A Triad in Time – Gharapuri, Ambarnath and Pataleshwar

From Gateway of India

From Gateway of India, Mumbai. it was one astounding panorama! The Arabian Sea splashing and waving, the yachts and boats swaying on the green surf and the morning sun weaving golden strands on that vast waterscape. We were all ready to board a ferry to an island not far off. Leaving behind the majestic landmark of ‘Taj’ and citylife of Mumbai, slowly waking up, the packed ferry boat started chugging towards the island famously knows as Elephanta but locally known as ‘Gharapuri’. 

This is a funny journey, we are actually moving towards mainland. Elephanta is one small drop of island nestled all around by mainland of India and extended tip of Kolaba. As Halfway through the journey you see a mountain jutting out from sea, all covered in forest, sitting silently watching the landmass a few kilometers away surrounded by those eternal  turbulent waters.

Gharapuri Island Mountain

Elephanta island is host to some of the exquisite carvings done in basalt rock. The largeness and grandness of the caves and inside sculptures is something you can just marvel at. Dated by experts between 8’th and 10’th century AD, we see seven rock carved enclosures on this island. a moderate climb of 100-150 steps takes you to the top of the hill and there overlooking the sea and mainland beyond, you see the first cave with large pillars with cushion capital, marking its grand entrance.

Gharapuri Cave Entrance

The most important sculpture here is the Trimutri, 3 faces of Mahadev which have found its space on Maharashtra tourism logo as well. Nearly full length of wall, the faces are very skilfully carved. Point to note that this is not a sculpture of Trimurti – Brahma , Vishnu and Mahesh but these are faces of Shiva only. There has been tradition to carve faces on Shivling as well. And based on number of faces, the shivling gets the name from Ekmukhi to Panchmukhi.

Although the common man thinks these are 3 faces, the experts have always more to add. Stella Kramrisch is one such expert in Indian iconography. She has proven that these are not 3 but 5 faces. There are distinct names to each of the face and it really represents the attribute of colorful character of Shiva.  Five faces of Shiva represent five elements, Ishana (sky), Tatpurusha (wind), Aghora (fire), Vamadeva (water) and Sadjoyata (earth) and together this depiction is called as Sadashiv as per iconography. We see three faces and there is one assumed to be behind and one on top.  

Gharapuri - Trimurti

 The entire cave is home to huge sculptures occupying a wall or more. Most of the sculptures are related to pauranik stories about Shiva. There is an exquisite 'Kalyan-Sundar' frame depicting the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. And there is 'Gajasur-Vadh' pictured with Shiva standing tall with elephant skin in his raised arms. Apart from sculptures, the cave is devoid of any ornamentation. The large pillars supporting the great hall, the larger than life sculptures of  door keepers near the main shrine hosting Shivling , the corner walls with large size sculptures, the ‘expanse’ is the keyword here. The abundance of space and magnificence of form is something that creates a forceful impact. Also this cave has good amount of similarity with some Ellora caves e.g. Sita Nhani.  

The next cave we moved to had a huge open hall, an entrance and unbelievably carved wall all around the entrance door. The carvings had the usual flowers and trees and people.

Out of the other 6 caves, only one of them is worth mentioning. The huge open chamber and elaborate doorway carvings are prominent.

Gharapuri - In Cave 1

The Elephanta island itself is very scenic. It is wooded and well maintained, in the middle of the sea, just a bit away from throbbing citylife, it is like a peaceful reading corner in your own home, approachable and still secluded. 

Being part of coastline, the rains and bridght sunshine have deteriorated the caves. Still the question remains in mind as how and who would have come to this tiny island and why would they have carved these caves. Ancient texts refer to a place called ‘Puri’ in the vicinity of present day Mumbai thought to be part of Shilahar kingdom and experts feel it is same as ‘Gharapuri’ . The name of this island is given by Portuguese who visited this island and saw huge statue of Elephant at the entrance. Promptly destroying it, the island however was named Elephanta.  Apparently this half broken statue is at site museum which we could not see. 

Cave 3

Moving closer to home, again in the ravines of Sahyadri was one more abode of Mahadev waiting to be explored.

Another fine winter morning and mild golden sunrays accompanied us to the small town of Ambarnath in vicinity of Mumbai. Ambarnath is typical Konkan town with small roads and small houses interspersed with leafy trees and red black soil. One of the milestones of Yadav architecture, temple of Ambarnath is located just inside the town. As you park the vehicle and pass a stinking river which could be gutter, your hopes are about to dampen. The careless and casual attitude of allowing filth to grow and add to it with mindless rituals generating more garbage, is something we all need to think seriously.

But then you enter through the open courtyard and the next you see is the rock carved marvel that our ancestors created and time preserved for us.

Ambarnath - Amreshwar Temple

Built probably in early 11’th century, temple of Ambarnath is dedicated to ‘Amareshwar’ a form of Shiv.  One of the early ‘Yadav’ period temples, this was built by Shilahar king ‘Chedraj’. The  ‘Shikhar’ is not very visible but the ornate star formation of temple plinth is at once elegant and magnificent. Built in local Deccan black stone, the walls of the temple and the ‘Thar’ at the base of the walls offer plenty of examples of masterful sculpting.

Ambarnath - Plinth

The inner sanctum needs to be reached by climbing down a few steps. It has always been a unique feeling in most of the Shiv temples, when you enter the Garbhgrih, the inner sanctum. Many a times it is descent into the dark core of the temple only to be presented with the image of Shivling, surrounded by white flowers and combined fragrance of petals, oil lamps and incenses creating the familiar atmosphere. The slow drip of ‘Abhishek’ and echoing chants of ancient words, sitting in the quiet corner of that age old sanctum the peace of mind returns for sure..

Ambarnath - Closer View

The last stop of this time travel is in the bustling heart of Pune city.

JM road in Pune is famous for jazzy showrooms of Nike and Benetton. It is also famous for Pizza huts and McDonald’s first ever outlets in the city. On the same crowded and upwardly mobile road, you will find a tranquil green sanctuary of peace and faith preserved with great care. 

‘Pataleshwar’ are the eighth century cave temples built during Rashtrakoot period.

Pataleshwar - Circular structure

Pataleshwar- Inner hall

Pataleshwar is an example of rock cut monolithic architecture as seen in contemporary Ellora caves. As you enter though a pathway flanked by 2 massive boulders, you see a circular structure mounted on 12 columns and a square platform within.
There is a Nandi sculpture sitting here which could be later addition. Facing the Nandi in the rocks are the actual caves. There are 3 distinct chambers carved next to each other.  The central one has a  shivling. Before that there is a huge horizontal outer hall and crisscross of massive pillars. With low focus on ornamentation, the caves exude spaciousness and seriousness. More than the neatly carved caves, the circular structure in the courtyard is something your attention is drawn to. There is an inscription on the outer walls of the cave. The opposite walls of inner hall could have hosted sculptures, but nothing can be identified now.

Pillars of outer Mandap

 Mornings are best in Pataleshwar, as chirping sounds of birds complement the flower laden trees of Devchafa and rain trees. The area is host to several old trees guarding the place with quiet authority. In the same premise there is shrine dedicated to ‘Junglee Maharaj’ an ascetic who lived in forest. And now you would know what JM in JM road stands for!

What a coincidence  that this indeed turned out to be a ‘tridal’ , three separate journeys to three majestic abodes of The Destroyer woven together. Not a natural Bilvadal but a virtual one for sure !