Elephanta Caves
Clyde arrived (finally!) and I decided to take him to the Elephanta Caves on Elephanta Island. The caves date back to 600AD, dedicated to the God(dess) Shiva. Actually, I don’t know whether Shiva is a ‘she’ or a ‘he’ as the sculptures portrayed Shiva very erm, ‘neutrally’. Our journey from Colaba to the island took us an hour each way so I can imagine the monks paddling till their arms fell off in their little sampan to meditate and pray.
Where the ferry dropped us off, it’s a few kilometres walk to the base. The train service wasn’t available when we arrived so we huffed and puffed our way there
Gimme a sign
It was a long and winding road up. For kids and old folks (like me), you can be carried on a chair by 2 men for a considerable sum. A bit like olden days slavery so tempted as I was, I didn’t. Anyway, there were vendors selling stuff all the way up so I thought it would be more interesting to ‘observe’ and 'appreciate' the 'culture'. *ahaks*
Entrance
Like Tomb Raider lah
Wah... like a sneak preview of Angkor Wat! The sculptures hewn out of solid rock and most were defaced by visitors
Guardians of the door
See thru that doorway, there’s an urn-like thing in there and Indians remove their shoes, climb the steps, enter and pray. I suspect it’s the ashes of the monks. Or something
Pillars
