Mumbai: Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivli

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Buddhist caves

Discovered in 2016

Caves discovered in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali, Mumbai; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Jan 17 2016

The Times of India, Jan 17 2016

Clara Lewis

Seven ancient Buddhist caves found in Mumbai

Seven caves have been discovered in the forests of the sprawling Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivli, on the northern fringes of Mumbai. The caves are Buddhist `viharas' (residences for monks) with only one of them showing the remains of a `harmika' (the top railing of a stupa). They are believed to have been constructed before the Kanheri Caves nearby and probably served as a monsoon shelter for the monks.

While a formal approval from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is awaited for detailed exploration and documentation of the new caves, the team that has discovered the caves date them between 1st century BCE (or BC) and 5th-6th century CE (or AD). The discovery was made by a threemember team last February under an excavation programme jointly conducted by the Centre for Archaeology, Mumbai University , and the department of ancient Indian culture, Sathaye College, Vile Parle; the head of the department, Suraj Pandit, led the team.

“The newly discovered caves may have been older than the Kanheri Caves as they were simpler in form and they lacked water cisterns, which are found in the more evolved architecture of Kanheri. Moreover, we found monolithic tools which were prevalent in the 1st century BC. The absence of water cisterns also indicate that monks lived there in the monsoon,“ said Pandit. Pandit said the seven new caves were not an accidental discovery , but rather the result of a systematic survey of the area. Before beginning actual field work, the team carried out documentary research for three months, which included a study of the area's topography and water resources as most viharas were constructed close to a water source. The Kanheri Caves, which date between 1st century BCE and 10th century CE, are famous for their water management and rain water harvesting systems.This helped to zero in on areas where they were most likely to find caves.

The team also referred to Pali texts, which describe caves around Rajgir in Bihar as viharas (residences) of Buddhist monks. The team expected to find similar viharas, either natural or manmade, around Kanheri.They also studied 150-yearold reports of the ASI to understand how to conduct the exploration. “The reports narrate the discovery of pot shreds and microlithic tools, and we decided to look for these,“ said Pandit.]

With permission from the forest department to explore the park for new caves, the team, accompanied by two forest guards, began ground exploration towards the end of February in 2015.