When I travel to foreign cities I am drawn to the archaeological museums and sites, as well as to the art museums.  It is part of my nature, as I went to University when I was younger, and now I myself am a painter.  What intrigues about archaeology, is the visual evidence of history and culture.  This too may be said about my visits to the art museums and the galleries, to visually take in the cultures and the beliefs as they are interpreted by the artists.  I questioned the man at the front desk of my first stay at one of the four star hotels.  “Mumbai has so much to offer”, he said, and then he listed off a few places that he thought I may enjoy.

The two spots I chose, were the Mumbai-Bombay Kanheri Caves, and the Bhau Daji Lad Museum.  The caves are located in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park just about ten kilometers outside of the city of Borivali.  They are believed to have been used by the Buddhist Monks during the first century BC up through the ninth century AD.  The caves themselves were carved out by the monks, and most of them are sparsely adorned, however there is one cave that still has the remnants of a ceiling mural, Chaitya Cave, and this fascinated me to no end, archeology and art, commonly found in the same location, but breathtaking to see each and every time.  Sculptures of Buddha remain in the caves and surrounding them still.

Still reeling from my visit to the caves, the next day I took in the Museum.  The museum is named for the man, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad who spent is entire life taking care of it.  It is located within the grounds of the Victoria Gardens, and contains many different items, industrial and decorative, antique furniture, artificial boulders, sculpture and paintings.  The museum collection illustrates the history of many different regions of the country, not just of Mumbai.  The restoration has left this one magnificent building in and of itself, and for the next few days, weeks even, the history of India was forever on my mind.