Kanheri Caves: 5-Hour Excursion from Mumbai

The location of Kanheri caves is in the wooded hills and valleys on the outskirt of Mumbai. The architecture of this cave is regarded to be one of the finest in India. According to historians, these caves scooped out between 200 BC and 600 AD. The whole complex has 109 caves cut manually on the flank of a hill; each fitted with a stone plinth that served as a bed. There is a congregation hall supported by huge stone pillars that have the Dagoba, a kind of Buddhist shrine. Kanheri is regarded as one of the world's greatest religious houses. There is a 20 feet colossal Buddha, an 11-headed Bodhisattva (Buddhist saint), and a Nagaraja, an ancient pre-Buddhist serpent king who guarded the most famous Buddhist Chaitya hall1 in the caves. The caves have an elaborate drainage system to channel excess water during the monsoon to the neighboring Vihar, Tulsi, and Powai lakes, which in turn are responsible for much of Bombay's water supply.