Elephanta Caves are mystical caves located on the Gharapuri island near Mumbai. These caves are declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a very beautiful place for a quick getaway from Mumbai. In this post know how to reach there and what to see.

Quick details about the Elephanta caves

• Best time to visit: Winters would be the best time. The sea is choppy in the monsoon and it is too hot in the summers.
• Timings: The Elephanta caves are open on all days except Mondays.
• Accessibility: Accessible to wheelchairs and elderly people by the use of Palanquins or Doli.
• Food, snacks and Washrooms: Available near the caves.

How to reach Elephanta caves

The best way to reach the Elephanta Caves is via Mumbai city. When you reach Mumbai take a train to the Churchgate railway station. Then you should head to the gateway of India. It is a 20-30 minute walk from the railway station. You can walk along the scenic and famous marine drive. If you don’t want to walk then take a bus or a taxi cab. I just enjoyed my walk along the marine drive road.

Gateway of India

After reaching the Gateway of India, you will first admire the Taj hotels both old and new. Opposite to them is the vast expanse of the Arabian sea. Spend some time looking at the arch of Gateway of India and then walk towards the jetty. Here you will find the boats that will ferry you to the Elephanta caves.

Elephanta Caves Ferry

You can find ferries from the Gateway of India every half an hour. They operate from 9 am to 2 pm. You can buy the ferry tickets on the spot before boarding the boat. The ferry ride through these waters is very scenic. These waters are full of seagulls, which follow the boats in hopes of receiving titbits from the passengers. Someone from our boat started dropping some snacks and soon we had a flock of seagulls following us through the Arabian sea. The birds are so intelligent that they catch the snacks from our hands. A second before you were holding a Kurkure or Balaji snack and a second later it’s gone. Puff! I didn’t know when one hour was over. I suddenly saw the Gharapuri island looming up in the distance. It was full of trees and greenery. I could make out a small jetty in the distance.

Gharapuri Island

You can easily see the Gharapuri island from the jetty at Gateway of India on a clear day. This island has mountains, a forest with a lot of vegetation and a few villages too. The name Gharapuri literally translates to ‘the city of caves.’ The island has a total of 11 caves. The main occupation of the people living here is tourism and fishing.

After you get down from the ferry, a toy train takes you inside the Gharapuri island. You can enjoy the train ride or just take a long walk to the islands. The toy train is very cheap anyway. Either way you can hear the sea relentlessly crashing against the rocks on the island.

Shopping and souvenirs

As I came closer to the Gharapuri islands I could see a great shopping area. There are several vendors who sit here on the stairs that lead up to the caves. You can shop here for amazing souvenirs, but make sure you bargain. This area now is full of nasty monkeys. So you must be aware. They have a habit of stealing food and grabbing at tourists’ bags.

The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta caves get their name from the life-sized Elephant that stood here. It was carved from a single stone. Then the Britishers arrived and had a stupid idea to cut this elephant and take it away to their country. They couldn’t do it, but it was now broken into several pieces. The reassembled Elephant statue now stands in the Jijamata Udyan in Mumbai.

As I made my way to the caves I was amazed by the scale and grandeur of these caves as soon as I walked in. So much of the inside is mutilated and defaced, which is a shame. But the caves still look beautiful and it is easy to understand the meaning behind these massive sculptures. The place left me visualizing how the caves must be live with activity in ancient times.

The half-finished cave here can give you a good idea of how the work in progress looks like. Two caves on the eastern part of the island are not very frequented by tourists. The caves have been built in such a way that the main cave and the surrounding caves form a mandala or a pattern. The perfection of this pattern is really admirable. The main cave had huge pillars carved out of stone, The floors are mostly flat, and the designs are quite symmetrical.

When and who built these caves?

Some historians and scholars believe that these caves were built in the 5th and 6th century. Another hypothesis links these caves to the Ellora caves in Aurangabad which are from the 7th century. Some caves have Buddhist Stupas as well as depict the Hindu god Shiva. This shows that these caves were first occupied by Buddhists and later by Hindu Brahmins.

The Story of Elephanta caves

Most of the caves here depict the Hindu God ‘Shiva.’ Shiva is the God in Hindu mythology who has a lot of talents. But he is also very innocent and sometimes gets very angry. There are various forms and states or Roopa’s of him. The ‘Shiva Linga’ in Hindu temples also represents Shiva. He is the Lord of dance and the Yogi of all the yogis. He marries Parvati who wins him after a lot of tapas ie. some rigorous spiritual and yogic exercises. These caves encompass Lord Shiva in all his forms or states.

The Lost History of Elephanta caves

The following forms of Shiva can be found inside the caves of Gharapuri islands. The size and scale of these scupltures is very huge. And they depict several stories from the Hindu mythology.

• Trimurti: The Trimurti depicts the three faces of Lord Shiva, representing three aspects ‘creation, protection and destruction.’
• Gangadhara: The Gangadhara is on the left of Trimurti. This sculpture depicts the story of how Shiva brought the mighty river Ganga to earth.
• Ardhanarishvara: This is a sculpture that depicts the interdependence of feminine and masculine aspects in life. Here, the Shiva idol is feminine on the right side (Parvati) and masculine on the left (Shiva).
• Shiva slaying Andhaka: Shiva slaying Andhaka depicts God’s angry side. The expression on the face here is really ferocious.
• Wedding of Shiva: As mentioned earlier, Parvati who was totally in love with Shiva, wins him. They both then marry and according to the mythical tales, Parvati stabilizes Shiva by cooling him down when he is angry.
• Yogishvara: Shiva is the Lord of Yoga. He performs the most rigorous yoga and spiritual exercises. They are so rigorous that we humans cannot perform these tapas or exercises.
• Nataraja: Shiva is the Lord of Dance. In mythology, he dances when he is angry. Such a dance is called ‘Tandav Nrutya’, a dance which will destroy the universe.
• Mount Kailash and Ravana: This sculpture depicts the legend when the demon King Ravana wanted to lift up Mount Kailash, the residence of Shiva and Parvati.
• The Linga Shrine: Inside the main cave in the centre is this cell and inside the shrine is the ‘Shiva Linga.’

FAQs about Elephanta caves

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