Kanheri Caves Mumbai- rock cut monuments ancient cave at least 20000 years old.
Historical Kanheri Caves (Mumbai)
The Buddhist monks
Overview
Kanheri cave is an ancient caves at least 20000 years old.
Kanheri means black stone (mountain) and the whole stone here is black and Caves have been made by cutting it.
Kanheri caves were the important Buddhist study centres for Buddhist monks and were pilgrim sites. The caves were carved with huge basaltic rock carvings.
These are very old ancient Caves.
Here was the first mountain, the people of that time the craftsmen made caves by cutting the mountains.
In the Caves you will get to see the big Ashoka pillars. It is said that emperor Ashoka came here and used to rule here.
There is something different about seeing nature in the midst of dense forest.
Although you would think that all the caves are there, but some caves are a little different and special.
There are many artefacts of Buddha all around here and all the pillars here have been made of lion elephants and all other animals.
Buddha himself has said that mounts should have all kinds of knowledge in you.
Taking their words as inspiration, all these monks cut the mountain and made such a beautiful scene in which Buddha would be seen engrossed in meditation in many artworks.
How much it is related to nature, Buddhism is clearly visible here, this entire area is spread over 2 km.
The Buddhist monks were so clever that they used to make such grand mountains by cutting stones.
At the time, Buddhist monks used to spend time in solitude to study and meditate.
By making a statue of Buddha all around here, an attempt was made to show what is the importance of Buddhism and how long it's history.
Temples have been built by curving caves in every religion.
Wherever Buddhist marks go to build their caves, they make statues of Buddhist there so that the history of Buddha remains alive in the time to come.
Cave number 3 has a large Buddha statue and stupa,and it has huge pillars. This carving has been done in a great way by cutting the mountain.
As you go further you will not get to the side, you have to climb the mountain itself.
Some special Caves
You get to see something special in cave number 11, it is made by cutting stones like a very big dining table, it is quite big and behind this big dining hall there will be a covering of a Buddha, this is also carved out of stones.
Case no.in 34, you will get to see about natural colour, their shapes have been made in the upper parts of the roof, even 20000 years ago the natural colour used.
you can see chaitya hall with stupa, Cave 3.
History Of kanheri Caves
Kanheri caves were built in different periods; it flourished from the second century to the middle of the 11th century.
Even though all the caves are built in different time periods, all the caves are together.
There are a lot of 109 Caves and the numbers are mentioned on all the Caves.
The structure of all the Caves here is made by cutting the Rock. Here you will also see many statues of Buddha.
Kanheri Caves were the important Buddhist study centre for Buddhist monks and were pilgrim sites.the Caves were covered with huge basaltic rocks carvings.
Although there are a total of 109 caves here but the biggest three cave here are 1st 2nd and 3rd
Gautam Buddha used to take education and meditation.
It is said that at one time the Emperor Ashok Sanchi was in the house of this queen, so the people here requested that the Emperor should also come to Mumbai.
When the emperor Ashok came to kanheri caves, then the craftsman cut these stones and gave them the form of a place and a throne was built inside for the emperor.
A lot of effort has been made to destroy many of the statues here, but the statues here were so solid that they could not be completely destroyed.
Biggest court was built in the memory of Emperor Ashok.
Story of stupa
It is said that when Lord Buddha died, there was a dispute among the followers of Buddha,and this dispute, Buddhist saints called a meeting, and in that meeting it was decided that the ashes of Lord Buddha should be given to all the participants equally and a stupa should be constructed with this Ashes.
Stupa will be constructed with these ashes and in the coming times, considering the stupa as the centre of Buddhist spiritual practice, will follow the teachings of Lord Buddha
Religion (Inspiration)
These monks started spreading the forest to new places and started showing the way to get rid of the suffering of the people,this thought and excursion of Buddhist monks was called Bihar.
Bihar is a Sanskrit language word, it is also mentioned in the Vedas. But in the context of Buddhism, it is not only from the transmission, but also from the place of their stay. Whenever the Buddhist monks went from any area, they used to use the natural habitats located in these natural caves to live in the ancient caves.
Buddhist monks means a monk who leads an ascetic life.
Chaitya was a place of worship of Buddhists.
The task of a Buddhist monk was to inform and spread information about Buddhism to the people.
These entire caves have been the centre of worship of the Buddhist monks.
How to reach Kanheri Cave Mumbai
Kanheri Caves entry ticket & opening times
7:30 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday to Saturday
Closed on Monday
Kanheri cave entry ticket : per person INR 15 for Indians
And IRN 200 for foreigners
Separate ticket price for kanheri Caves.
There is a ticket counter outside before going to the historical kanheri Caves
How much time does it take to visit Elephanta Caves?
By the way, it takes a little more time to go to Elephanta cave.
It takes a 1 hour ferry to reach the island by going to the Gateway of India and 2 to 3 are to see the Caves, but you do not need a guide for this, if you want a guide, then it may cost 1200 rupees, they can try to get more like 3000.
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