We only had one day in Mumbai and had to be back on board by 6pm. So, we set ourselves a tight schedule of a long morning's visit to Elephanta Island and John had organised for us a private city tour of Mumbai for which we had to be back by 2pm whether or not we had had lunch.
Clodagh opted out of the boat trip to Elephanta and the rest of us set off at 8am first for a short bus ride to the Gateway of India, erected to mark the visit in 1911 of George V, with Queen Mary, to be crowned as Emperor of India.
Next to the gateway is the famous The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which was the scene of a bloody terrorist attack in 2008 - we were in fact there on the sixth anniversary and were told that security measures had been stepped up for it.
We took a boat from here for the hour long crossing to Elephanta Island and had a good view from the harbour of the Gateway and the Hotel. Our guide, Rajiv, reminded us that the Hotel had been built by a Parsee industrialist, J N Tata, after he had been refused entry to a nearby 'European' hotel, because he was Indian. The Taj has become prosperous, while the other hotel, Watsons, closed decades ago.
Our trip to Elephanta was for visiting the caves, which were some way from where we left the boat and up high. There was a small, train shuttle for the first flat part, but the service was slow and most of us walked.
The second part of the walk was up a long flight of steps, with market stalls on either side selling tourist tat, leading up to the entrance to the caves.
At the entrance, Rajiv told us about the caves, which were carved out of one piece of basalt rock as a temple to the Hindu God, Shiva.
Their much debated date varies from 6th to 8th C according to different specialists.
The main cave is universally famous for its carvings to the glory of Shiva.
The cave and everything in it was carved out of the rock from the top down. The interior is divided up into smaller areas by supports. The whole shape carefully imitates a building with false beams carved in the roof and with the supports combining the shapes of pillars, columns and capitals found in bonded stone architecture.
There are numerous artistic carvings made out of the walls of the cave.
Here one of the 5m high gatekeepers to the shrine of Shiva.
The three headed Shiva is shown here as creator, protector and destroyer.
Here Rajiv points to the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.
The carvings are regarded as one of the most striking examples of rock-art in India and the caves have been designated a World Heritage Site.
On our way back from the caves, down to our ferry, we encountered a couple of the monkeys who inhabit the island.
Then back to Mumbai and Minerva for a speedy lunch ready for our afternoon tour of the City.
Robert Cole
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