Elephanta Island & Caves

Times of IndiaGuidepal.com/SIGHTSEEING IN MUMBAI/ Updated : May 21, 2015, 17:29 IST

Elephanta Island & Caves

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Even if you've just come from Varanasi or Hampi and feel a little temple'd out, this ancient cave temple system is well worth a visit. Vastly different from your average Hindu worship house, the UNESCO site features a maze of temp … Read more

A network of ancient temples just a stone's throw from the city

Word to the wise: If you're not big on stairs, you can pay a few extra rupees to be carried up to the caves entrance on a chair, maharaja-style.

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Noteworthy for: Elephanta Island is also known as "Gharapuri Island" (place of caves).

Even if you've just come from Varanasi or Hampi and feel a little temple'd out, this ancient cave temple system is well worth a visit. Vastly different from your average Hindu worship house, the UNESCO site features a maze of temples carved into sleepy Elephanta Island's basalt rock. The temples were created sometime between the fifth and eighth centuries, but historians are still stumped as to who was responsible.

Following an hour-long boat ride from the Gateway of India in Colaba, the cave entrance is reached by ascending a large flight of mossy stairs - skip the toytrain ferrying visitors the few hundred metres from the dock to the staircase. Resting under huge pillars, the main temple houses an impressive, 18ft Shiva statue representing Triumurti, or the Hindu trinity. Other statues and carvings refer to various events in Hindu mythology.

The Portuguese destroyed part of the caves while using them for target practice, but most remain intact.

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