While exploring island city of Mumbai I was totally unaware of the historic hidden treasure of the city in the form of ancient caves. It is a real pleasure to explore these Buddhist and Hindu caves that dates back to more than thousand years. I personally feel that this sort of ancient treasure must be conserved and protected from any sort of harm from modern times. Through this article I am taking you to the magnificent Mahakali Caves which were originally Kondivita Caves but later the name has been changed to Mahakali Caves. The Mahakali Caves are located at the middle of Borivali National Park and Aarey Milk Colony in Andheri East in Mumbai in the Western part of country. You may be surprised to know that these caves situated at an altitude of 70 m dates back to two thousand years and are Buddhist caves.These caves were built somewhere between first century BCE and sixth century CE. During that period these solid rock cut caves served as Buddhist Monasteries. The caves were carved in the basalt rocks of Udaygiri Hills. The total number of caves carved here are nineteen. There are total twenty entrances to the caves. Among these nineteen caves in the main cave you can see the grand Stupa and the images of Lord Buddha. It is one of the most visited places by Archaeologists, art lovers as well as tourists.These spectacular monuments can be divided into two sections.One section consists of four caves in the North West direction while the other section consists of fifteen caves in the South East direction. As earlier I said that these caves served as Buddhist monasteries, thus most of the caves were used as Viharas and chambers to live by Buddhist monks. Among these caves the cave number 9 which comes in the second group of caves situated in the South east direction is a Chaitya. This is the biggest cave in the entire caves and houses seven illustrations on Lord Buddha along with various figures of Buddha but most of them are now in ruins.The south eastern caves were created before the North Western caves as they date back to 4th and 5th century. These caves not only houses stupa and Lord Buddha images but also reservoirs built in solid rocks and some other ruins of rock structures. Due to lack of attention from government as well as irresponsible behaviour of citizens have lead to the poor condition of these historic treasure. Some restoration work and efforts of Archaeology department has infused life in the caves but if strict measures are not taken then we can’t expect our next generation to see these wonderful monuments. The connecting road of Mahakali Caves to Andheri Kurla Road is given name Mahakali Caves Road.AccessibilityIt is quite easy to reach here as the location is quite convenient and can be reached easily by sate run buses, taxi or by auto rickshaw.RUCHI MAHAJANзайм на карту без отказов круглосуточновзять кредит онлайн