Elephanta Caves

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Situated 10 km away from Gateway of India, Mumbai, Elephanta Caves is the major tourist attractions located near the 'Commercial Capital of India', which is basically comprise of rock cut temples. The name of the caves has been kept after Elephanta Island on which they are positioned. The island in turn was named so by the Portuguese, after the huge elephant statue that stands grandly near its landing area of the island.

Elephanta Caves have been established to date back to as far back as the 5th century A.D. These caves have been wonderfully decorated with Lord Shiva sculptureS, to whom they are dedicated. They were carved out of a rock, leading to the making of the columns, the internal spaces and the images. The rock surfaces of the caves comprise of both extremely elegant ones as well as raw and bare rock ones. If you gaze watchfully at the Elephant Caves, they come across as a enormous sculpture, which has corridors and chambers for people to walk through.

Spread over an area of about 60,000 sq ft, the cave temples comprises of an enormous main chamber. Besides that, there are two small chambers, few patios and a number of minor shrines. Visitors can enter to the Elephanta Caves of Maharashtra from three sides. Of these, the eastern and western entrances serve as the axis of the temple, lining which is a 20 pillared hall. On the way to the western end of the caves, one can find the crypt that in which the Shivalingam has been enshrined.

When visitors enter to Elephanta Caves through the end of the north axis, they come across the wonderful image of Trimurthi Sadasiva, the Sadasiva manifestation of Lord Shiva. The huge statue is 20 feet high and portrays the Lord in His three-headed form. The central facade portrays the kind Lord Shiva, as the 'Preserver of the Universe' (Lord Vishnu). The right one portrays the womanly side of Lord Shiva, as the 'Inventor of the Universe' (Lord Brahma). The left one portrays the aggravated side of Lord Shiva as the 'Destructive force of the Universe' (Aghora Bhairava).