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Introduction The vast diversity of Mumbai could be seen from these places like the Kanheri Caves, Mumbai . The Kanheri caves are located in the north of Borivili, which is in the northern Mumbai. This caves are on the outskirts of Mumbai. Precisely located on the deep lush green forests of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the Kanheri cave keeps its story intact within the darkness of the caves. Actually the name Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit word Krishnagiri, which generally means Black in color. The specialty of these caves is that these caves were chiseled out of a massive Balsatic rock outcropping. These caves are extremely old and also these caves have links to the Buddhist religion. It speaks volumes of our historical past. The Brightness Inside These caves are supposed to date back to the period 1 st century B.C. to the 9 th Century A.D. The earliest rocks were the 109 tiny rock-cut cells. Unlike the Elephanta Caves these caves are bare. It is not crowded with trees and bushes. Each of these caves has a stone plinth for a bed. There is a congregation hall, which has huge stone pillars. These stone pillars contain the stupa, which is a Buddhist shrine. Farther up the hill you will find the remains of an ancient water system, canals and cisterns that collected and channeled the rainwater into huge tanks. Most of the caves were the Buddhist viharas that was meant for living, study and meditation. The caves that were quite larger in size were Chaityas, which meant those halls, which were used for congregational worship. These caves are lined with intricately carved Buddhist Sculptures, reliefs and pillars. They also contain rock-cut Stupas for congregational worship. In this caves Avalokiyeshwara is the most distinctive figure. There has a total of one hundred inscriptions that has been found which were carved in Brahmi, Devnagri, Pallavi and Sanskrit . Kanheri was also supposed to be a university in the period of when the Mauryas and the Kushanas ruled. Kanheri Caves, Mumbai has preserved its very long. And this intriguing past of it's attracts most of the people from outside.
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