Anaimalai Tiger Reserve

हिंदी में यहाँ देख सकते हैं 

We had planned to visit Ooty (a hill station in Tamilnadu, India). I was all alone but my brother Sreenivasan was coming along with his wife Sitalakshmi. After we had our breakfast, we readied ourselves and occupied our seats in the car which was to be  driven by my brother. After positioning himself, my brother announced that we shall be returning late at night and will have dinner en route. I was puzzled as we can not do justice to our visit unless we are at Ooty for a minimum of a night and two days. Since there was an urgent meeting the next day, my brother was in a dilemma. He then suggested to visit “Anaimalai Tiger Reserve” which was relatively nearer. I was happy for the alternative placed before me and readily agreed. This was going to be my first ever visit to that place.

Anaimalai (Elephant Hills)  is at a distance of around 60 kilometres south of Coimbatore. At 40 kilometres distance there is a town known as Pollachi  and from there we were to take a right turn for Anaimalai. Incidentally Pollachi boasts of a  whole sale Jaggery Market which is supposed to the largest in Asia. Similarly the Cattle Market over there is the largest in South India.

 

As a matter of fact Anaimalai is a part of the Western Ghat Mountain Ranges and if one goes further down, “Anamudi” is the highest peak in India (South of Himalayas) with a height of 8842 feet. Anaimalai itself is only 8oo feet high but is surrounded by ever green forests. Although, it is a reserve for Tigers,  they are very limited. On the other hand hundreds of Elephants roam around. Anaimalai hills are known for their abundant wildlife. Eravikulam National Park, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary,  and the adjacent The Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in these hills are well known for elephants. Numerous wildlife species can be seen including elephants, gaur, water buffaloes, tigers, panthers, sloth bears, pangolins, Black-headed Orioles, crocodiles, Green Pigeons, civet cats, Dhole, Sambar and 31 groups of endangered lion-tailed macaques., Birds seen include Pied hornbill, Red Whiskered Bulbul and Drongo. The hills are also a trekker’s paradise.

On reaching Pollachi, we took a right turn towards Anamalai which was around 16 kilometres away.  The entire route was dotted with dense Coconut Groves spaced with paddy fields and the mountain ranges smiling at you from  a far distance. After driving a stretch of 7/8 kilometres, we came at a check post with a welcome gate. The sanctuary/reserve starts from here. There was also a hoarding of the “Parambikulam Wild Life Sanctuary” which was on the same way but a little farther from the place we were heading to. Near the check post, a lady was selling some locally produced fruits. We bought some Sapodillas/Cheeku (Manilkara zapota) which were very sweet and tasty. Further journey saw us through some plains followed by winding ghats (Mountainous region) having thick bamboo forests.

Around 12 Noon, we were at “Top Slip”. This place is called so, for the large sloppy ground which  was being used for storing Teak Wood logs and then rolling them  down to reach the bottom of the hill. All private vehicles are supposed to remain parked at this place and for travelling beyond that point, one needs to hire vehicles from the Forest Department. They have a small information centre with a tiny museum for the benefit of tourists. The forest staff have their living quarters built there. They also run a Canteen which serves food and beverages to tourists.

There are two distinct categories of visitors here. The first category consists of people coming here for picnicking and fun. The second category belongs to those who are of serious kind and come here to understand the forests, its flora and fauna and the wild life. Their visits are always pre-planned. They get cottages/vehicles booked in advance for their period of stay. Since we fell under the former category, we started exploring the possibilities of moving around the jungles. We were told at the information centre that a van takes people around but since on that particular day, the number of visitors was too small, the van facility was kept in abeyance. There was, however, an option of taking the Elephant ride. Perforce, we had to settle for it. The Elephants were not immediately available as they were already on their rounds. Nevertheless, we got our tickets booked paying a sum of Rs.400/- and proceeded to fill our bellies at their Canteen.

After replenishing ourselves, we just roamed around. There my brother came across some boars in the backyard of the canteen. When we reached the information centre for the second time, my brother questioned the Ranger over there “Are those pigs, the wild ones”. The Ranger, with all seriousness, replied “Yes, they are wild boars but come down because of easy availability of left over food”. So we were happy to learn that we could at least see some wild life. Thereafter, I wanted to enlarge my own knowledge base and inquired about the kind of wild life found there. We were told that there are around 368 (that’s what I remember) Elephants and 18 Tigers apart from Panthers, Gaurs, Blue Bulls, Lion Tailed Monkeys, Large Mountain Squirrels etc. Further, they have some 100 Elephants in their own farm. They are let loose in the morning to roam about in the jungles and they come back in the evening. If one wants to see them together, one has to be there before 8.00 A.M.

Soon the Elephants were ready to take us for a ride. For all of us, it was going to be our first experience in life. After climbing a platform, we were on the cradle like thing on the Elephant’s back. We proceeded deeper inside. Nothing worthwhile came across except for few Macaque (Lion Tailed) Monkeys and large Squirrels. They vanished from our sight within minutes without affording any opportunity of capturing them in our cameras. The jungle view all around was very pleasing though. After half an hour, the Elephant was turned back and in fact we  very much wished to come back not being in a position to withstand the painful jerks. Soon we were at the platform which saw us boarding the Elephant but only to get down with a sense of relief.

While returning home, it dawned upon me that the month of April was not quite productive for visiting a place like this.

 

Pichavaram Mangrove Forest - Second largest in the World

In tropical and sub tropical countries where ever a river meets the sea, back waters and estuaries get created. In certain places there could be swamps as well. These places are ideal grounds for a type of evergreen vegetation known as Mangroves. They have the capacity to sustain in saline waters. They also have a queer root system which partly remain in the air and some penetrate deep in the waters. The roots hanging above the water surface also have the capability of drawing its oxygen directly. Their seeds also have the ability to germinate when they are still on their branches. The water body surrounding the Mangrove Forests, affords a conducive climate for a variety of marine life, including various species of fish and prawns.

World’s largest Mangrove Forest formations are found in the Indian Sub Continent. They are the “Sundarbans”, 60% of which is in Bangladesh and 40% in India, the home of the famous Bengal Tigers. The second largest Mangrove Forest is also in India known as “Pichavaram” created at the confluence of Vellar and Coleroon rivers on the Bay of Bengal. This is spread over an area of 2800 acres (11 square kilometres).

The availability of different habitat types such as channels, creeks, gullies, mud flats and sand flats and adjacent sea shore offers ideal habitat for different species of birds. There are at least 177 species of birds inhabiting 

the area. Amongst others, one can view birds like Watersnips, Cormorants, Egrets, Storks, Herons, Spoonbills and Pelicans. The season between November to January is considered to be most fascinating for bird watchers as during that period the bird population is maximum, inclusive of  migratory birds from different countries. Apart from the eco-diversity of this forest, the mangroves were  instrumental in protecting the hinterland during the devastating Tsunami in the recent past.

Traversing through hundreds of channels leading to the sea is an experience which can not be simply explained in words. The Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation has a boat house at the spot offering boat rides through the groves. It is preferable to opt for the slow moving boats instead of the mechanised ones. The sea front is equally beautiful. The sea water creates fascinating patterns on the sands more akin to modern art.

 

Pichavaram is reachable from Chennai via Chidambaram (Railway Station). From Chidambaram Pichavaram is at a distance of 16 kilometres. Although accommodation is available at Pichavaram as well, but it is better to make Chidambaram the base for one can have the option of different types of accommodation as well as food.  

Wayanad (Kerala), worth visiting

Guest Post by my brother

P.N. Sampath Kumar,

Cochin Shipyard, Kochi.

Our family outing is normally during our son’s vacations for Onam, Christmas and summer holidays. We had originally scheduled a trip to Colombo and Kandy but could not make it as we had only 4 days available, which we thought will not be sufficient for a proper trip through Sri Lanka.

Wayanad came to our mind as it is a mixture of nature and history. Biodiversity is the richest.  From Ernakulam (Kochi), we had two options to travel, either via Nilambur by own car or via Kozhikode (Calicut) by a combination of Train and Bus. We chose the Calicut route and decided against driving own car considering difficult weather and unknown terrains. We booked a room in a budget Resort called Haritagiri, located at Kalpetta as we had a  reasonably good feedback.

The Tali temple

We took an afternoon train to reach Calicut by evening. We had only one night to spend and hence decided to limit our visit to the beach (not the one Vasco-da-gama once landed, which is called Kappad Beach) and the Tali Temple. Calicut has a good beach, plenty of mosques and a very famous temple called “Tali”. Tali probably means a place where the kings used to take decisions on issues. Moreover Tali temple used to be the venue for scholarly debates in the olden  days. “Uddanda Shastrigal” from Tanjavur has once won the title by defeating others in Tarka Shastra (Logics) which used to be the test of knowledge those days. This Temple was built by Swami Thirumulpad (Zamorin) within his palace complex in the 14th century.  

There are only few choices for hard core veggies in Calicut; one such restaurant is “Dakshin” where we tried some Dosas.

There are plenty of buses operating between Calicut and Wayanad. The journey took 2.30 hrs through the mountains called Tamarassery Pass to reach Kalpetta. The Tamarassery pass has nine hairpin bends (our son counted all of them) and most of the time it will be foggy. It was really an enjoyable experience traveling through the wild.

Wayanad borders both Karnataka and Tamilnadu. There are three major towns in Wayanad which are are Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sultan Battery. Majority of land is in the form of forest and the rest are either plantations or paddy fields. Coffee is abundantly cultivated. Wayanad ginger, Turmeric, lemongrass and honey are very famous in Kerala for their quality and flavour. Weather is cool round the year. Majority population are migrated farmers from elsewhere in search of fortune. It is said that the local tribals with their archery skills and guerilla warfare techniques supported Pazhassi Raja who fought the British in the 17^th century. Pazhassi Raja’s tomb is situated at Mananthavady.

Haritagiri Resort

 Haritagiri is a good resort having a small swimming pool, bar, restaurant and an ayurvedic spa. Veggies will find it difficult to have a lunch in that restaurant as most of the cuisines are non vegetarian. There are resorts catering to the needs of different food habits. But we tried to explore small time eateries who serve proper vegetarian food. There are a couple of vegetarian messes run at Kalpetta. We tried one Swami’s mess in Kalpetta town run by an old Tamil Brahmin couple where we had a very good lunch with traditional north Kerala Brahimn recipes. One of the curries was made of dried jackfruit nut.

It is better to hire a tourist taxi to visit the spots in and around Wayanad. We hired a Tata Indica for 1½ days and they charged Rs.2700/-. For trips covering 4-5 KMs, etc.,It’s  better to hire an autorikshaw which we found to be very cheap here. I have never paid more than Rs.10/- for a trip here. People are very friendly and so are the drivers.

The must visit places in Wayanad (according to tourist operators there) are Kuruva Dweep (which was closed then due to heavy rain), Chembra peak, Pookode lake, Muthanga Wild life sanctuary, Thirunelli, Pakshi pathalam, soochipara water falls, etc. But in consultation with our driver cum guide, we chalked out our own plan. He took us to take half way through the Chembra peak (6900 feet above sea level) up to where it is navigable by road. There is a watch tower up to which we went. The sight of the valleys of tea and coffee estates as also the  view of Kalpetta from a distance was enchanting. Our son was happy for having been kissed by the clouds and was busy collecting pieces of clouds and put them in his shirt pocket.

The Chembra Peak

Towards Chembra Peak

Half way through Chembra Peak

It takes at least half a day to finish this if you want to trek to the top. Ideally you need to have a small like minded group of 7-8 people, equipped with safety gadgets, water, food, etc. Half way further to the top, they say there is a heart shaped lake on the bank of which people take rest, drink water and have food before they climb further upto the peak.All these reminded me of the great Mana Sarovar and Kailash. We have consigned  it for  the next time
.

Our next destination was Edakkal caves, they are two natural caves located 1000 metres high on Ambukutty Mala (Hill) 25 km from Kalpetta  on the way to  Sultan Battery. They lie on an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the Malabar coast ports. These  caves were discovered by  Fred- Fawcett, the then superintendent of police of the Malabar District, who was on  a hunting trip to Wayanad in 1890. Our travel was through village roads and took an hour to reach the spot.

Way to the caves

A beautiful Petroglyph

The cave is on top of a hill and one has to trek about 200 -250 meters steep to the top which requires a bit of mountaineering skill. We saw plenty of tourists visiting this place without much taste or understanding of history. There are carvings considered to be of BC 2000-6000 period (Neolithic i.e.stone age). The Kerala Archeological department maintains it and charges a little fee. Photography is allowed inside the cave. There are few pictures and some scripts engraved on the walls (Petroglyphs) of the cave. The pictures that we could make out were of a deer like creature and a human face with ornaments of possibly a tribal chief.  It took us about 2 hours to finish. Short Tamil Brahmi inscriptions datable to around 3rd Century CE have also been discovered in these caves, the fifth one reading "Sri Vazhumi" is the latest discovery by M.R. Raghava Varier, retired Professor of Epigraphy, Calicut University (February 2012 update).

Photo by: Mohammed A

The nearest town to Edakkal Caves site is Sultan Battery. Further from the town towards the Boarder of Karnataka situates the Muttanga wild life sanctuary. Like all sanctuaries the best time to visit the park is early morning. There are four wheel jeeps available on hire with a guide inside the sanctuary. We reached the place in the evening and could sight few deers and peacocks. In the morning elephants and bisons are sighted more often and if you are very lucky, even tigers could be encountered. The sanctuary borders both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The pookode lake is the most beautiful lake that we have ever seen in Kerala; resembles Nainital. This is located near a place called Vythiri. It is a natural lake in the midst of hills. Boating in the lake or walking around the lake is the major activity here.

Kanthanpara falls, the safe one.

Kanthanpara fall

We avoided Suchipara falls because of the  distance and chose a nearby fall called Kanthan para (lesser known to outside world) as suggested by our guide. It is a small fall in two stages. The first one is safer as it forms a pond where even children can safely play. Wayanad has a number of such un-spoilt spots.

At Kanthanpara

Next day, we took a bus to travel to Tirunelli and Papanasam fall. One need to take a bus to Mananthavadi first and then to Tirunelli. Overall it takes 2 ½ hours to reach the temple. The route was exciting with views of the wild and occasional housing colonies of the tribal community beside the paddy fields. The road is through the proposed Elephant corridor. Not to mention, elephants are often sighted here on the road / road side. We found few deers.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu is surrounded by mountains and looks like Sabarimala temple. The temple looks very old. They say that there are mentions about this temple in the 10^th century literatures. Tirunelli used to be an important town till 16^th Century, along with Kodungallur and Mangalapuram. The temple is not architecturally very beautiful. When we visited, the inner side of the temple was getting renovated with teak wood roofs.The only interesting part I could notice is the plumbing arrangement made of granite stones to provide water to the temple from a distant mountain.

Tirunelli temple and the aquaduct

People visit Tirunelli for two reasons; one to take a dip in the nereby stream called Papanasam and two, to consult tribal physicians practicing tribal medicine. In Papanasam pond (which is called brahma theertham), we found a carved stone in the middle depicting Sankhu, Chakra and Gada of the Loard Vishnu, where some poojas are offered. This also looked to be very old.

Papanasam (Where sins are washed away)

Symbolic representation of Lord Vishnu

We returned to Ernakulam the third day via Calicut. Wayanad has a lot to offer for someone who is ready to walk and trek a lot. Good people blessed with good weather and nature.

Foot Prints of Pre-historic Men around Bhopal

Foot prints of pre-historic civilizations are scattered all over the Indian Sub Continent but their abundance in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is noteworthy. Rock Shelters and Cave Paintings at Bhimbetka near Bhopal are now world famous, thanks to UNESCO which has recognized them as a World Heritage site. Such paintings are known from Singhanpur (Kabra Hill) in Raigarh district, Adamgarh near Hoshangabad, in the nearby hills at Bijawar (Chhatarpur district), at Mrigendranath cave of Patni village of Bareli Tahsil (Raisen district),and again at Chidia Tol hills near Bhopal on Raisen Road. Very recently there were reports of rock paintings being destroyed in the mines near Budhni (Hoshangabad) and there was a great media cry. This prompted the administration to cancel the mining lease.

Closer to Bhimbetka at a distance of 5 kilometers there is another cluster of Rock Shelters known as Pengavan and the paintings occuring there are considered to be very rare. Their antiquity is between 10,000 to 35,000 years. It was also in the news that the hills running parallel to the Kolar Road of Bhopal also contain rock paintings. One Mr. Ashish Joshi, my neighbour, closely connected with the print media, happened to take us to yet another cluster of rock shelters which awaits to be discovered by an archaeologist of repute!. This is closer to the Kerva Dam where on a hill known as Ganesh Pahadi falling in the Samardha ranges, several rock shelters with beautiful paintings greeted us. Still farther from that spot at Madiakot, Mr.Joshi enthusiastically showed us a typical formation of a rock circle, believed to be the burial/sacred place akin to a Tumulus. It was around 70 meters in diameter. Very few people have noticed this so far and this is purely man made and not a creation of nature. A forest road through the newly developed picnic spot with tree houses would lead you there after traversing a distance of around 6/7 kilometers. However, one needs to have a jeep or bikes which can only carry you there.

Once back at home, we also hunted for the stone circle for which Wikimapia and Google Earth came in handy. Yes the satellite maps clearly showed them. We were surprised to find one more small circle below (left) the larger one. It would be of interest to learn that the hills starting from Hoshangabad and going beyond Sanchi (North of Bhopal) have most of the rock shelters as also Buddhist Stupas. It is quite possible that the stone circles could have been the abandoned foundations of Stupas. We believe a deeper study of the terrain coupled with trial excavations is required to come to any meaningful conclusions.

The Eco Tourism Development Board of Madhya Pradesh has been hunting for such hidden treasures lying deep in the forests. For the past few years they are engaged in developing necessary infrastructure at such destinations so as to promote ecotourism. Close to Bhopal they have also identified Samardha village as their epicenter for extensive development. On the other hand the Forest Department, with a view to promote environmental awareness has constructed several tree houses and cottages close to the Kerva Dam near Bhopal. They also arrange trekking and mountaineering expeditions periodically. Incidentally ecotourism is not yet recognized as a forestry activity, although it is a means of conserving forests by increasing visitation and generating awareness. Under this umbrella, ecotourism can be a forestry activity, ancillary to conservation. For greater impetus the Government of India need to take steps to bring in suitable amendment to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Kanheri Caves (Mumbai)

यहाँ हिंदी में भी देख सकते हैं

Several years ago while trying to locate the footprints of the Satavahana rule in Dakshina Kosala, I learnt about their inscriptional evidences  at Kanheri, Naneghat and Nashik (Pandav Leni) rock cut caves. I was curious to visit these holy places of the Buddhist regime, from that time onwards, so as to spend some moments living in the ancient past.

 

Although I have visited Mumbai numerous times, my friends over there were either reluctant or uninterested to take me to Kanheri (Krishna Giri) which was otherwise comfortably reachable. Last year during a routine visit to Mumbai I made up my mind to visit Kanheri Caves by myself. Moreover, my son was also with me. Incidentally my younger brother in law got enthused to accompany us. On one morning after breakfast, we three of us, boarded a suburban train from Dadar (West) and landed at Borivli within 30/40 minutes. Fearing that we may have to remain hungry, we located a good restaurant and had our fill. While we were out of the restaurant, we spotted a vacant auto which took us to the main gate of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. We got inside the main gate after buying the entry tickets. We were happy to see a Tourism Development Corporation bus parked inside, which takes people to the Kanheri Caves, situated 6 kilometers deep inside the park. Unfortunately there were few people around  and the driver bluntly told us that the bus wont move unless there are adequate number of passengers. We were loosing time. Fortunately a van entering the park stopped by our side and offered us a lift for Rs.100. We readily agreed and boarded the van. The vehicle entered the dense forest winding its way through the lush greenery. The surrounding flora and fauna and the forest smell was a feast to our eyes and nostrils. Well here is a place in Mumbai where people can breathe fresh air and revitalize themselves. Within 10 minutes,  there appeared a hoarding of the Archaeological Department with a booth dispensing entry tickets. We were dropped at this point asking us to be back within 2 hours. The vehicle then pulled itself to the parking place. We bought the necessary tickets and took the stairs carved out on the surface of  hard volcanic rock.

Kanheri is the largest Buddhist site in India  in terms of the number of caves made in a single hill.  In the western part of India, Buddhism was introduced at Sopara which was once the capital of Aparantaka (North Konkan) way back in the 3rd Century BC. From that time onwards Kanheri being closer to Sopara was developed as a seat of learning for the Heenayana branch of Buddhism. Later it also continued to play its educational role for the Mahayana branch as well. Its history spans from as early as 3rd Century BC to as late as 11th Century AD. That makes it a unique site  that has gone through the rise and decline of Buddhism in India. The earliest rock cut cells, devoid of images or any other ornamentation, dates back to that period of Heenayana form of Buddhism. On the other hand the cells and Viharas (monasteries) with Buddha’s images and other designs belong to the Mahayana cult. Chiseling the hill and making monasteries etc. has however  continued up to the 9th Century AD.

Having completed climbing our first phase of the stairs. we found ourselves in a relatively leveled ground with the rock cut structures staring at us. At first sight we had a notion of having seen similar structures elsewhere. Then we recalled the Petra in Jordan which we never visited but had seen them through movie clips/photographs.There were many people exploring that particular structure. We also proceeded in that direction. It was a Chaitya Griha.

 This top one  is  at Kanheri

 This is the one at Karla (Lonavla)

Outwardly it did not look ornate but when we entered, it was a stunning experience. At the point of entry itself, there stood two Buddha’s on either side of the porch. They are supposed to be the tallest images in India.  A very large hall with an arched  roof (barrel vaulted) at the end of which there was a stupa with a semispherical top, the object of worship in the Chaitya. There were ornate pillars on either side. I loudly said “I shall cherish this experience” to which my brother in law reminded me of another such Chaita Griha at Karla near Lonavla. The Chaitya Griha there is said to be much more larger and beautiful. In fact it is the  largest cave Chaitya in India whereas the one at Kanheri is reckoned as the second largest.

Once after getting rid of my emotions/notions, I started discovering faults. Yes, the six pillars at the right end were simply square, there was nothing great about them. Also the pillars lacked symmetry. Anyway this was the place for the monks to meditate and referred to as Cave No.3. One of the most important ones at Kanheri. It is 26.36 meters long, 13.66 meters wide and 12.9 meters high. This was made during the reign of the Satavahana ruler Yajn Shri Satkarni (172 – 201 AD). However he was a Hindu ruler but was tolerant towards Buddhism or else he would not have funded this project. As an evidence he has left his inscription in Brahmi script of that period.

Two structural stupas existed near the Chaitya Griha (Shrine). One was built of stone and when dug up, it yielded two copper urns containing  ash, a small golden box with a piece of cloth, a silver box containing rubies, pearls, some golden pieces and a copper plate of the year 324 AD. The second stupa was built of bricks which yielded a stone slab bearing inscriptions in a script which was prevalent in the 5th/6th Century.

It seemed that we had spent considerable time at this chaitya Griha alone and realized that we need to speed up. We swiftly proceeded to the adjacent Cave No.1 which was planned as a two storied structure but remained unfinished. It has huge pillars. Next to it there was the Cave No.2, a small one. There is a stupa inside and the walls adorn Buddha as well as Avalokiteswara.

Cave No.1

Cave No.2

Though the cave clusters are scattered in random, many of them are aligned along some sort of terrace that makes it a common courtyard. The footpaths are connected from such cluster to cluster. In  many cases , especially as you proceed deep into the site, you've to scale the steps carved on the rocky surface to reach the caves. It dawned on us that we may not be able to see all that the place offers, for paucity of time. A fellow tourist advised us that apart from Cave No's.1, 2 and 3 Caves numbered as 11, 41, 67, 89 and 90 have sculptures carved on their walls. Therefore we hurriedly proceeded towards Cave No.11. This is referred to as the Darbar Hall. There is a stupa inside and on both sides there are Cells for residential purposes. Many viharas have benches and seats carved as integral part of the caves. Several inscriptions could also be encountered on its walls. Cave No.41 is said to be unique where Avalokiteswara is represented with 4 hands and 11 heads. Such an iconography of this sage is not obtainable anywhere in India. Avalokiteswara is said to have declined Enlightenment unless salvation of all the lesser mortals comes along.In the walls of Cave No.67 there are sculptures carved out representing the Jataka stories. 

Darbar Hall

Avalokiteswara

Inscription of Satavahanas

All these Cells and/or Viharas have a pillared verandah in the front. A cistern is located in the courtyard right next to the entrance of a cave. They served as water storage tanks for the daily use of the residents. We could  see the grooves and channel networks that direct rainwater to the cisterns. What is thus collected during the monsoon season could be preserved in the cistern for the summer. There are even some large open ponds excavated on the surface of the rock. Probably these served as community utility for bathing and washing clothes. Right beneath, at the cleft of two hilly formations is the remains of a dam. Here too the water stored was for community usage and for agriculture. A very beautiful example of water management by our ancestors.

Water Channel

There is a long stairway to the top of the hill, carved in the hard rock, in a superbly preserved condition. At the top there is a large cremation ground where the monks were being cremated. Number of structural  stupas, small and large made of bricks  reportedly exist there. However we had to contain our temptation and had to return from Cave No.67. When we were back at the parking site of our vehicle, we found the driver blowing up. 

Steps leading to the top of the hill

Again at Borivli we caught a local train to take us back to Dadar and from there we hired a taxi to be back at home at Chembur by 7.30 PM. We need to visit again.