Mumbai- Elephanta Caves

On 18th April 09, I, Nikhil talwar and manoj set out for Elephanta Caves. I met Nikhil and andheri station and we caught the 8.15 a.m. fast train to churchgate. We arrived at the station and waited for Manoj. We all left for elephanta and caught taxi from Eros to Gateway. Total damage: Inr 17.00.at the gateway on the left side there are counters selling ferry tickets to elephanta. There are 2 options available: small and big ferry. Small ferry charges INR 100/ person whereas the big one charges INR 120/ person. Total damage to us: INR 360.00. The ferry carries at a one go roughly 40-50 persons and one can sit at the top for which one needs to shell INR 10.00/ person extra. The view from the top is great and as one sees water everywhere. The ferry passes through huge merchant ships on the way. The total ride is for 45 minutes and is worth. Finally we arrived at this tiny island which is full of greenery. Once we got down, there is an option of either catching a toy train which would be carrying roughly 30-40 people at one go. We decided to walk down and in ten minutes we reached at the entrance. On the way we found small shops selling waters, biscuits, wafers. The entrance fee is INR 5.00/ person. There are steps to be climbed and takes 10-15 minutes to reach the elephanta. The step to the elephanta is surrounded by small shops on both sides. These shops sell t-shirts, ladies wear, stones, status of god in silver. There are refreshment centre’s selling dosas, vada-pav, idli etc.senior citizens can avail of doli while climbing the steps.
Finally we arrived at the elephanta, where on the right side was MTDC accommodation which is rarely available. The first glimpse of the site made us feel as if we have arrived at a site which is still so ancient. The first cave is huge with some marvelous artwork on the walls. It’s quite huge inside and at the centre was the 3 faced brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh statue. It was looking so live as if someone had made just recently. Inside there is shiv linga. Just beside was cave 2 which contained a small shiv linga and Ganesha statue. Cave 3 and 4 is at a distance of roughly 5 mns and is not so great as compared to Cave1.

We finished the entire thing by 12.00 p.m. and after taking some refreshment at the nearby hotel returned back home.
Key Take-away: Avoid going in summer, wear cap if going in summer, carry water, and start early morning
For pictures please follow the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30002962@N05/