Honestly, Mumbai didn’t impress me much. Probably I didn’t spend enough time there nor did I go to the right places, maybe I’m bitter because I didn’t get to meet a Bollywood star, should’ve waited to see Slumdog Millionaire before heading there, although not sure how that would’ve helped. I guess the bar was already set up too high when compared to South India, so leaving Mumbai for last was like spending time with that old deaf aunt that you don’t like. The only thing that actually stood out from the rest when around Mumbai were the Elephanta Caves, which is not exactly Mumbai but it’s where you get there from. Still on the old deaf aunt reference, let’s say it’s like when she lets you go play outside for a while.
The Elephanta Caves are located in Elephanta Island a couple of kilometers away from the East Side of the city by boat in the Elephanta Bay (that I made up). It takes around one hour to get there. What’s so special about the caves is that there are these several statues depicting several Hindu deities carved in the rocks. Some of them are still in good shape, others have been damaged throughout times by people with bad taste.
The three faces of Shiva
The tour boats depart from behind the Gateway of India, just in front of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower where the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 took place. Since the place gathers three popular tourist attractions, once you get to the square you will be harassed by several people selling stuff or begging. Money is always involved. There will be people even selling tickets to get to the island. Now I don’t know if that will be a cheaper option or not, because I was saying “no” to everyone who came close since I had had enough bargaining for the next 10 years, so I went directly to the ticket booth; it was still cheap anyway. The ticket is only for the boat ride though; you will have to pay again in the island to see the caves. Foreign tourists pay a different price than Indian tourists. That’s the first time I saw that, but not an exorbitant difference.
Be sure to carry enough water with you, most likely it will be very warm, the weather plus the pollution assures you of that. You’ll have places to buy water on the island, and also in the boat but… well, just bring water, OK?
Gateway of India and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower
There are boats supposedly every 15 minutes, which is more than enough, so no need to plan in advance. However, check the return times once you get to the island. The last one should be around 17:00 and just so you know, the first to the island should be around 09:00.
Once you arrive on the island, get ready for some walking. You can take a tourist train but don’t be deceived, it is quite a short and useless ride that doesn’t go up the hill where the caves are located. To get there, you will have to go up some long stairs that are infested on both sides with merchant stands. All sorts of stuff can be found in those stands when it comes to souvenirs, if you haven’t done your shopping yet, might not be a bad idea to do it here once you come down. Just don’t bargain or ask any questions unless you are willing to actually buy something. And try to look at things with a side eye or a quick glance – if you look too long they will start nagging you. No matter how many times you will say you’re not interested they don’t give up. They might even follow you down the stairs dropping a rupee or two for each step they take. True story! I thought I would find that merchant later in my hotel room still trying to sell me that necklace. OK, I’m exaggerating, some of them didn’t nag… a lot.
The tourist train just goes this distance
If you’re a lazy bum and a rich one too, there is a special service you can hire by the stairs. A lift service which is basically 2 guys that carry you in a chair over their shoulders while they do the climbing up the stairs for you. I had doubts how that would work until I saw a woman taking it. She was happy; the guys, not so much.
One of the partially destroyed sculptures
When you get to the top, you buy your ticket plus permit to take photos and you can finally start touring around the caves. Time for some historical background sponsored by Wikipedia. The island where the caves are was originally named Gharapuri Island. The Portuguese renamed it to Elephanta Island in the 17th century because they saw a sculpture of an elephant near the entrance. I’m renaming Belgium to Boy Peeing Land just for this reason alone. So it says that they even tried to take the statue with them but it dropped into the sea because the chains holding it were not strong enough. Later it was recovered though and now it is featured somewhere.
The main attraction is the sculpture located in the “central cave” of Trimurti Sadasiva. The sculpture measures 6.1m (20ft) and shows a three-headed Shiva representing the creator, preserver, and destroyer. Fortunately this is one of the best preserved statues.
Ardhanarishvara (half male-half female God) in the background
In recent years, complaints have be made that visitors mistreat this important historic and cultural place. It is true, the place is not well kept. Trash would be my main complaint, but the statues are also not in good condition. To be fair, it was the Portuguese who first destroyed that place by defacing the statues using them as target practice. Bad Portuguese! On a positive note, at least they only used statues.
Good luck with that
Apart from the caves and tourists, there are monkeys too. Beware of them. These are not your friendly neighborhood monkeys from the rural regions of South India. These are organized gang monkeys, coming from the suburbs of Mumbai to terrorize a tourist or two. Do not stare at them or attempt communication of any sorts, they are easily pissed and they’ll probably do more than throw feces at you. One tourist got stabbed in the kidneys by one of these monkeys. Seriously!
Do not be fooled by their looks, these are vicious creatures
So don’t forget to check every cave, every hole, every detail that is left of the statues and take a lot of pictures. After all is seen and done at the caves, have fun coming down the stairs and stopping by the stands to shop. At the bottom there are a couple of bars where you can have a last refreshment before you head back to Mumbai.
While on the boat back to Mumbai, here’s an activity: Try to find a small area of water that doesn’t contain any floating trash. Or, try to count the shoes you see floating. I confess I was a bit stricken by that, although you get to see a lot of polluted areas, but what shocked me the most was that there were garbage bins inside the boat, and still people would throw the empty cans or other types of litter to the water. And these are not poor people who you can excuse their actions somehow, these are people who have money to travel and do tourism. For a country that I associate with spirituality and respect for nature, the latter is still lacking a bit.
Mumbai in the horizon
If you want to be distracted with something else, just focus on watching Mumbai getting closer, even though a bit surrounded by smog, it was a nice view of the city, surrounded by water and boats. In my opinion, it was the best image I had of it. Maybe you can prove me wrong about Mumbai, but I don’t find it likely about the Elephanta Caves. They are definitely a pearl of the region.
