Green Mumbai: A Forest, Buddhist Caves and a Lake
A national park with leopards, 2,000-year-old caves, and a lakeside evening, all inside the city
- Duration
- 1 day
- Theme
- Nature
- Budget
- About 1,500 rupees a head including tickets, transport and lunch
- Best for
- Walkers, Families with older children, Anyone who has done south Mumbai
Mumbai has a 100 square kilometre forest inside its municipal boundary, with leopards in it, and a set of rock-cut Buddhist caves carved between the first century BCE and the tenth century CE. Almost no visitor sees either. This is a day out of the traffic: a morning in the park and at Kanheri, lunch in a planned township that is genuinely pleasant to walk around, and an evening beside a reservoir the British built in the 1890s. Start early; the park is best before the heat.
The plan
Into Sanjay Gandhi National Park: Sanjay Gandhi National Park & Kanheri Caves
Be at the Borivali gate when it opens. The first hours are the coolest, the quietest and the best for birds. The park is a genuine forest with leopards in it, which is worth remembering on the trails.
Kanheri Caves
More than a hundred rock-cut Buddhist caves on a basalt hillside, cut over roughly a thousand years: monastic cells, water cisterns, assembly halls, and a standing Buddha at the main chaitya. Climb to the top for the view back over the forest.
Lunch in Hiranandani Gardens: The Sassy Spoon Powai
Cross to Powai and eat in the township, which is one of the few parts of Mumbai laid out for walking. Sassy Spoon is a comfortable lunch after a morning of climbing.
Powai Lake promenade: Powai Lake
An 1890s reservoir with a walkable edge, high-rises on one side and forest on the other. There are crocodiles in it, and signs that say so, which people assume are decorative. They are not.
Coffee by the water: Lake View Cafe
Finish slowly at a lakeside table before the evening traffic builds. From here you are close to the airport if you are flying out, and about an hour from town if you are not.
Before you go
- Go on a weekday if you can. The park fills up at weekends and the shuttle queues get long.
- Kanheri is 7 km inside the gate. Take the shuttle bus or hire a bicycle at the entrance rather than walking it.
- Carry water and cover your shoulders and knees; the caves are a monastic site and the sun is unforgiving.
- Monkeys at Kanheri will take food and bottles out of an open bag. Keep it zipped.
- The caves are closed on Mondays, so do not build a Monday around this.