While Delhi flaunts monuments from the Islamic period that can be over 500 years old, Mumbai does not talk much about monuments around it that are over 1,500 years old.

For example, one of the oldest images on Indra is found in the Bhaja Caves on the old Mumbai-Pune highway. This is the first time we see how ancient Indians visualised Indra. This image is about 2,200 years old and shows him seated on an elephant with his consort by his side, who is probably Sachi. In the Vedas, Indra is associated with Indrani but is visualised on a horse-pulled chariot. There are no images of this period. The idea of him riding an elephant comes in later periods, in Puranic Hinduism and in early Buddhist scriptures. These caves are clearly Buddhist in nature and here we find for the first time, Indra riding Airavat, a common motif in later art.

Some of the earliest images showing the story of Shiva from the Shiva Purana, is again found in the Elephanta caves, just a boat ride off South Bombay. It is about 1,500 years old, built by, probably the Kalachuri kings. Here we find Shiva visualised as Shivalinga, Shiva with multiple heads (Trimurti), Shiva as Yogeshwara, Shiva as Nataraja, Shiva getting married, Ardhanareshwar, Shiva's family being troubled by Ravana, and Gangadhar Shiva catching Ganga on his head. This is the first elaborate visual depiction of Shiva for the world. The earlier ones, on Indo-Greek coins made 500 years earlier, are not so elaborate.