These black basalt rock caves are situated in Mumbai’s eastern suburb of Andheri (near the overtly crowded and concretized JVLR route that connects Jogeshwari to Vikhroli, an everyday course for many IT professionals working in SEEPZ.) Although they are called Mahakali Caves, these are actually Buddhist creations. They were earlier called Kondivite caves named after the adjoining village Kondivite (Andheri residents will recall the famous Kondivita Road, home to modern-day interpretations of caves including trade centers and commercial plazas.)
Carved sometime between second century BC and the fifth century BC, Mahakali caves are an assortment of 16 large and four small caves and 20 entrances (though most tourist leaflets mention 19 caves). It is believed that the caves were used by monks for both meditation and as Viharas (monastery). The highly evocative mythological representations, Pali language inscriptions, rock cut cisterns and extensive ruins all speak volumes about their Buddhist origins. Cave four houses a serpent with seven heads. Cave nine, the oldest, has a circular Chaitya Gruh (prayer hall) and sculptural reliefs of Buddha and Bodhisattva deities. The grand Stupa (hemispherical structure containing relics) resembles a Shiv lingam and was hence mistaken for Mahakal and named Mahakali.
The place is blessed with as many as 22 reservoirs with subsurface water that is currently used for the upkeep of the gardens. A tour round the place will reveal the tell-tale signs of many a cell, shrine, verandah, courtyard, as also a staged platform for teacher-student discourses. The rock of these caves is of the volcanic Breccia type. Not being preservation-friendly, it has posed a formidable challenge before the Archaeological Survey of India to maintain the structure and its vicinity.
The co-existence of Buddhist and Shaivite traditions was a staple feature of the given era as can be gauged from the blend of caves in close proximity. Jogeshwari, the suburb adjoining Andheri, is home to the Jogeshwari Caves dedicated to the Hindu deity of Jogeshwari dating back to 520 to 550 CE. The growing Hindu hold and influence over the Mahakali Caves can also be traced to the meteoric rise of Shaivism from the 6th century onwards.