Mahakali Caves, Mumbai

Situated atop a hill in the busy suburb of Andheri, East is the wonderfully carved out Mahakali Caves. These are group of 19 caves, cut from the basalt rock, built around the first century B.C. and 6th century A.D.

As a part of our Management and Organisational Behaviour project we in groups of 5 had to successfully organise a group visit to any place that was quintessentially Mumbai. Our group chose the Mahakali Caves.

First we left from our college St. Xavier’s, Fort at half past one, in a group of 14(5 organisers+9 participants) and reached the station 15 minutes later, following which tickets were purchased and we boarded a fast train to Andheri. We reached Andheri on time and boarded a bus to the Caves.

 

 

Now, as we had sold the caves as a structure that was situated amongst Mumbai city life and urban structures, I took a slight detour so that the party could see the parked auto rickshaws, small shops, stalls, and a temple situated just outside the caves. The travellers were somewhat playfully annoyed at what I did, and we turned at trudged back up the road which lead to the gate. Upon entering the location we saw an amazing sight before our eyes! Everyone whipped out their cell phones and began taking pictures. Straight before us was a vast expanse of grass and to the left were the Mahakali Caves.

 The vast expanse of grass and the caves

 

 A slightly overcast day was perfect for us to wander around the gardens and the caves as we wouldn’t be sapped of our energy due to the sun.

We had a classmate as a tour guide, but most of the participants and the organisers were more than content with climbing through the walls on the interior of the caves. On the wall of the next set of caves we saw a cobra carving on the wall! A few of us being potterheads began trying to speak in parseltongue, as though willing the wall to open and give us access to the Chamber of Secrets. The weird hissing got us stares from a few people who had come for a stroll to the caves.

An image of the carvings of Cave 9

 

Cave 9 was very interesting as it was big and had Buddhist mythology carvings, of which quite a few were mutilated.

The next set of caves was airy and huge and offered us a ledge on which we clicked a lot of group photos including the 3 monkey pose, the “Jay Bhadrakali” pose from Housefull 2, which we thought of doing as it was a visit to a caves which had the word Kali in it.

Unfortunately due to the monsoons there was quite a heavy moss cover on the exterior of the caves and we couldn’t climb freely (not that we didn’t try, but got a shout from a few friends who were concerned about our safety)

Mental note: Must visit this place in summer just to climb the caves and enjoy the view from up there.

Now that we looked at the last cave, we turned our attention to the other side of the park which gave us a magnificent aerial view of the busy Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road.

At 4 in the evening people began entering the place for their evening walks to freshen up after their afternoon siestas. We went back to the 1^st cave and took a group photo. I silently thought to myself about how wonderful it would be to come here and just sit and unwind. It was an oasis in the middle of a noisy and crowded city. A few people in the group were saying that it shouldn’t be discovered by many as it too would be taken over by the “city” and lose its charm.

The caves in my opinion were the best place for a visit as it offered a change from the learning atmosphere created in college. Here we could and did enjoy, run around, yell out loudly and also learnt (a place like a museum would be like a lecture, with the only difference being that we wouldn’t be stuck behind a desk). It offered us a chance to see a huge green area, which is very very rare in Mumbai and to breathe in the fresh and pure air. A truly beautiful place, yet it won’t be on a travellers to do list as Mumbai is home to the Kanheri Caves and the Elephanta Caves. Well that’s unfortunate and totally their loss!