general information
The Kondivita Buddhist Cave Monastery (also known as Mahakali) is located north of downtown Mumbai, not far from the southern tip of Sanjaya Gandhi National Park.
Traditionally, the monastery has always been called "Kondivita" after the name of the nearby village.
The name "Mahakali" (quite common in India for Shaiva sanctuaries, which translates as "Great Kali" - one of the hypostases of Shiva's wife) appeared much later: probably during the decline of Buddhism in India and the "Hinduization" of Buddhist temples and monasteries.
In modern Indian sources, they often write that the cave monastery got its name from a Hindu temple located not far away (a little to the northwest - see map).
In British colonial sources, another, probably more reliable version is given: the origin of the name Mahakali is due to the fact that the famous and unique Buddhist cave N 9 with a stupa inside after the decline of Buddhism in India was turned into a Shaivite sanctuary, in which the stupa acted as a lingam established by the Pandava brothers (heroes of the Mahabharata) during their wanderings.
In total, there are 19 caves in the Kondivita cave monastery, carved into a gentle rock ridge made of volcanic breccia (of the type of basalt with large disseminations) and having a length of about two hundred meters: 15 on the southeast side and 4 on the northwest.
Promotional video:
The earliest caves (in the southeast) date back to the 1st century BC, the latest (in the northwest) to the 5-6th century AD.
The cave monastery of Kondivita was, like many other Buddhist monasteries of those times, on the trade route between inland India and the ports of the Arabian Sea.
Like the rest of the "urban" cave monasteries and temples of Mumbai (Jogeshwari, Kanheri and Mandapeshwar), Kondivita went from complete oblivion and desolation to its recognition (as a result of the actions of non-governmental organizations at the beginning of the 21st century) a national treasure and the beginning of practical activities ASI and the authorities to restore it.
In recent years, a large amount of restoration work has been carried out on the caves themselves, and the entire territory has been forever cleared of camps of migrants and criminals, fenced off and somehow guarded (although not long ago it was simply not recommended to visit Condivita without appropriate accompaniment).
Nevertheless, at the moment everything that surrounds the caves looks rather unsightly in general: it is pretty neglected, and in some places it is heavily littered and dirty. In addition, the facility is in the process of permanent, unhurried Indian renovation. Probably, the cave monastery will acquire the final appearance of a historical monument suitable for visiting by tourists no earlier than in a couple of years.
Caves of Condivita
Parking and the entrance to the territory are located on the south side of the rock ridge. There are no ticket offices and no one collects money for entry.
Probably because the monastery is located away from residential buildings, some dubious people are hanging around on the site next to the entrance and impudent boys are poking around. It looks like everything is relatively safe, but I would refrain from visiting this place alone and at dusk.
The reason for the uncontrolled entrance to the territory of the monastery was immediately revealed: the object is still under renovation and is not ready to receive tourists, in particular, during our visit, the territory was being arranged in full Indian progress - the leveling of a wide area in front of the caves with soil (red clay).
We arrived at a rather unfortunate time: the rain had just died down all day with interruptions, the clay turned into a sticky mess and it was possible to pass, and even then not everywhere, it was only possible along narrow, also soggy, but at least less sticky paths.
Perhaps for this reason, the builders who looked like tramps peacefully slept on their rags in the caves (apparently this was their permanent home during the renovation), and the foreman - a solid man with a bamboo stick, in ironed trousers and a white shirt - stood pensively surrounded by his retinue under a tree at the opposite end of the site by the fence.
Our arrival caused a commotion and a commotion began.
At first, seeing us, the foreman with an imperious hand sent his assistants to raise the people sleeping in the caves and hand them wheelbarrows and baskets. Then, out of nowhere, a rather screwy local drunk appeared (the first and last one we saw in India), and, grimacing and clowning, began to help drive sleepy workers out of the caves, and then climbed to fraternize with us.
The man was in a courage and no exhortations acted on him, so the foreman acted wisely and sternly: with a sharp shout he called the violator of the order to him and a couple of times impressed him so much with a bamboo stick (he beat somehow so skillfully on the thigh) that he instantly went where disappeared.
In Kondivite, the caves are located in groups. The first three caves of the southeastern group (N 1, N 2 and N3), which are located immediately to the left after the entrance, are viharas (living quarters with cells for monks). They are in fairly good condition and are interestingly arranged: a common courtyard, the central cave is higher, and the two outer ones are lower. Fortunately for us, the area in front of them has not yet been covered with clay.
A staircase already made in our time leads to the courtyard in front of the caves. To the left of the stairs leading to the veranda of the central cave, there is an underground cistern carved into the rock for collecting rainwater.
The fourth cave - an unremarkable small vihara - is famous for the rock relief of a seven-headed cobra carved to the right of the entrance. An underground stone cistern is located next to the bas-relief.
Caves N5 and N6 are two small dilapidated viharas.
Caves N7 and N8 (on the left in the photo) are also a pair of poorly preserved viharas, located to the left of the main object of the complex - the ancient Buddhist chaitya-griha temple in cave N9 (on the right in the photo).
In ancient India, chaitya-griha (Skt.) Was a hall of general assembly of believers in which a sacred object of worship was installed.
In modern European sources, especially in previous years, instead of the term "chaitya-griha", the abbreviated term "chaitya" is most often used (this has been the custom since colonial times). In English-language Indian articles and books on early Buddhist architecture, only the full name is always used - "chaitya-grha".
In ancient times, the word "chaitya" (caitya - Skt., Cetiya - Pali) meant a hill built over the sacred remains after the ritual of cremation and by its origin is associated with the word "chiti" - a funeral pyre.
In early Buddhism, this word was used to designate any objects and places associated with the worship of the memory of Buddha Gautama (reservoirs, trees, stones, etc.), but later the word "chaitya" began to be used only as the name of a specific type of sacred Buddhist structures - stupas with relics.
The meaning of the word "grha" (griha - Skt.) Is simple - it means "home", "dwelling", "abode".
To the right of the ninth cave is cave N 10 - another dilapidated vihara.
The cave N 9 itself, in contrast to the other caves of the monastery, which are intended for the residence of monks, is one of the earliest Buddhist cave temples (chaitya-grihoi) and dates back to the 1st century BC.
In plan, it consists of three rooms: a now destroyed narrow veranda with columns, a rectangular spacious hall, on the right wall of which a bas-relief with a Buddha and bodhisattvas was carved in later times, and a circular sanctuary with a monolithic stupa in the center.
The room with the stupa is almost round and, repeating the inner contour, its front wall overlooking the hall is made the same round. Inside the sanctuary, around the stupa, there is a narrow (about 0.8 m) roundabout.
In addition to Kondivita, among the cave temples of India, this unique circular layout with a convex outer wall is found only twice more among the cave temples of India: in the ancient Ajivik caves Lomas Rishi and Sudama in Barabar.
Also noteworthy is another architectural solution, rare for those times: perfectly preserved stone lattices on the windows of the front wall.
The poorly preserved bas-relief on the right side wall of the veranda is from the Mahayana period and probably dates from the 5th-6th centuries AD.
On the main part of the bas-relief, on the left, Buddha Gautama is depicted sitting in a "royal" pose, surrounded by bodhisattvas, and on the right is the bodhisattva of mercy and compassion Avalokiteshvara (Padmapani).
The eleventh cave is a small vihara with a veranda and living quarters.
Caves N12 and N13 are located in pairs and are probably the deepest in Condivite, because in front of the rear rooms they have double verandas or, better to say, verandas with a hall (i.e. the space consists of three, not two rooms).
Cave 12 is heavily destroyed, only the ornament with the Vedic (sacred fence) motif on the pediment of the back room is well preserved.
Cave No. 13 inside is very well preserved, according to a number of signs it is dated no earlier than the 5-6th centuries AD. and possibly cut down at the site of an older vihara.
Towards the last caves, the height of the rock ridge drops and the rock gradually goes underground.
The last two caves on the southeastern side (N14 and N15) are not remarkable in any way, besides, cave N 14 is rather poorly preserved.
Having reached the end of the southeastern side, I tried to go around the rocky ridge from the north (my wife, seeing the condition of the path, immediately abandoned this idea), but almost immediately turned back, finding thirty meters later the beginning of the dump and a latrine, probably arranged by the builders.
(In the photo below, in the foreground, you can see an abandoned rain tank carved into the rock).
This was the end of the inspection of the Kondivity caves. It was decided to postpone the northwest side until better times, and we returned to the car (when the driver saw our shoes, he immediately prudently covered the floor in the car with newspapers).
There are several more paths through the rocky ridge to the north-west side.
One of them starts in front of the first caves. But when we were just entering the territory of Kondivita, kind Indian children showed us a decent-sized snake, sticking its head out of a crevice next to the path and looking at everyone passing by with an unblinking gaze. For this reason, my wife did not even begin to discuss the possibility of walking to the north-western caves through the rock, and I did not dare to leave her alone in a dubious place, and the last caves fell away by themselves.