Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves are two groups of caves that contain Hindu and Buddhist rock art architecture. The reliefs and sculptures in the caves has been dated to between the 5th or 6th and 8th centuries. The Hindu caves are dedicated to the god Shiva. These were regular Hindu places of worship, and during the festival of Shiva still continue to be so.

The caves are hewn from solid basalt rock. All caves were painted in the past, but only traces remain.

The caves are located on the Elephanta Island in the Mumbai harbour. The Portuguese named the island "Elephanta Island" in honour of a huge rock-cut black stone statue of an elephant that was then installed on a mound on the island. That elephant now sits in the Jijamata Udyaan zoo in Mumbai.

Year	Decision	Comments
1987	Inscribed	Reasons for inscription

Reviews

Ranjit Sarkar (USA):
Simply gorgeous! Words are not enough to describe the work of the sculptors in the 7th century. The Trimurthi statue,in my opinion,is the best. Satyam, Sivam, Sundaram!!

Date posted: November 2012

Gopala Krishna (India):
The Elephanta caves are a wonderful link to our past. We caught a boat from Belapur to the caves. A toy train is available to take us close to the caves. Unfortunately most of the tall statues were destroyed and only a few are still standing. However the famous caves are still worth a visit. There were lots of monkeys too.

Date posted: March 2012

Ian Cade (England):

First things first; the enormous carvings in the first cave really are impressive, and rank alongside the very best at Ellora/ Ajanta. However I have to say this was perhaps my biggest disappointment on my little South Asian jaunt. Aside from the impressive first cave there is really nothing else of note. The other five or six caves at the site are all devoid of decoration and some look little more than natural caves, apparently the soft stone made it difficult to carve lasting art works.
Cave 1 really is impressive and even on its own justifies the inscription on the World heritage list. I was hugely impressed by the Trimurti, a massive depiction of Shiva with three heads. The size of the other sculptures really was remarkable as well. But that was about it. I walked off in anticipation of seeing more sculptures but saw nothing but empty caves. After about 15 minutes I turned back and spent some more time in the main cave, then headed home.
This was the only site where I had trouble getting the free entry that was granted by it being Indian World Heritage week, but the attendants did eventually relent for me, but carried on charging everyone else despite the large signs saying otherwise.

The caves are on an island in Mumbai harbour and it was a nice trip out there, it take about an hour each way and boats leave from the Gateway of India. This meant I got to pay homage to my earliest travel hero, Michael Palin, by arriving at the gate from the sea.
It made a nice half day trip away from the hustle of Mumbai, and I would say it was worthwhile; however I was disappointed by the limited nature of the site.
[Site 5: Experience 3]

Date posted: November 2010

stewart ayu (canada):
Elephanta caves was a pleasant excursion near Bombay. There were monkeys and a Shiva Lingam

Date posted: September 2010

Steve (USA):
I moved with my family to India in 1951. One of the first excursion I remember was a trip to these caves. Awe inspiring, grand and simple at the same time. That trip I also had my first Indian sweets on the boat! Wow. Lucky enough to go back many times. Indian history and culture has been so unappreciated for the incredible civilization it was/is. - thanks for this site

Date posted: April 2009

Christer Sundberg (Sweden):

If you have overloaded your senses and need to get out of Mumbai for a day, a slow cruise to the Elephanta Island and the Elephanta Caves is exactly what you need.

Some 9 km north of the Gate of India, in the Sea of Oman, the Elephanta Island and its caves are the premier tourist attraction of Mumbai. The 50-minute cruise takes you from one world to another. Suddenly the air is fresh and the sound of the bustling city is far away.

Little is known about the origin of the Elephanta Caves but they are thought to have been created between 450 and 750 AD when the island was known as Gharapuri (Place of Caves). The Portuguese renamed the island Elephanta because of a large stone elephant near the shore. The statue collapsed in 1814 and the British then moved it to the mainland.

The Elephanta Caves consist of one main cave and several smaller. In the main there is a number of large sculpted panels, all relating to Shiva. Some of the rock surfaces are finely finished whereas some are unfinished bare rock. In the main cave there is an enormous central bust of Shiva with its eyes closed in eternal contemplation.

Elephanta is certainly worth a visit but foremost its a nice escape from Mumbai for half a day. Compared to the Ajanta and Ellora caves, that I later visited they tend to fall down slightly in rank.

():
Elephanta caves is a beautiful island situated near Mumbai. The sculptures present in these caves talk a lot about Indian heritage, religion etc. Being an indian myself, am taken by surprise by the grandeur of art that Indian sculptors produced. The good time to return back from elephanta to Mumbai is during the evening so that you can enjoy the sunset and the silhoutte of Mumbai brightened by the setting sun.

Theodore Cantrell (USA):
I was fortunate to experience Elephanta in 1959. I was a sonarman on a US Navy
destroyer.Age 19. It was an experience that that was most memorable. Something
I wish all could enjoy.

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