The Coco Beach - where from the Grande Island trip commences
A video the start of the journey for Grand Island trip
After having enjoyed the trip to Dudhsagar falls, we were back to our
service apartment known as Treebo Zeebo in Arpora by late evening.Being dead tired from the trek and the ride, as
described in my earlier blog, we decided to have dinner at the complex
itself.Although the apartment has a tie
up with some local restaurant, who provides for food on order, we decided to
try the local in house cook known as Anna.We decided the dinner menu based on local Goanese cuisine and the cook
went to the market to personally purchase the ingredients required.My Son who does not partake either fish or
Sea food decided to try out the chicken preparation from the small road side
eatery run by a lady just across the road.To say the least, we were all just swept of our feet’s, by the sheer
taste and freshness of the food served and decided to have dinner at the
complex itself for the remaining days of our stay.After enjoying the hearty dinner, we had a
great night’s sleep, as the Grande Island trip was scheduled for the next day, was
to commence at late morning hours.The
next day, after having had the complimentary B’fast that was included in our
package at the apartment complex, we started for the Grande Island trip at
around 9.00 A.M, by the Tempo traveller that picked us up as the first guests
and later on the others and took us to the jetty at Coco Beach, wherefrom all
the boats ferrying passengers for Grande Island tour set sail.
The small shack just across the apartment in Arpora run by local lady
A plethora of birds near Coco beach
The inlet from Sea that leads to Coco Beach
A Lesser fish Eagle at Coco Beach
A copy of the pamphlet showing various trips organized in Goa
Copy of hind side of the Pamphlet depicting
Grande popularly known as the Grande Island or Bat Island is one of the
most sought after tour destination in Goa that has been especially designed
keeping in view the likes and dislikes of the younger generation. The only way
to reach Ilha Grande is by traversing the Sea on a sailing boat. The package
tour to the Island usually includes activities like snorkelling, scuba diving,
fishing and a scrumptious lunch at the Monkey Beach, where the aroma of the
barbeque fish is mouth-watering.After
the meal, one can also enjoy swimming in the sea.However, the tour no longer ferries
passengers to the Grande Island or Ilha Grande, as the same has been taken over
by the Indian Navy, which has a base there, but a few nautical miles away from
it.There are a plethora of tour
operators offering this package and the cost varies based on the facilities
being offered by the tour operators and I am enclosing one of the pamphlets
that are circulated to visitors.
The lighthouse atop Fort Auguda as seen from boat
The merchant's villa as seen from the boat
The panoramic view of Fort Auguda with the jail as seen from the boat
Another group of tourists on a trip
A Sea Gull in flight
The mechanized boat leaves a trail in the sea water
After a long wait at the Coco Beach, the boat ride commenced at around
11.00 A.M and after about 15 minutes of ride, the crew served some patties, but
as we had already had our B’fast in Hotel itself, we did not partake the
same.Thereafter, cold drinks were
served and also beer to all desirous of having the same, actually the number of
persons having beer outnumbered the cold drink fellas by one is to ten ratio.We spotted many of Sea Gulls following the
boat and we quickly found that they were in look out for some quick snacks and
the boatmen were throwing the patty pieces, which these birds were eagerly
snatching either in air or from the Sea.The other interesting part about this trip is that one gets a different
perspective all together of various landmarks of Goa, from the Sea i.e. Aguada
fort, merchant’s bungalow, central jail and a few beaches and big ships
stationed or moving in the mid sea.
A large Ocean liner docked
View of Monkey Beach from the boat
Just engrossed in the boat ride
Snorkeling in the sea
Other tour groups enjoying the activities
A fast Navy boat traverses across the Grande Island periphery
Video of snorkeling during the trip - shot by Mr.Deepak (tour operator)
Video of Scuba diving shot by professional divers during the trip
Having travelled for a good hour or so in the Sea, we first reached the
Monkey Island, where a few of the crew members de-boarded alongwith the tents
and cooking utensils etc. to arrange for the lunch.Also there being a small toilet complex, the
passengers were also allowed to disembark and use the utilities.After a break of about 15 minutes, we again
boarded the boat and headed towards the Bat Island, where the other activities
like swimming in the Arabian Sea, fishing, Snorkelling, scuba diving etc. takes
place and there were many boats anchored around and tourists therein too were
enjoying the activities.As the
unfettered supply of Beer had started taking its toll on many of the youngsters
and we had a verbal spat with a group of Engineering students who had come in
from Vellore Institute of Technology. This spat occurred, as the camera and
other equipment that were kept on the boat got drenched in sea water, as these
boys started jumping into the Sea from the roof of the boat and the splashed
Sea water, which almost drenched our equipment.As we were more on reserved side viz a viz a Tamilian family that was
enjoying the birthday of one of their family members and guzzling beer in
barrels and also other alcoholic hard drinks, were not within their selves but
at a boisterous high, we were quietly branded by them as the Angry Bird
family.After about two hours fun and
frolic, wherein I too got the Scuba diving and Snorkelling videos shot by the
crew members, we headed back to the Monkey Island.By the time we reached Monkey Island, the
tide had started surging and the crew was finding it difficult to put the
anchor and finally after much effort they could do it and then we had to wade
through waist high water to the island for having lunch.The lunch definitely was scrumptious with
non-vegetarian Goanese cuisine being the main course.Having had lunch and others enjoying a few
more rounds of beer alongwith with hard alcoholic drinks, especially the family
described hereinabove, the return journey commenced and my description of these
persons can be gauged from the video enclosed.
As the tide had begun rising - the crew found it difficult to anchor the boat at Monkey beach
Having lunch at the Monkey beach
The Grande Island trip is designed basically for the youngsters or
persons with happy go lucky attitude, but it is worth every penny spent and the
pictorial depiction and videos would do more justice to the description of the
trip viz a viz the written description of the same.However, the only downside of the trip is
that they offer Dolphin viewing, but that rarely happens, as it only by chance
that Dolphins can be spotted and not always.
Video of the return journey - check out details as indicated in the blog
The famed 'Gateway of India'& 'Taj Hotel' of Mumbai in one frame
We
had a full day to ourselves on the second day of visit to Mumbai, as for the
half day on our first day of our visit, we had explored visiting Mumbai, which is
detailed in my previous blog (titled ‘Visiting Mumba’).We had planned a visit to the famed Elephanta
Caves on the second day.I tried to
glean some information from the reception clerk of the Hotel regarding ferry
timings from the famed ‘Gateway of India’, but he did not have much information,
except for that the ferry ride starts at 10.00 A.M.Since I too could not gather much
information, I decided to start from the hotel at around 9.00 A.M.However, the late serving of B’fast, despite
my having instructed them on the previous day, delayed our scheduled visit by
about 20 minutes and we started only around 9.20 A.M.The weather was a bit sultry that day, but
when I reached the famed ‘Gateway of India’, I found that there was no dearth
of boats leaving for Elephanta Caves and there were a plethora of operators
offering return trips from as low as Rs.140/- per person onwards to average of Rs.200/-
per person, depending upon the size of the boat used for ferrying and the
service starts from around 9.00 A.M onwards.
The ferry boats at Gateway of India jetty ready to ferry passengers to Elephanta Caves
All set to embark on the journey to Elephanta Caves
As the Sea Gulls fly alongwith the ferry boat
Waiting for the train ride at Gharapuri island
Lovingly
called the City of dreams, Mumbai is the financial capital of the country and
is brimming with life 24X7.One of the
most famous monuments of Mumbai is the ‘Gateway of India’, which was built to
commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Many in 1924.The monument is a huge gate like structure
constructed in Indo-Saracenic architecture style, overlooking the Arabian Sea
and the Mumbai harbor and it took four years to complete this structure.The area is a sought after destination by
both domestic as well as foreign tourists visiting Mumbai and being set with
background of the famed Taj Hotel, a large number of instant photo makers will
converge on you to get a photograph taken with either of the structures as
background and do a brisk business.Besides this there are hordes of other vendors pedaling their wares
from balloons to food items, who will also bicker you to buy their
products.But the main thing that the
tourists must be aware of is that being an overcrowded location, especially the
ferry ticket counter area, it is infested with notorious pick pockets etc.,
therefore, visitors should be extra vigilant in this region.
As the climb for the Elephanta Caves begins
Since
the mechanized boats ferrying passengers to the Elephanta Cave start the
journey from the small jetty at the Gateway of India, there are a plethora of
boats of all sizes, shapes and colour jostling along the jetty, waiting for
their turn to pick up their load of passengers.The Elephanta Caves are situated about 11 Kms from the Gateway of India
on an island called Gharapuri, which is also called the ‘Island of the Caves’.The journey from the Gateway of India to the
island takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending upon the type of boat one
has purchased tickets for and from the jetty of the island, it is another 1.5
to 2 Kms. trek to the base of the hills, wherefrom about a 100 odd stairs take
you to the hill top.However, there is a
small train like contraption that ferries passengers from the jetty to the base
of the hillock and it’s ticket costs Rs.10/- for a return journey and during
the hot summer days it saves a person a lot of hard work and sweat, if one
chooses to travel by it.We immensely
enjoyed our ferry ride from the Gateway of India to the Island of Caves, with
the Sea Gulls flying around the sea breeze making the journey a pleasant &
memorable one.Occasional sighting of
huge tankers or other ships, including a cruise ship was an added bonus during
the trip through the Arabian Sea.
We finally reach the famed Elephanta Caves
The entry to Cave No.1
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (2)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (3)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (4)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (5)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (6)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (6)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (7)
Cave No.1 - The sculpture inside (8)
Historically,
the Elephanta caves date back to the 2nd Century B.C, wherein some
relics related to Buddhist culture have been discovered. The rock cut caves are attributed to medieval
India and are dated back to 450 to 750 A.D.
Being an important trade route, this island remained under control of
various Kings right from 400 AD and the rock hewn caves are attributed to have
been constructed during the reign of Pulakesin-II of the Chalukya dynasty of
Badami. The
most important amongst the caves is the great Cave 1, which measures 39 metres
from the front entrance to the back and the main body of the cave,
excluding the porticos on the three open sides and the back aisle, is 27 metres
square and is supported by rows of six columns each.The layout of
the caves, including the pillar components, the placement and division of the
caves into different parts, and the provision of a sanctum or Garbhagriha of
sarvatobhadra plan, are important developments in rock-cut architecture. The
Elephanta Caves emerged from a long artistic tradition and one will see some
of the highest watermarks of medieval India's sculptural art.
Cave No.2 - The entry to the cave
Cave No.2 - The sculpture inside (1)
Cave No.2 - The sculpture inside (2)
As we return back - the view of Gateway of India and Taj Hotel from the sea.
The
Cave number 1 is resplendent with various stone cut motifs and sculptures and
the chief amongst them is the 7-metre-high masterpiece
“Sadashiva” that dominates the
entrance to Cave. The sculpture represents three aspects of Shiva: the Creator,
the Preserver, and the Destroyer, identified, respectively, with Aghoraor Bhairava (left
half), Taptapurusha or Mahadeva (central full face),
and Vamadeva or Uma (right half). Representations
of Nataraja, Yogishvara, Andhakasuravadha, Ardhanarishwara,
Kalyanasundaramurti, Gangadharamurti, and Ravanaanugrahamurti are
the other forms that can be viewed in this gallery. The details of the sculptures or motifs in
Cave are detailed as follows –
Slaying of
Andhakasura : Depicting Shiva slaying a demon
called Andhaka. One of the most animated panels in Elephanta. Shiva is
represented with eight arms in this panel.
Kalyana
Sundara: The
more humanly theme of marriage depicted in this panel. Arguably, Parvathi is
portrayed superbly than Shiva in this panel, with her her head slightly tilted
towards him with a hint of coyness.
Shiva-Parvathi :
One of the highly damaged panels in Elephanta. This depicts Shiva and Parvathi
engaged in a game of dice. The divine couple tries to cheat each other in the
game as much as possible, though Shiva loses in all the games. Shiva loses
everything, the trident,moon, earrings, snake and even the loincloth. The
mythology is associated with a complex philosophy.
Nataraja : Nataraja,
literally translate as the king/lord of dance.
In mythology Shiva is
considered as the cosmic dancer, who performs his divine dance to destroy the
weary universe.
Ravana
Shaking Kailasa :
Ravana, unsuccessfully tries to lift Kailash, the adobe of Shiva. There are
popular mythical stories associated with the Demon king Ravana, the lord of
Lanka and Lord Shiva.
Mahayogi
Shiva : A rare posture of Shiva meditating on
a lotus. Considered as the aadiyogi ( or the first guru of
Yoga) by the Yoga tradition, Shiva is depicted as the original
master of yoga.
Gangadhara: The
story depicting Shiva bringing River Ganga to earth. The fall of the river is
so powerful that Shiva has to make it fall on his matted hair first, before it
further descends.
Mahesh Murthy: The three headed iconic image representing
three aspects of Shiva. The masterpiece image of Elephanta. It's debatable to
find a more spectacular sculptural expression created during or after the
medieval period in India.
Ardhanarishvara :
Probably the most mystical theme to narrate. Shiva and Parvathi as a single
body, depicting the complex philosophical theme of male-female energy of the
universe.
Here
is a short video of the travel to the Island and the caves
N.B - Some of the details have been browsed from the UNESCO website
