Mangi Tungi Hills – It Has Lots Of Caves As There Are Few Hills Only In India

MANGI-TUNGI HILLS

AT

NASHIK

Twin hills of Mangi-Tungi are situated in the picturesque Selbari range of Western Ghat, famous for medieval Jaina caves and icons carved on the rock face. These hills are the highest in Nashik district; Mangi reaching up to a height of 1,326 meters and Tungi up to 1,323 meters.

The hills are connected by a narrow ridge and the most interesting facet of the hills is their peculiar shapes. Conical-shaped, both these peaks have completely bare and perpendicular surfaces, which is what makes them so distinct. But apart from the hills in themselves, the site is visited by tourists around the year for the Jaina caves and hundreds of Jaina icons carved on the rock face of the peaks.

These caves and icons are believed to have been cut over a long period during the 9th to 15th century CE. The exploration of the caves begins with the two Jaina caves at a height of around 150 meters on the southern face of Mangi hill. These have about 80 icons.

Climbing up the hill, you reach the base of the Mangi peak, surrounding which are five caves and around 135 icons carved directly on the rock face. Crossing the narrow ridge between the peaks, you reach the base of Tungi peak, which has two caves and eight icons on the rock face. The caves per se are not as architecturally decorative as caves found elsewhere but the many icons will hold you spellbound. The walls are covered with rock-cut icons of Jaina deities and there also are large panels of scenes drawn from ancient legends.

Further from the caves, a climb up to the peaks takes you to caves which are simple rooms with crude pillars, built in some cases for supporting the roof. The icons inside the caves and on the rock face mainly consist of rows and rows of Jina figures along with a large number of figures of monks and some devotees.

There is a very narrow and precarious path around these peaks that one needs to follow to see the icons on the rock face but there’s nothing to fear since a parapet wall has been constructed for safety. The ideal time to see the caves is at the break of dawn when the first rays of sun light up the icons. Also, the view from the top is magnificent with the ranges of Western Ghats and rivers Mosam and Panjra flowing nearby.

This place is very old consists of two hills Mangi & Tungi are two cliffs of a single mountain these are named after two sisters Mangi and Tungi. Mangi is at a height of 4343 feet and Tungi is 4366 feet above the sea level. We can find 6 caves on the Mangi hill and 2 caves on Tungi hill.

The nearby forts of Kanchanpur and Mulher and the village of Mulher are of historical significance. Till Vikram year 1822, in this village which was a city, there lived hundreds of Jain householder families and the city was rich and prosperous. It is said that once upon a time, the local king as well as all his subjects were following Jain religion.

At the base of the mountain , now there are a total of three temples, two of Sri Parshvanath Bhagwan and one of Sri Adhinath Bhagwan. The place is a veritable treasure trove of ancient art. It would be difficult to describe this place in words.

The ancient artistic Jain idols of Tirthankars and saints together with exquisitely carved images of gods and goddess in dancing moods and postures of a great variety which are found here in caves are rarely to be seen anywhere else. From place to place here inscriptions are found in Sanskrit as well as Magadhi languages.

The best way to reach Mangi-Tungi is by road via Nashik, Satana and Taharabad. The nearest highway is State Highway 7. There are regular bus services from Taharabad to Mangi-Tungi.