In an unique initiative aimed at exploring nature & heritage, Mumbai to hold wilderness walk in Kanheri Caves

In a unique initiative of exploring nature and heritage together, a wilderness walk is being held in the Kanheri Caves inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai.

The walk by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) on 4 February would be conducted by Dr Suraj Pandit, an archaeologist and historian, who has authored several books and papers.

“This is a wilderness walk, where along with expert naturalists and archaeologists, we will explore the precincts of the Kanheri Caves in Mumbai's very own Sanjay Gandhi National Park,” said veteran naturalist Shardul Bajikar, Education Officer of the Goregaon Conservation Education Center of BNHS.

The walk will start in the jungle below and gradually climb up to the caves. Along the gentle trek, the participants will attempt to retrace the origins and the uniqueness of the SGNP-Kanheri Complex.

Carved out from a single basalt rock, the Kanheri Caves Complex is amongst the few sites, where the surroundings are intact, conserved and protected; as they were when the caves were being carved.

The SGNP, which is sandwiched between the eastern and western suburbs of Mumbai, is the biggest national park in the world to be located within the limits of a metropolitan city.

The SGNP spread across 103 sq kms in Mumbai and some parts of neighbouring Palghar and Thane districts, is home to more than 274 species of birds, 35 species of mammals, 78 species of reptiles and amphibians, 170 species of butterflies, several species of fish and a staggering 1,300 species of plants. It has the highest leopard density – and is home to close to 35 leopards.

The highest peak of Mumbai, the Jambulmal is located here and so as the Kanheri caves, which is a 2,000 year old complex of some 160 rock-cut caves popularly known as the Kanheri caves, a protected archeological site. Constructed way back in the 19th century, the Vihar (1860) and Tulsi (1868) Lakes are located within the forests of SGNP – and are an important source of water for Mumbai.

Kanheri is also close to the ancient trade route of Sopara to Kalyan.

More than 80 per cent of the caves in India are located in Maharashtra – and a large number of them are associated with Buddhism.

Kanheri Caves complex contains Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century CE to the 10th century CE. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit Krishnagiri, which means black mountain.

Kanheri, which has over 100 caves, flourished under the patronage of Satavahana, Traikutakas, Vakatakas and Shilaharas and through donations made by the wealthy merchants of the region.

Chinese Buddhist monk and traveller Xuanzang even visited these places to learn about the form of Buddhism existing in this part of the sub-continent.

Swami Vivekananda, who had spread the message of Vedanta and Yoga to the world, too had visited the Kanheri Caves.