Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves occupy a wooded island in Mumbai Harbour that the Portuguese renamed after a colossal stone elephant found near its southern shore, now displayed at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. Carved between roughly the mid-fifth and eighth centuries, most likely under Kalachuri patronage, the complex comprises five Hindu caves and a smaller group of Buddhist excavations. The principal Cave One is a pillared hall around 39 metres across, cut directly into the basalt hillside and organised around a free-standing linga shrine and a series of monumental relief panels depicting the myths of Shiva: the marriage to Parvati, the descent of the Ganges, the destruction of Andhaka, Shiva as the cosmic dancer Nataraja, and the ascetic Yogishvara. The defining work is the Trimurti Sadashiva, a nearly six-metre bust of three faces representing creation, protection and destruction, whose serene central visage has become one of the emblems of Indian art. Portuguese occupation from the sixteenth century left considerable damage, with soldiers reportedly using the sculptures for target practice, yet the surviving carving retains extraordinary power. UNESCO inscribed the caves in 1987. Reaching them requires an hour-long ferry from the Gateway of India, a short toy-train ride or walk along the jetty, and a climb of about 120 steps lined with souvenir stalls and resident macaques. The island is closed on Mondays and ferry services stop during the monsoon.