PLACES OF INTEREST

KONDIVTI CAVES.

The Kondivti or Maha'kal [Mahakal, or the great destroyer is one of the forms of Shiv. This Brahmanic name may have arisen from the Brahmans telling the people that the relic shrine in the chief cave (IX. of the south-west line) was a great ling, just as they destroyed the remembrance of Buddhists by spreading the story that their caves were the work of the Pandavs.] Caves form two rows, one of fifteen caves on the south-east face and one of four caves on the north-west face, of a low flat-topped range of trap breccia, about four miles north-east of the Andheri station on the Baroda railway. The caves are Buddhist, probably between the second and sixth centuries. They are small, many of them little more than cells, and much ruined from the flawed and crumbling nature of the rock. From Andheri, the excellent Kurla high road leads east through rice lands and mango orchards, with wooded rocky knolls, two miles to Mulgaon, or about four miles round by Marol. The easiest way to see the Kondivti caves is to go and come by Marol, a large village about a mile from the south face of the hill. The pleasantest route is to leave the high road at Mulgaon, and, by a good cross country tract, to wind about two miles through waving uplands, prettily wooded with mangoes and brab palms, round to the north face of the hill, see the north line of caves and the burial mounds, see the south line, pass south through the lands of Vihirgaon about a mile and a half to Marol, and, from Marol, go back to Andheri by the high road. This round gives a total distance of about nine miles.

On the east bank of the Mulgaon pond are the ruins of an eleventh or twelfth century Brahman temple, an underground Buddhist water cistern (A.D. 100-500), and some old bricks probably Buddhist. [Details are given under Mulgaon.] From the north, among the waving uplands, the Kondivti caves are hard to find, as the hill rises only a few feet above the general level and as the caves are in a hollow hidden by trees and brushwood. About fifty paces north of the caves, in a small mound of smooth black trap, is an underground water-cistern with two openings, about three feet four inches square and four feet apart. About fifty paces south of this cistern is the north row of caves. They face the north-west and command a wide view, cross a sea of brab palms and a rich belt of rice land and mango groves, to the mouth of the Bassein creek. In this row are four small caves probably from the fourth to the fifth century. Beginning from the east, Cave I., a dwelling cave, has a veranda (13' 7" long x 5' 4' broad) with two square pillars and two pilasters, a cistern in the left corner, and a stone bench in a recess on the right. [Left and right are visitor's left and right.] The veranda opens into a plain hall (8' 10" x 15' 10"), with a bench on the right wall, and cells (about 6' 9" x 6' 6" high) on the left and back walls. Cave II. has two doors and two windows in the front wall. It is about fifteen feet square and six feet high, without carving or pillars, and, except that it has no stone bench round it, looks like a dining hall. A door in the east wall opens on Cave III. Cave III. is very like a Kanheri cave. It enters from a courtyard (15' 10" x 15') with a stone bench and cistern on the right. From the court four easy steps lead to a veranda, with a low front wall, carved in the Buddhist rail pattern, divided in the centre by a doorway, and with two eight-sided pillars. The veranda (17'x 9')has a stone bench at each end. The hall, which is entered by a plain door, measures nearly fourteen feet square by about eight feet high. In the side walls are cells, and, in the back wall, is a door, with side pilasters surrounded by a belt of tracery, cut in a rough check pattern. [This pattern is still used in Kathiawar, where it is known as the Boghariali rel or the Buddhist (?) house-pattern. Pandit Bhagvanlal.] The door opens on a shrine (8' 3" x 7' 2"), which has an altar in the back wall with a hole and sockets to support an image. On a narrow front of rock, between Caves III. and IV., a relic shrine or daghoba is carved. Cave IV., a dwelling cave, has a long veranda (31' x 6'), with ten round-capitalled pillars, and a cistern at the right end. The hall is plain about fifteen feet square. It has two side recesses, and, in the back wall, a niche, about six inches deep and two feet square, perhaps for a relic shrine. The low walls, against the right side of the cave, are modern, the remains of a liquor still. These four caves are all much of the same age, probably the fourth and fifth centuries, later than the Chapel Cave (IX. of the south row), which was probably the origin of the monastery. About fifty yards in front of the north row are under-ground cisterns, with four openings, each about one foot ten inches square. In the wooded hollow, about thirty yards further to the west, are three or four broken tomb-stones, apparently originally square below and rounded above and from two to four feet high. To the south, about thirty feet above these broken tombstones, is the bare flat hill-top, about fifty yards broad most of it a rounded sheet of trap. About ten feet above the north caves, the rock has been hollowed, two or three feet, into a shallow bathing pond, which is now dry. About ten yards further south, hidden in brushwood, lies a broken pillar about four feet long and three feet square at the base, rising into a round broken-topped shaft. This is probably the tomb-stone that stood on the top of the mound about fifty yards to the south. This burial mound, or stupa, has been a round dome of brick and dressed stone about twenty-seven feet across the base. The centre has been opened and rifled, and bricks and dressed stones are strewn about. A yard or two to the south-east is a smaller burial mound about nine feet across the base. To the north-east is a rock-cut passage, perhaps a quarry. Close by, the surface of the rock is roughly dressed into two stone seats, one few feet above the other. The upper seat was probably for the teacher and the lower seat for his disciples. The seats have a fine view both to the north and to the south. Close at hand are the bare top and upper slopes of the hill, with sheets of trap and stretches of bleached grass broken by clumps of prickly-pear, a few stunted withered teak trees, some old deep-green rajans, little breaks of brushwood, and a sprinkling of tall black pillar-like brab stems. North the view falls gently, across a sea of green brab tops, to the rich belt of rice-ground and mango gardens from which rise the withered rounded forms of the Andheri and Osara hills. To the south, beyond the hill slopes, brown with grass with many brab palms and some stunted teak, in a wooded rice country, are the Snake or Sarpala lake, the smaller Barbai pond, and the large Church Pond or Devalacha Talav with the ruins of a great Portuguese church. About half a mile to the south-west is the village of Kondivti. Beyond Kondivti, rice-fields and a wooded rolling country stretch to the bare rounded back of Trombay. On the south-east rise the withered slopes of Chandavli, with a sprinkling of brab trees, and, to the north-east, the bolder Vehar hills and a long stretch of the Vehar lake.

A few yards south of the teacher's seat is an underground water cistern, and, a little on one side, are holes in the rock for planting the pillars of a canopy. To the west of the big burial mound, eight or nine steep rock-cut steps, some of them broken, lead down the south face of the hill to the south row of caves. In a level space, in front of the steps, is a heap of dressed stones apparently the ruins of a Buddhist temple, which has been about twelve feet square. The middle has been opened probably in search of treasure. About twenty yards behind the temple, in a low scarp, hidden with fallen rock and brushwood, is the south line of fifteen caves, all of them small and making little show, and most of them in bad repair. The caves are numbered from west to east. In the west end, the mouth of Cave I. is filled with earth to within two feet of its roof. The veranda has had two plain square pillars and two pilasters. Cave II. has a front veranda wall, about four feet high, whose face is carved in the Buddhist rail pattern. From the wall rise four plain square pillars seven feet high, the middle pair about six and the side pairs about three feet apart. Below the veranda floor (about 7½ x 22½) is a water cistern with four openings (3' 6" x 3') formerly covered with slabs. On the right the wall has fallen, and, on the left, is an opening into Cave I., which is a small plain room (9' 9" X 8' 6" and 7' high) with a good deal of earth on the floor and a recess in the north wall. In the middle of the back wall of the veranda of Cave II. is a door with five-sided pilasters, and, outside of the pilasters, a belt of checked carving, cut some inches into the wall. Inside is a plain pillarless chapel (23' 8" X 15' X 10'), with an altar for an image in the back wall. The side walls of the hall are full of socket holes for wooden pegs, which seem to have held a rich wooden wainscot. On the left wall are two hollows, apparently the beginning of a cell which was stopped by a flaw in the rock. The cave is probably of the fifth or sixth century. Cave III. is a monks' dwelling. Like Cave I. it is nearly filled with earth. Cave IV. is a chapel. On the right wall of the entrance court, outside of the veranda, is a roughly carved seven-hooded cobra, about four feet and a half long and one foot nine inches across the hood. Close beyond the cobra is a water cistern. The cobra is perhaps connected with the Sarpala or Snake pond at the foot of the hill. The outer wall of the veranda had four eight-sided pillars without capitals. The veranda (about 36' X 9½) opens on the left into Cave III. The back wall of the veranda has two windows and two side doorways opening on wall or chapel thirty-five feet long and twenty-five broad. At the sides (19' x 7' 6") with two pillars in front and three plain cells (about 7' x 7' x 7') behind. In the back wall of the hall is a shrine with a central and two side doors, the central door opening on an unfinished chapel (12' x 6'). This is older than Cave II., and perhaps belongs to the third or fourth century. Cave V. is a small dwelling with a veranda and an inner cell. Cave VI. has a veranda about four feet broad, with, at the left end, a small cell with two stone benches and inside a second cell with one bench. At the back of the veranda wall is a rough chamber, and there is another chamber at the right end of the wall. Cave VII. has a veranda four feet broad opening on a hall (12' x 12') with side cells and a shrine in the back wall. The walls are much broken. Cave VIII. is entered from VII.; it is small and broken. Cave IX. is a chapel, the most interesting, and probably the oldest, in the group. A ruined veranda about four feet broad leads into a hall twenty-five feet long, seventeen and a half feet broad, and nine feet high. In the right wall are some carved figures. The back wall is cut into a round tower-like shrine, with a central door (3' 9" x 7' 8" high) and two side stone-latticed windows (3'3" x 2'5"). This shrine fills the whole of the back wall, from which it bulges about five feet, forming a semicircle about twenty feet from end to end; and, about 7' 8" from the ground, with a round eave about a foot deep. Inside, this round hat-like shrine measures about thirteen feet across and rises in a dome about fourteen and a half feet high. In the centre stands a whitewashed rock daghoba or relic shrine, about twenty-three feet round the base, ending in a cone about eight feet high. About four feet from the floor is a belt, about six inches broad, carved in the Buddhist rail pattern, and, on the top, are four holes for an umbrella. Round the relic shrine is a passage about three feet broad. About the middle of its top, a flaw in the rock has split the relic shrine into two, the cleft passing right to the floor. On the outside wall of the rounded hut-like shrine, above the east or right lattice window, is a Pali inscription of two lines, each line two feet nine inches long. The letters are of about the third century, very closely like those of the Rudra Dama inscription at Girnar in south Kathiawar. It runs, 'Gift of a Vihar, with his brother, by Pittimba a Brahman of the Gotamas gotra, an inhabitant of Pachi Kama.' [The Pali runs Pachuckamaye uatulaodsa -- Gotamasa gotasa pitulasa deyadhama viharo sabhatukasa; (Sk.) pachikammayah vastavyasya Brahmanasya Gautamasagotrasya Pitulasya deyadharmo viharah sabhratrikasya. Pachikama is perhaps Pachmarhi, the well known Central Province health-hill. Pandit Bhagvanlal.] This rounded hut or shrine is very like one of Asoka's (B.C. 250) round huts at Barabar hill near Gaya. It is not found in any other cave in Western India, and, as far as is known, occurs in only two other caves the Lomas Rishi and the Sudama caves at Barabar in Behar, about sixteen miles north of Gaya. The sculptures on the east wall are later than the rest of the cave; they probably belong to the sixth century. Of the wall sculptures the one next the rounded tower is a seated Buddha, teaching, with two attendants one on either side. His lotus seat is upheld by a five-hooded Naga figure, with, on each side, as Naga woman with one hood, and beyond her a man. Arhats or s float in the air over Buddha's head. Above is a row of six teaching Buddhas in small panels. To the right is a headless standing figure, perhaps Avalokiteshvar, as he seems to have held a lotus flower over his left shoulder, and as there is a seated Buddha above. [Avalokiteshvar (the manifest or ' the pitiful lord') one of the Bodhisattvas or would-be Buddhas, often mentioned by the Chinese pilgrims Fah Hian (415) and Hiwen Thsang (642) as the protector of the world and the lover and saviour of men, is invoked in all cases of danger and distress. He is the same as Padmapani (the lotus-bearer) of Nepalese mythology, and is also known by the names of Kamali, Padmahasta, Padmakara, Kamalapani, Kamalahasta, Kamalakara, Aryavalokiteshvar, Aryavalokeshvar, and Lokanath. To the Chinese he is known as Kwan-tseu-tsai, Kwan-shai-yin, and ' the Great Pitiful Kwanyin'. His worship had an early origin in India. He is shown in Indian sculptures holding a lotus stalk in one hand, with an opening bud, and generally with a rosary or jewel in the other hand. His abundant hair falls in ringlets on his shoulders. On his forehead is a small figure of his spiritual father and master, Amitabha Buddha, the lord of Sukhavati or the Western Happy Land, who is the fourth Dhyani or divine Buddha, corresponding to Gautama among the human or Manushi Buddhas. Burgess' Arch. Sur. Rep. III. 75-76. For Avalokiteshvar's litany, see Bom. Gaz. XII. 531. J.R.A.S. (New Series), II. 411-413.] The small worshipping figure below, on the left, is perhaps the person who presented the sculpture. [ Cave IX. is locally known as Anasicha Kamara or the granary, because of the round granary-like hut in the back. From the figures on the wall it is called the school, the Bodhisattva being thought to be the master and the seated Buddhas the boys.] Cave X. a little to the east is a monks' dwelling. It is plain and ruined. The only carving is a rough vandyke belt at the top of the east wall. Cave XI. is a small broken veranda with two plain pillars and an inner and outer chamber for monks. To the east is a passage cut in the rock. Cave XII. is ruined and confused. The outer wall of the veranda has, at the top, a belt of carving in the Buddhist rail pattern. The veranda is about twenty-five feet long and seems to have had an image at the left end. The body of the cave is open to the east. It was originally cut off by a wall. In the back were three cells, but the partitions are gone. To the left is a chamber. Cave XIII. was once separated from XII. by a wall which has fallen. In front is a courtyard, from which five steps lead to a veranda. On the right is a cistern. There is an outer and an inner veranda. The outer veranda (19' 7" x 13') has a bench in a recess at the right end. The outer wall of the inner veranda (21' x 9' 10") has two pillars and two pilasters with rounded cushion-like capitals. Ruined steps lead about three feet up into the inner veranda. The outer wall of the hall has a central and two side doors. The hall (29' X 28' 8") has three cells opening from each other. The back wall has a central shrine and two side cells. In the centre of the hall is a square space about 15' 6" with four large eight-sided corner pillars with rounded capitals. The shrine door, at the centre of the back wall, has side pilasters and a deep-cut belt of check carving. The shrine measures eleven feet long by eleven broad and ten high. At the back is an altar which once had an image fastened to the wall by sockets. The side cells are about seven feet square. Cave XIV. is a small cell. Cave XV. is blocked by a large fallen rock. It had a veranda with two pillars and an inner and outer chamber. The door of the outer chamber has side pillars and a belt of check carving. An underground cistern beyond Cave XV., and another to the left of the path down the hill complete the remains of the Kondivti monastery. From the foot of the hill, a rough country track leads south, about half a mile, across wooded rice fields, to the Church Lake or Devalacha Talav in Vihirgaon village. The north bank of the lake has a clear view of Kondivti hill, rising from the wooded rice lands, with sloping sides of withered grass and patches of rock with a sprinkling of brab palms and mangoes, to a flat crest thinly fringed by trees. Close to the top, runs the narrow black belt of rock which has been hollowed into caves. On the south side the hill falls about 100 feet to the plain. On the north bank of the Church Lake many huge Adansonia or baobab trees cluster round the ruins of a Portuguese mansion. On the south bank is a large and very high peaked roofless Portuguese church with several carved twelfth-century Brahmanic stones. On the east bank is the site of an old Brahman temple and remains, which show that the lake was once surrounded with flights of dressed-stone steps. On the north are three ponds and lakes with old stones. [ Details are given under Vihirgaon.]

Along a rough road, about half a mile south, is Marol a large rich village with an old lake and some Brahmanic stones near the north-east corner. About a quarter of a mile to the east are two large underground cisterns probably Buddhist. [ Details are given under Marol.] From Marol, a roughish track leads to the high road which is in such good order that bullocks do the three miles to Andheri in little more than half an hour.