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Elephanta Caves, Title: TRIP TO ELEPHANTA
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Declared as the World Heritage Site, Elephanta caves are situated on Elephanta Island in Mumbai harbor. The island located in Arabian Sea has two groups of caves. One of these caves are dedicated to Hindu sect Shaiva and second the smaller one is dedicated to Buddhism. The rock cut architecture of the caves has been dated to between the 5th and 8th centuries. The caves were designated as World heritage site by UNESCO in 1987.
Although the identity of the creators of the architecturial masterpieces built in Elephant Caves is disputed, it is believed that the Chalukyas and later Rashtrakutas are the creators among many others.
Elephanta was ruled by another Chalukyan dynasty, and then by Gujarat Sultanate, who surrendered it to the Portuguese in 1534. By then, Elephanta was called Gharapuri, which indicates a hill settlement.
The island of Elephants is 1.5 miles in length with two hills rising to a height of about 500 ft. A deep ravine cuts through the heart of the island from north to south. On the west, the hill rises gently from the sea and stretches east across the ravine and rises gradually to the extreme east to a height of 568 ft.
The two hills of the island, the western and the eastern, have five rock-cut caves in the western part and a brick stupa on the eastern hill on its top, composed of two caves with few rock-cut cisterns.
The island has two groups of caves in the rock cut architectural style. Five caves situated on the western hills of the Island are devoted to the Hindu sect Shaiva and various Hindu sculptures are chiseled in these caves. Famous sculptures of Hindu caves are Ravana holding up the Kailash, Shiva-Parvati on Kailash, Ardhanarishvara, Trimurti, Wedding of Shiva, Linga, Nataraja, Kartikeya, Yogishvara, and Matrikas .
In the second group of caves, various Buddhist architectures can be spotted depicting numerous pictures of Gautam Buddha and several sculptures from Buddhist literature, Jatak Kathayein.
Although, a numbers of caves have been ruined during the Portuguese period and several damaged by various means, Elephant Caves still presents a rich heritage of ancient history to the tourist. More and more people visit Elephanta Caves to witness the Architectural masterpieces preserved in the caves of Elephanta.
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So near.....but yet too far.
Ankur,Mumbai Review date: 8th December 2011
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Overview of the destination
A beautiful monument from the history stands smiling at you just an hour away from the Gate Way of Mumbai........Stone structures....awesome views...a..
Food, sight-seeing and shopping
You can shop there for hours...but you need to have an excellent bargaining tactics or you might have a big hole in your pocket at the end of the day...
Activities & things to do
You can go the caves....clime the mountain and go near the Old war ammunition kept as monuments....Or just chil below one of the trees....and spend ho..
Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc
You can reach Church gate station and from there you can wither walk or take a taxi to Gate Way of India. From Gate Way of India there are ferries who..
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Ask Ankur
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Not a great trip!!
Chintu,Mumbai Review date: 12th May 2009
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Elephanta Caves is an over-rated tourist destination 1hr away from Mumbai by a ferry which you need to take from the Gateway Of India. They charge Rs...
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Ask Chintu
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Elephanta Caves is located on Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbour. The island is situated in Arabian Sea and has a length of 1.5 miles. While one group of the caves is dedicated to Shaiva sect of Hinduism, the other group of caves is dedicated to Buddhism. The rock-cut architecture of the caves dates back to the period between 5th to 8th centuries. In 1987, the UNESCO designated the Elephanta Caves as a World Heritage Site.
Elephanta Caves is situated on the top of a hillock shaped island, which is reached by a climb up to a steep street. A long flight of sharp stone steps follow the climb and leads to the entrance of the caves. Besides the two caves at the entrance, the other caves are small and still to be developed.
The Cannon Hill is situated at the top of the island which houses old cannon. It is believed, that the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas are the main creators of this architectural masterpiece. In spite of the fact, that a number of caves on the Elephanta Island are ruined and damaged over the ages, the rich heritage of ancient history can still be witnessed.
The island comprises two hills of about 500 feet. The hill rises gently from the sea on the west and stretches east across the ravine to rise gradually to the extreme east to a height of 568 ft. From north to south, a deep ravine cuts through the heart of the island. The western hill comprises five rock-cut caves and the eastern hill comprises two caves with few rock-cut cisterns and a brick stupa.
The caves situated on the western hills are devoted to Shaiva, the Hindu sect. Various Hindu sculptures are chiselled in these caves. Some of the famous sculptures are ‘Shiva-Parvathi on Kailash’, ‘Ravana holding up the Kailash’, ‘Wedding of Shiva’, ‘Ardhanarishvara’, ‘Linga’, ‘Kartikeya’, ‘Trimurti’, ‘Nataraja’, ‘Matrikas’ and ‘Yogishvara’. The caves located on the eastern hills comprise various Buddhist architectures that depict numerous sculptures from Buddhist literature, Jatak Kathayein and several pictures of Gautam Buddha.
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