Sanjay Gandhi National Park

About Sanjay Gandhi National Park:

• It is located in the state of Maharashtra which was formerly known as Borivali National Park.
• The 2400-year-old Kanheri caves are sculpted out of the rocky cliff which lies within the park.
• Flora: Kadamba, Teak, Karanj, Shisham, and species of acacia, Ziziphus, euphorbias etc are found in this National Park.
• Fauna: Chital, Rhesus macaque, Bonnet macaque, Black-naped, Bengal Tiger etc. 

Key facts about the Kanheri caves

• The Kanheri Caves are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, western outskirts of Mumbai.
• The Kanheri caves comprise more than 110 different rock-cut monolithic excavations and are one of the largest single excavations in the country.
• These excavations were primarily undertaken during the Hinayana phase of Buddhism but also have several examples of the Mahayana stylistic architecture as well as a few printings of the Vajrayana order.
• The name Kanheri is derived from ‘Kanhagiri’ in Prakrit and occurs in the Nasik inscription of the Satavahana ruler Vasisthiputra Pulumavi.
• They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century CE to the 10th century CE.
• The earliest reference to Kanheri is ascribed to Fa-Hein who visited India during 399-411 CE.

Q1) What is Vajrayana?

Vajrayana is a form of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in northern India around the 5th century CE, took root in Tibet in the 7th and 8th centuries, and then spread across the Himalayan region. It is widely known as Tibetan Buddhism though tantric Buddhism is also found in Japan, in the Shingon and Tendai traditions.
  
Source: Four tiger cubs were born in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park after 13 years

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