Hike Date: January 7, 2012
Hike Location: Kanheri Caves,
Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali, Maharashtra, India
Hike Difficulty: Easy (A little jaunt and climb up pathways and stairs amidst some interesting archaeological remains)
Hike Rating: A (interesting archaeological stuff)
Hike Description: The Kanheri Caves are a group of 110 rock cut caves located in the interior of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (also known as a Borivali National Park) and date back to the period between the 1st century BC and the 11th century AD. The caves seem to have comprised a fairly large and well-organized Buddhist monastic establishment. Some of these caves served as worship halls (chaityas), are quite large, and have sculptural features such as statues/stupas/pillars, while others served as quarters for monks to meditate and rest (viharas). There are rock cut stairs leading one up the hill faces from one cave to the next. Towards the top, there are good views of the surrounding hills and also the city of Mumbai.
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| About the caves... |
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| The first cave |
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| A stupa near a cave entrance |
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| Statue of the Buddha near one of the cave entrances |
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| Pathways to other caves |
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| Stairs going up and leading to more caves |
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| View of nearby hills and beyond them the buildings of Mumbai |
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| Nearby view from near the top |
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View from afar of an interesting-looking section of the caves that
was unfortunately off-limits that day |
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| Cave entrance |
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| Wide angle view |
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| A little monkey was having fun somersaulting on a tree |
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