Elephant cave’s..(Gharapuri Leni)

8th June Saturday

Gate Way of India Couple of months back when I was doing internship at passion enterprise.. I was leaving as a PG and this Saturday was first holiday for office so planned for gharapuri leni (elephant caves) just a half day tour from Gate way of India….I’m from Kolhapur side so not use to humidity of Mumbai that’s why planned to go early in the morning.But reaching jetty we came to know that ferry starts at 9 Am . So done breakfast meanwhile.

 Finally I checked in ferry n journey started.. As usual I enjoy journey by the Arabian sea.It’s a beautiful shoreline of Mumbai Gate way and Taj hotel on background. I always love to travel from the deck while boating. It makes me to forget all daily stress and rejuvenate my soul. That view of endless blue water of Arabic sea makes us feel that how small we are.. Within 30 ..40 minutes of travel you can see elephant island. As the boat getting closer I was excited for visit of this world heritage site by UNESCO.On arrival there was a toy train to reach the entrance point but lot of waiting so preferred for 10 minutes walk.
Elephants Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It contains rock cut sculptures. You have to climb many stairs n also little walk n it’s hectic also for few people
Beyond this point, you would be amazed by the sheer magnificence of the rock-cut caves. I was entered  the main cave and amazed the master sculpture which represents the 3 aspects of Shiva, as the creator(Bhairava), the preserver(Taptapurusha) and the destroyer(Vamadeva).. there are many caves n sculptures about Hindu gods. Most of them are damaged but still worthy.I spent more than three hours discovering this place. It really took me to our ancient era. Crowd is little disturbing sometimes.Every Indian visit this place. This trip was not for fun it was to connect myself to our rich heritage. Dark caves  , rock cuts   ruined sculptures really unique place. We should proud of such a great culture.After having snacks we got back in ferry.
While returning again the city shoreline .gate way Taj hotel starts appearing but now i lost in elephants and that large Shiva sculptures which may created before 2000 years and still having the same Vibe ( by the way I’m die hard fan of Shiva)