SALSETTE CAVES
19.216700,72.916700
Description
Several modified natural temple caves and numerous man-made rock temples ("cave" temples used for religious purposes) and troglodyte dwellings excavated from volcanic breccia (note 1) are situated at Salsette (note 2): –>Ambowlee, –>Jogeshwari (Joygheseer), –>Kanheri (Kanneri, Kanara, Canara, Cannara), –>Maghatan (Poinsar), –>Mandapeshwar, –>Padan, and –>Poinsar (see: Maghatan). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1806 Not seen: »In this irregular excavation are left two dhagopes, or solid masses of stone, bearing the form of a cupola [note 3].« (SALT 1819: 44-47). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1826: »The cave of Elephanta is not the only subterranean temple of the Hindus, exhibiting on a large scale the effects of human labour. In the isle of Salsette, in the same vicinity, is a pagoda of a similar kind, and but little inferior to it in any remarkable circumstance.« (MILLS 1826.II.viii note 2). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1851: »You may, it is true, attempt to get up a little romance about "fairy caves" of Salsette and Elephanta … But you'll fail« (BURTON, H 1851 edited 2001: 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1882: »Bombay Province … Salsette Island (Shatshashthi), stretching N. from head of Bombay harbour 16 m. [26 km] to Bassein inlet, with an area of 150 sq. m. [388.5 square km], long a favourite settlement of the Portuguese, and peculiarly rich in rock-temples, the most famous of which are the 109 Boodhist caves of Kanheri, 6 m. [10 km] W. of Thana, exavated in volcanic breccia which rises to 1550 ft [472 m]. The other groups of caves are at Marol to S. and at Magathana, Mandapeswar (Montpezor), and Jogeswari, in N.W. Their age ranges from before the Christian era to the end of the 9th century A.D.« (SMITH, G 1882: 258). ICONOGRAPHICAL SOURCE: DANIELL (1799, nos. III, IV) gives colour engravings.
NOTE 1: Salsette, now a suburb of Bombay (renamed Mumbai), was formerly an island (N18°53': E072°47' to N19°19': E073°03') connected with Bombay Island by a bridge and a causeway. NOTE 2: »While the islands of Carinja [Karanja N19°52': E072°57'], Elephanta [N18°57'49”: E072°56'], and Trombay [N19°02': E072°54'] belong almost in totality to the great trappean beds of Western India, Salsette [N19°12': E072°54'], so far as my investigation extends, only contains traces of them here and there, where they have become embedded in the volcanic breccia which forms the great mountainous district of the island, culminating at one point to 1551 feet [472.74 m asl] above the level of the sea. This great mass of detrital matter, descending gradually in mountainous masses from the point just mentioned (close to which are situated the famous Buddhist cave-temples of Kanheri) extends nearly all over the island [of Salsette], ending in huge spurs, which abut upon the channel that separates the island from the mainland on its northern side, and in low hills, which, with the intervention of the small channel between Salsette and Bombay, are continuous on the south with the volcanic breccia of the latter, -- a distance of sixteen miles [26 km] N. and S., which is about the length of Salsette in this direction …« (CARTER 1861: 171). The volcanic breccia »contains small tracts of blue trap (new and old?) here and there, which is more or less hard, tough, and brown, indicating that it has been more or less exposed to heat; and in the northern part of the island [of Salsette], where it borders upon the channel, it contains large masses of sedientary starta in a chertified state … For the most part, this breccia presents a ferrugineous red colour, but in some parts it is brown, yellow, grey, or blue. All the groups of cave-temples, that are scattered about the islad, have been excavated in it, on account of the facility with which it yields to the chisel« (CARTER 1861: 171). NOTE 3: SALT (1819): Unknown title.- Transactions of the Literary Society (Bombay), vol. 1 : 47, quoted after: YULE & BURNELL (1886 edited 1903: 291).
Documents
Bibliography 15/05/2016Histoire
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1806: SALT (1819: ±47) visited (YULE & BURNELL 1886 / 1903: 291).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 02 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 03 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 05 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 12 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 19 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 29 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 36 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 37 | ||
| 0.0 | KANHERI CAVE 38 |