed lot of activity and philanthropic traders ensured the progress of the cave complex, and with it the blossoming of artistic, cultural and religious trends.

 

It is believed that Kanheri cave complex was inspired by the Sravasti monastery, built under the brilliant supervision of Sariputra, one of Buddha’s most intelligent disciples. The complex is replete with dwellings for monks, retiring rooms, assembly and service halls, bathrooms, canals and conduits for water storage and even a cemetery. These constructs, many of them in a good state of preserve, undoubtedly reflect the ingenuity of the architects and builders of the time. The complex, patronized by the rulers of the times, testify to the progress of Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

 

Cave 1 is the only storied cave, perhaps used by the monks. Cave 2 served as the dining area for the monks while Cave 3 is a Chaitya cave, the construction of which, according to inscriptions on twin pillars outside the cave, was undertaken in the reign of the Satvahana ruler King Gautamiputra in the second century A.D. A brick stupa, worn by the ravages of time, stands in front of the cave and is believed to have been built of dressed stones and bricks, dedicated to Sariputra. The doorway of the chaitya is flanked by idols of Mithuna couples, their hair style, robes, and ornaments chiseled to aesthetic perfection.

 

The chaitya cave is the most sculpted upon structure in the entire Kanheri complex and holds aloft two huge statues of Buddha, measuring twenty two feet and in varamudra or ‘donating’ posture. The statues that embody thirty two signs of great men as enunciated in Dighanikaya, a Buddhist literary work, it is supposed are the only mammoth idols of Buddha in India.  It is widely believed that with these statues, the trend of building huge idols of Buddha began to spread in Asia. The main hall of the cave is adorned with 34 columns portraying sculptures of kneeling elephants in an act of worshipping the stupa.

Impressive carvings in the caves structure include the intricately sculpted figurine of Dipa Tara, the goddess of the west, holding a torch in her right hand and a fully blossomed lotus on her left. The stunning idol of the eleven-headed Avalokiteswara in Cave 41 is an eye catching one. The idol it is supposed has no parallel in India and portrays ten additional faces of the Buddha arranged in a three-tier formation over his head, symbolic of the gradual ascent to enlightenment. Unfortunately, the novice in me does not allow a good photograph of the idol with the midday sun blazing on it. A frieze portraying the double-humped Bactrian camel is indicative of trade and cultural interactions between the Kanheri region and Middle East and Central Asia where these creatures are found.  An unfinished painting of the Buddha adorns the ceiling of one of the antechambers, the only such art we spot anywhere in the complex.

 

Walking almost a kilometer away from the main chaitya, we come upon the hilltop with its cemetery that is actually a portion of a terrace under the rock shelter. Further away, a sixteen-sided sculpture-ridden stupa and the Buddha seated on a lion throne bedeck the rock shelter. For the historians, archaeologists and academicians interested in Buddhism, Kanheri is a veritable treasure trove presenting endless research and explorative opportunities.

 

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