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These are Buddhist caves or monasteries where monks practiced
their austerities around the first century AD. And unlike
the artistic extravagance of Elephanta, they are spartan
and bare. Situated in the heart of Mumbai's National Park,
the complex contains more than a hundred tiny cells cut
into the flank of a hill, each fitted with a stone plinth
that evidently served as a bed. There is also a congregation
hall supported by huge stone pillars that contains the
dagoba, a kind of Buddhist shrine. And if you pick your
way up the hill you will find channels and cisterns that
are remnants of an ancient water system that channeled
rainwater into huge urns. In fact, Kanheri is probably
the only clue to the rise and fall of Buddhism in Western
India.
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