Our first World Heritage site in Maharashtra is also India's most recent site: the Victorian
Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai. Located in a large cluster around the Fort area of
downtown Mumbai, this beautiful group of 94 buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries
is a legacy of the British colonial period. Rich with cash from exports and other business,
the local government constructed enormous grand buildings to make the city of Bombay
world-renowned. And there's some incredible buildings here! Particular highlights of the
Victorian Gothic style include the Bombay High Court, the University of Mumbai, the
City Civil and Sessions building, and the incredible Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway
station (which is also a separate World Heritage site).
Many of the early 20th century Art Deco buildings are residential and not open to the public,
but many of them still look out onto the famous Oval Maidan cricket grounds, and are an integral
part of modern Mumbai.
Next up we have Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, or CST, a rare example of two World Heritage
sites in the same building! It's the main train station in Mumbai (and indeed, the main
station in western India!). It took ten years to build and was opened in 1887 to celebrate
Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and until 1999 the station was still known as Victoria
Terminus. The building is a supreme example of Victorian Gothic architecture, and is partly
based on St Pancras railway station in London. The attention to detail here is just marvellous,
with beautiful domes, arches, statues and turrets, both inside and out. There's also
a magnificent entry gate loaded with symbolism, crowned by a British lion and an Indian tiger.
Located on an island in the middle of Mumbai harbour, just a short boat ride from the iconic
Gateway of India, stands Elephanta Caves. This world heritage site covers five man-made
caves dug directly into the side of the mountain. These caves are dedicated to the worship of
Shiva, one of the main Hindu gods, and they're a spectacular sight to behold. The main cave
here is immense - roughly square shaped, 40 metres on each side, and nearly 10 metres
tall. The walls are all covered in carvings depicting the stories of Shiva, done with
exquisite detail.
But the real highlight here is the Trimurti, a six metre tall relief sculpture of a three-headed
Shiva. This incredible artwork depicts the three personifications of Shiva: Brahma the
creator, Vishnu the protector, and Aghora the destroyer. During our month in India we
saw a lot of Hindu artwork, and this was definitely one of the most impressive.
Next up in Maharashtra is the incredible Ajanta Caves, a group of approximately 30 man-made
caves, the oldest of which date back to around the second century BC. Entirely dedicated
to Buddha, the caves contain a mixture of temples, shrines, and monasteries, all located
in a single cliff face above the curve of a river. It's a truly spectacular sight, and
the cave interiors are really something special. Intricate carvings, relief statues, sculptures,
rock art, and even a few painting fragments decorate the insides. It's a really fantastic
place to spend an entire day, wandering around and exploring each of the caves thoroughly,
as they're all really different and really interesting.
Our final stop in Maharashtra is another set of religious caves: Ellora Caves. This is
an enormous set of man-made caves (well over a hundred), and mostly date from the 5th to
the 10th centuries. What's really interesting here is that the caves aren't dedicated to
a single religion - the site contains Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, and Jain temples as
well. The size, the artwork, the precision, and the detail are all amazing, but the true
highlight here is Cave 16.
This cave, dedicated to Shiva, is absolutely enormous and carved out of a single rock.
Every surface is covered in detailed carvings, with pillars, arcades, reliefs, and even a
heavily decorated roof as well. It's a real marvel of architecture, and leaves you astonished
at the skill of the builders who designed and created it.