KANHERI
KANHERI
City of Caves
“There were palace like buildings, images, houses, pillars,
and water-cisterns. It was a city carved in rock that could hold seven thousand
people” – Don Joao de Castro
Kanheri – Location and origin
Kanheri (19°13’ N; 72°55’ E), the Kanhasela, Krishnagiri,
Kanhagiri of ancient inscriptions, is located north of Mumbai. Kanheri is
located in the island of Salsette and 6 miles from Thana. The caves are
excavated in volcanic breccia, the hills rising at places to 1550’ above mean
sea level. Kanheri is credited with the largest number of cave excavations in a
single hill. To the west is the Borivili railway station and across the creek
is the Arabian Sea.
Kanheri, large group of caves (109 not
counting the new discoveries) located north of Mumbai excavated out of volcanic
rock formation breccia, at a height of 1550’ above sea level. One of the oldest
and largest numbers of cave excavations in a single hill. Located on the old
trade route, starting from the nearby port of Sopara made Kanheri, a thriving
Buddhist centre for over a millennium. It has an amazing record of having been
a bustling centre for a long period in history with over hundred caves holding
thousands of students and monks.
Its
origin and existence is attributed to its closeness to the thriving trade
centres of Sopara (modern day Nala Sopara), Kalyan, connecting it further to
prosperous trade centre of Paithan via Nashik and Junnar, and up north Ujjain
and Bharuch.
The excavation of caves starting from first century BC is estimated to have continued for the next few centuries and later on additions and modifications carried out and was in use till around 13th century AD.
The emphasis on “trade” is not misplaced, as it is mentioned as one of the reasons why Kanheri first came about and also its continued patronage. Rich community of traders provided for excavation, additions, and maintenance of caves as is evidenced from half of over 100 inscriptions found in the caves.
The
extensive patronage provided by the merchants of these towns helped in the
progressive up keep of this monastic establishment. Kanheri is one of the
biggest Buddhist centres on the Konkan Coast being second only to Junnar in
terms of number of caves. Many traders like Fa Hien and Foe Kue Ki have
mentioned these caves. European travellers like Gracia d’orta (1534) and Dom
Joao De Castro (1539) describe these as “A City cut in rock which could hold about
7000 people”.
Cave 1
Starting
at the first cave Dr.Suraj Pandit explains how Kanheri’s Cave no.1 an
unfinished cave as well the group of caves hold answer to many questions
regarding how the caves came about, how they were excavated, who chose the
style and patterns. The inscriptions and patterns at Kanheri hold many clues
and answers to such questions. “In fact, much of our current knowledge of
general cave excavations, and not just limited to those in Kanheri or Mumbai,
are derived from the patterns visible in Kanheri,” Dr.Pandit – ‘Stories in
Stone – Historic Caves of Mumbai’.
Buddhist
monasteries played the important role of deciding on the location of the cave,
plan, content and form and the important factor in influencing the construction
was availability of money, its usage, and material.
Cave 1 facing west has two pillars with square base, and appears to be an attempt to make a two storied structure but abandoned, as one speculation goes due to defect in the rock. The cave has no sculpture or inscriptions.
 |
| CAVE 2 |
 |
| CAVE 3 & 4 |
Cave 2 to 4
|
Kanheri
Caves stand as a record on the evolution of Buddhism in Deccan around for
millennium. The caves as mentioned earlier were a city in itself – designed
with front courtyards, benches, cavities that would have been rooms, caves
which could have been libraries, and an elaborate water saving and supply
system with water cisterns, stair cases, sculptures and inscriptions with
details of donors. Caves
one to four as numbered by the Archaeological Survey of India at the entrance courtyard
of the caves have two important caves, Cave 2 and Cave 3, which Dr.Pandit
mentions as the most important among the caves. “This
chaitya cave (cave 3) near the entrance to the site is the most important cave
in the entire Kanheri cave complex. And in a sense by extension, this cave is
extremely significant among all the caves of Mumbai since Kanheri enjoyed
principal status for over a millennium in the Buddhist cluster.” – Caves of
Mumbai As
one enters the cave there is a small extension which Dr. Pandit says enables
one to date the cave as being excavated by 2nd century CE. The
inscription at the cave also helps in dating it to the period of Satavahana
king Sri Yajna Satakarni (167 – 196 CE). This
cave has a spacious courtyard in the front, entered through a gateway with low
walls, looking like a replica of wooden fence. The low wall is decorated with
animal motifs and has Dvarapalas. Cave number three on the whole shows various
influences and from this particular lower wall railings, one the influence of
Shaka art on the sculpted human figures in Dvarapalas, and two the depiction of
double humped camel an indication of Kanheri’s trade with places as far away as
central Asia. 
Next
the pillars on either side, both different in treatment depict perhaps two
different set of artisans at work.  The
Buddha figures on the pillar on the right might show the influence of Mathura
art.
“Earliest
image of Buddha in south India cave 3, Mathura style, Kushana, 2nd century.
This shows new type of. Gajasena and Gajamitra – giving donations to the
chaitya. Early Teravada. What kind a tervada Buddhism was it to have accepted
Buddha statues! There are five in cave 3. Copies probably of metal images
brought from Mathura. Sarvastivada and Madhyamika both have influenced in this
site. More impressive, the overall design is simple like the early Teravada
style. Later Mahayana additions in the icons outside,” says Dr.Pandit.  Earliest Images of Buddha On
the outer wall on both sides are large figures of two couples who are mentioned
in the inscriptions as two brothers Gajasena and Gajamita who made donation to
make the chaitya hall in honour of their deceased parents, their wives, their
sons, daughters, stop mothers, sister’s sons and extended family members.  Inside the chaitya there are pillars on both sides of the hall, some complete and ornate with a central stupa.  Going
back to Cave 2, an early cave natural and with later additions, has combination
of chaitya with stupas and viharas with chambers. There are also water cisterns
outside the cave and inscriptions regarding them, as well as inside the cave
with names of devotees mentioned there identified by some scholars with the
icons of Buddha with his devotees seen in the cave. The
stupas, including an incomplete one are separated, indicated separate chaityas
and the enclosures or rooms alongside might have been recesses used for
meditation. Two
of the chaityas in the cave had icons of Buddha and Avalokiteshvara, and one of
them have details of Avalokiteshvara rescuing devotees from their troubles. As
one crossed the side where Buddha in seated in form are shown to seeing Buddha
as a Padmapani in standing posture, the large canvas of Avalokiteshvara
surrounded by devotes, one showing a lion attacking a devotee, a thief robbing
a devotee, a woman kneeling with a child in her arms, elephant attacking a
devotee, and importantly a shipwreck.
  Cave 41 Staying
on to the theme of Avalokiteshwara, one can jump straight to cave no 41 from
cave number 2. On
a small open cell outside cave 41 is the unique and only of its kind Ekadashamuka
or the 11 headed Avalokiteshwara. This image idea was probably carried by
traveller monk Huen Tsiang and in no time the image and cult became popular in
China. Detailed
description on which the idol (dated 6th CE) is found in the
Sanksrit sutra Avalokiteshwara Ekadashamukha Dharini. The text was translated
into Chinese by Huen Tsiang as well. A contemporaneous manuscript, Vajrayana text was also found among the Gilgit papers from Gilgit, Kashmir Ekadashamukham, which talks clearly about all the rituals related to the deity in Vajrayana style.  Cave 11After cave 3, the most important and an unique is the cave 11, which is neither a chaitya nor a vihara. Was it a dining place, a common meeting place, or a common staying place where certain recitations done together. This is similar to cave 5 of Ellora, and was it because both practised Tantrayana? It could have been a library, a place where scribes sat down to make copies of manuscripts, says Dr.Pandit. Gilgit, Bamiyan have reported such libraries and Huen Tsiang has taken several manuscripts from this place.  The cave 11 is also called as Darbar
Hall by some given its unique structure. There is a huge hall and behind that
is a shrine in the back wall and two low stone benches like cave 5 of Ellora. Buddha
in Dharmacakrapravardana mudra adorns the shrine. The cave has four
inscriptions of different periods; one dated in Saka 775 (A.D. 853) of the
reign of Rashtrakuta King Amoghavarsha and his feudatory the Silahara prince,
Kapardin. The inscription records the donation of various gifts and funds
provided for the purchase of books and repairs to the damages. One inscription shows a perpetual endowment from a trader in Kalyan, a Bengali fixed deposit given to a guild which would pay interest to the monastery. On the death of the trader the deposit was divided and given to make copies of manuscripts.  Cave
34, a well developed cave with features carrying resemblances to Ajanta and
Barabar caves today has only an unfinished Buddha painting as a testimony of
having been a cave with ceilings painted as recorded by James Burgess in his
book The Cave Temples of India. Calling it as cave 14, Burgess says, “the cave
retains fragments of painting on the roof, but from the style it is evidently
not of very early date The roof of the small hall appears to have been divided
into nine panels, of which fragments can be traced, in the centre of one a
painted figure with six arms, resembling Shiva performing tandava dance”.  Finally
ending the journey near Cave number 41, again a very important aspect of
Kanheri caves of antique value and a marvel of water management system in
ancient India. The remnants of a dam near 41 reconstructed from the partial
walls that are seen and other tell-tale evidence along with inscriptions make
on complete the picture of water management system at Kanheri. If
the modern Mumbai draws its water from the Tulsi and Vihar lakes, the waters
that fed the lakes were also the ones that filled the reservoirs of Kanheri
2000 years ago. The
two walls that are not fully intact shows how the water was let inside to be
stored and connected to the whole of the water system, linked to the cisterns
to provide water during summer.
The
dam structure is the earliest surviving archaeological evidence of dam
construction in Maharashtra, says Dr.Pandit. “Its remains are the oldest known
structural archaeological remain of a dam in western India Further, the
reservoir at Kanheri was created by constructing wall unlike other dams such as
Ramatirtha at Sopara, which was created after modifying natural depressions,”
says Dr.Pandit.  While Kanheri may not be as beautiful as Ajanta or Ellora due to lack or royal patronage, it had influence over satellite settlements Magathane and Mahakali and was instrumental in their prosperity. Also, today it stands as a living monument leading researchers as well as those with amateur interest in history to decipher step by step over 1000 years of history through its architecture, iconography, inscriptions and infrastructure. “Kanheri is the only rock cut monastery in western India that has the feeling of having been, and of being ready again to be, a pleasant and popular dwelling place. The rows of cells, water cisterns, dining halls, lecture halls and temples joined by worn flights of rock cut steps, and the crowded burial gallery show what a huge brotherhood must once have lived at Kanheri.” – Thana gazette – ‘Stories in Stone’.  Note: This was an exercise in learning, when Dr.Pandit had led us on a study tour of Kanheri while we were pursuing our Ancient Indian Culture course. I have done couple of tours of Kanheri with him and it is stunning to discover the ancient tales of this great metropolis. In non-Covid times Dr.Pandit hosts a Kanheri site seminar every year, and it is a wonderful opportunity to get to know this ancient and remarkable site called Kanheri. I have drawn information from his book 'Stories in Stone' . Credits: The old picture postcards used here are from the collection of Srinivasu Dokka who had generously shared it when I was doing the assignment. |
Comments