Kanheri Caves

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Located inside the wooded area of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Kanheri Caves is approximately 10 km away from Borivali, Mumbai, which is one of the most admired excursions from Mumbai. It lies down on the western outskirts of the city, to the north of Borivali. The Sanskrit word 'Krishnagiri', which means 'black in color' is the source of its name, 'Kanheri'. The reason for this name is that Kanheri Caves were carved out of a huge piece of basaltic rock.

The caves have been established to date back to somewhere around 1st century BC to 9th century AD and there are approximately 109 caves. Some of them are merely rock-cut cells, chiseled into the hillside. Kanheri Caves are supposed to indicate the Golden period of Buddhism, when it was booming and at its peak in India, as well as the days of its weakening. These caves do not have much decoration and are mostly plain and austere.

Visitors find a stone plinth that most probably served as a bed for the inhabitants in each of the caves. There is a stupa inside the worshipper’s hall, which stands festooned with huge stone pillars. The bits and pieces of an ancient water system, canals and cisterns, above the hill, point out the progression of rainwater collection during that time. The rainwater was collected from these cisterns and channeled into massive tanks.

Most of the caves positioned at Kanheri contain the Buddhist viharas, which were used for the reason of living, study, and meditation. Amongst these, the bigger ones were intended to serve as chaityas i.e. congregational worship halls, where one can see wonderfully chiseled Buddhist sculptures, relief’s and pillars. You can visit some stupas there, cut out of rock which was used for the purpose of worship. Among these images, the most exceptional is that of Avalokiteshwara.