View source for Elephanta Caves

{{short description|Collection of cave temples in Maharashtra, India}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| image = Elephanta Caves Trimurti.jpg
| caption = The {{convert|7|m|ft}} high Trimurti sculpture
| Location = [[Elephanta Island]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| Criteria = Cultural: i, iii
| ID = 244
| Year = 1987
| coordinates = {{coord|18|57|48|N|72|55|53|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline, title}}
| locmapin = #Mumbai
| map_caption = Location of Elephanta Caves
|WHS=}}

The '''Elephanta Caves''' form a collection of cave [[temple]]s predominantly dedicated to the [[Hindu]] god [[Shiva]]; [[UNESCO]] has designated them as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{Cite web |last =Centre |first =UNESCO World Heritage |title =Elephanta Caves |url =https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/244/ |access-date =30 March 2023 |website =UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language =en}}</ref><ref name="historic_places" /><ref name="berkson3">{{cite book |author1 =Carmel Berkson |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |title =Elephanta: The Cave of Śiva |author2 =Wendy Doniger |author3 =George Michell |publisher =Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass) | edition = reprint |year =1999 |isbn =978-81-208-1284-0 |pages =3–5}}</ref> They are located on [[Elephanta Island]], or ''Gharapuri'' (literally meaning "the city of caves"),<ref name="EB1911"/> in [[Mumbai Harbour]], {{convert|10|km|mi}} east of [[Mumbai]] in the [[States of India|Indian state]] of [[Maharashtra]]. The island, about {{convert|2|km}} west of the [[Jawaharlal Nehru Port]], features five [[Hinduism|Hindu]] caves, a few [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[stupa]] mounds that date back to the 2nd century BCE,<ref name="archive.org">{{cite book |last1 =Dhavalikar |first1 =M. K. (Madhukar Keshav) |title =Elephanta |date =2007 |publisher =Archaeological Survey of India |page =75 |isbn =9788190486606 |url =https://archive.org/stream/elephanta00dhav#page/74 |quote =There are remains of a brick built Buddhist stupa nearby which may belong to circa second century BC. Around it are seven smaller stupas, which may be votive.}}</ref><ref name=britelephanta>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Elephanta-Island Elephanta Island], Encyclopedia Britannica</ref><ref name=geo/> and two Buddhist caves with water tanks.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Sacred Places">{{cite book |last1 =Brockman |first1 =Norbert |title =Encyclopedia of Sacred Places |date =2011 |publisher =ABC-CLIO |isbn =9781598846546 |page =153 |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=JkSk4euA-TEC&pg=PA153 |language =en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1 =Brunn |first1 =Stanley D. |title =The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics |date =2015 |publisher =Springer |isbn =9789401793766 |page =514 |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=CGh-BgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

The Elephanta Caves contain [[rock cut architecture|rock-cut]] stone sculptures, mostly in high [[relief]], that show syncretism of Hindu—Buddhist ideas and iconography.<ref name=geo/><ref name=unesco>{{Cite web |url =https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/244.pdf |title =Elephanta Caves |access-date=10 February 2010 |publisher =Unesco}}</ref><ref name=list>{{Cite web |url =https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/244 |title =Elephanta Caves |access-date=10 February 2010 |publisher =Works Heritage: Unesco.org}}</ref> The caves are hewn from solid [[basalt]] rock. Apart from a few exceptions, much of the artwork has been defaced and damaged.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p443"/> The main temple's orientation as well as the relative location of other temples form a [[mandala]] pattern.<ref name=britelephanta /> The carvings narrate [[Hindu legends]], with the large monolithic {{convert|5.45|m}} [[Trimurti]] [[Sadasiva | Sadashiva]] (three-faced Shiva), [[Nataraja]] (Lord of the dance) and [[Yogeshvara | Yogishvara]] (Lord of Yogis) being the most celebrated.<ref name=britelephanta/><ref>{{cite book |author1 =Constance Jones |author2 =James D. Ryan |title =Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA148 |year =2006 |publisher =Infobase |isbn =978-0-8160-7564-5 |pages =148–149}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author =Stella Kramrisch |title =The Presence of Siva |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA443 |year =1988 |publisher =Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=443–459}}</ref>

These date to between the 5th and 9th centuries CE, and scholars attribute them to various Hindu dynasties.<ref name="historic_places">{{cite book |author1 =Trudy Ring |author2 =Robert M. Salkin |author3 =Sharon La Boda |title =International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |publisher =Taylor & Francis |pages =252–5 |chapter =Elephanta Island |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC |isbn =978-1-884964-04-6 |year =1994}}</ref><ref name=britelephanta/> They are most commonly placed between the 5th and 7th centuries. Many scholars consider them to have been completed by about 550 CE.<ref name="berkson3"/><ref name="Michell2002"/><ref name="Spink2005p182">{{cite book |author =Walter M. Spink |title =Ajanta: The end of the Golden Age |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Fjgq2OivwmkC |year =2005 |publisher =BRILL Academic |isbn =90-04-14832-9 |pages =182–183}}</ref>

They were named ''Elefante''—which morphed to "Elephanta"—by the [[Portuguese India|colonial Portuguese]] who found elephant statues in the caves. The Portuguese established a base on the island. The main cave (Cave 1, or the Great Cave) was a Hindu place of worship until the Portuguese arrived, whereupon the island ceased to be an active place of worship.<ref name=britelephanta/> The earliest attempts to prevent further damage to the caves were started by [[British Raj | British India]] officials in 1909.<ref name=collins25/> The Indian government restored the  monuments in the 1970s.<ref name=britelephanta/> {{As of | 2025}} the site is maintained by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI).<ref name=unesco/>{{failed verification|date=October 2025}}<ref>
{{Cite web
|url =https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/244
|title =Elephanta Caves
|year = 2025
|access-date= 5 October 2025
|publisher =Works Heritage: Unesco.org
|quote = The property is protected primarily by the Archaeological Survey of India, which also undertakes the management of the Elephanta Caves with the assistance of other departments [...].
}}
</ref>

==Geography==
{{multiple image
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| image1 = Elephanta 1.jpg
| width1 = 200
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| image2 = Cave of Elephants 1905.jpg
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| footer = A sketch of the Elephanta Caves in 19th and early 20th century. The broken pillars seen in the right image were restored in the 1970s.
}}
[[Elephanta Island]], or Gharapuri, is about {{convert|11|km|abbr=on}} east of the [[Gateway of India]] in the [[Mumbai]] Harbour, and less than {{convert|2|km|abbr=on}} west of the [[Jawaharlal Nehru Port]]. The island covers about {{convert|10|km2|abbr=on}} at high tide, and about {{convert|16|km2|abbr=on}} at low tide. The island has volcanic origins and was formed during an eruptive sequence of the [[Deccan Traps]] volcanic province during the [[Maastrichtian|latest Cretaceous]] or [[Danian|earliest Paleocene]] (66 to 65 million years ago).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Samant |first1=Hrishikesh |last2=Patel |first2=Vanit |last3=Pande |first3=Kanchan |last4=Sheth |first4=Hetu |last5=Jagadeesan |first5=K. C. |date=15 July 2019 |title=40Ar/39Ar dating of tholeiitic flows and dykes of Elephanta Island, Panvel flexure zone, western Deccan Traps: A five-million-year record of magmatism preceding India-Laxmi Ridge-Seychelles breakup |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0377027319302021 |journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |volume=379 |pages=12–22 |doi=10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2019.05.004 |issn=0377-0273|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Gharapuri is a small village on the south side of the island.<ref name=geo>{{cite web |url=http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLABA/places_Elephanta.html |author=James Burgess (some additions by Indraji) |title=Elephanta |access-date=11 February 2010 |publisher=Gazetter Government of Maharashtra |year=1872  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091125210514/http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLABA/places_Elephanta.html |archive-date=25 November 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Elephanta Caves are connected by ferry services from the [[Gateway of India]], [[Mumbai]], between 9AM and 2PM daily, except Monday, when the Caves are closed. Mumbai has a major domestic and international airport, as well as being connected to the Indian Railways.<ref>[http://elephanta.co.in/ferry-to-elephanta Elephanta Caves: Apolla Bandar – Gateway of India], Maharashtra</ref>
 
The island is {{convert|2.4|km|abbr=on}} in length with two hills that rise to a height of about {{convert|150|m|abbr=on}}. A narrow, deep ravine separates the two hills and runs 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 {{convert|173|m|abbr=on}}. Forest growth with clusters of mango, tamarind, and [[Millettia pinnata|karanj]] trees cover the hills with scattered palm trees. The foreshore is made up of sand and mud with mangrove bushes on the fringe. Landing quays sit near three small hamlets known as Set Bunder in the north-west, Mora Bunder in the northeast, and Gharapuri or Raj Bunder in the south.<ref name=geo/> 

There are five rock-cut caves in the western hill and a brick stupa on the eastern hill. The eastern hill has two Buddhist mounds and is called the Stupa hill. Close to the five western hill caves, are Cave 6 and 7 on the eastern hill. The most visited and significant cave is on the western hill and is called Cave 1 or the Great Cave, located about a kilometre walk up a steep graded uphill.<ref name=unesco/><ref>{{cite book |author=Sharon La Boda |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JqHPpNaZfNwC |year=1994 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-884964-04-6 |page=254}}</ref> The Elephanta island is a protected monument area as per the requirements of UNESCO. A notification was issued by the Government of India in 1985 declaring a buffer zone that outlines "a prohibited area" that stretches {{convert|1|km|mi}} from the shoreline.<ref name=state>{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/periodicreporting/apa/cycle01/section2/244-summary.pdf |title=UNESCO State of Conservation Report: India, Elephanta Caves |year=2003 |publisher=World Heritage: unesco.org|access-date=10 February 2010}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Map of Elephanta Island.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Overview of Elephanta Caves site]]
The island has two groups of rock-cut caves, hewn from solid basalt rock. The larger group of caves, which consists of five caves on the western hill of the island, is well known for its Hindu sculptures. The primary cave, numbered as Cave 1, is about {{convert|1.0|km|abbr=on}} up a hillside, facing the Mumbai harbour. Caves 2 through 5 are next to Cave 1 further southeast, arranged in a row. Cave 6 and 7 are about {{convert|200|m|abbr=on}} northeast of Cave 1 and 2, but geologically on the edge of the eastern hill.<ref name=unesco/>

The two hills are connected by a walkway. The eastern hill is also called the Stupa hill, while the western hill is called the Canon hill, reflecting their historic colonial-era names, the ancient Stupa and the Portuguese era firing Canons they host respectively.<ref name = "historic_places"/>

All the caves are rock-cut temples that together have an area of {{convert|5600|m2|abbr=on}}.  At their most elaborate, they have a main chamber, two lateral chambers, courtyards, and subsidiary shrines, but not all are so fully developed.  Cave 1 is the largest and is {{convert|39|m|ft}} deep from the front entrance to the back. The temple complex is primarily the abode of [[Shiva]], depicted in widely celebrated carvings which narrate legends and theologies of [[Shaivism]].<ref name=unesco/><ref name=state/> However, the artwork reverentially displays themes from [[Shaktism]] and [[Vaishnavism]] traditions of Hinduism as well.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=10–13, 46, 64}}</ref><ref name="Collins1988x">{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C&pg=PR9 |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=x item 31, 98–99}}, Quote: "31. Elephanta, Standing Vishnu with attendants (damaged)"</ref>

===Cave 1: Main, Great Cave===
The main cave, also called Cave 1, Grand Cave or the Great Cave, is {{convert|39.63|m|ft}} square in plan with a hall ([[mandapa]]).<ref name="Kramrisch1988p443"/> The basic plan of the cave can be traced back to the plan of the ancient Buddhist [[vihara]]s, consisting of a square court surrounded by cells, built from about 500 to 600 years before in India.<ref name="Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva">{{cite book |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |date=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120812840 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC&pg=PA5 |language=en}}</ref> The Cave has several entrances, the main entrance is unassumingly small and hides the grand hall inside. The main entrance faces north, while two side entrances face east and west. The cave's main entrance is aligned with the north–south axis, unusual for a Shiva shrine (normally east–west).<ref name=unesco/><ref name=state/><ref name = "historic_places"/> However, inside is an integrated square plan Linga shrine (''garbha-griya'') that is aligned east–west, opening to the sunrise.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p443"/>

{{multiple image
| align = left
| image1 = Elephanta Map.svg
| width1 = 400
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| image2 = 6th century Cave 1 temple Elephanta island Mandala Mumbai harbor.svg
| width2 = 419
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Elephanta main cave plan. The 6th century temple follows a mandala design, according to George Michell.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=17–21}}</ref>
}}
{{clear}}
[[File:Shiva linga in elephanta cave in west side.jpg|thumb|Shiva linga in Elephanta Cave at west side]]
'''Layout''': 
{{Div col}}

1. Ravananugraha<br />
2. Shiva-Parvati, Mount Kailash<br />
3. Ardhanarishvara<br />
4. Sadashiva Trimurti<br />
5. Gangadhara

6. Wedding of Shiva<br />
7. Shiva slaying Andhaka<br />
8. Nataraja<br />
9. Yogishvara<br />
16. Linga

'''East Wing Shrine'''<br />
10. Kartikeya<br />
11. Matrikas<br />
12. Ganesha<br />
13. Dvarapala

'''West Wing Shrine'''<br />
14. Yogishvara<br />
15. Nataraja

{{Div col end}}
To reach the main cave, a visitor or pilgrim has to walk up 120 steep steps from the ticket counter, which can be reached from the pier/beach by walking on a footpath or by taking the tourist toy train. At the main entrance are four pillars, with three open porticoes and an aisle at the back. Pillars, six in each row, divide the hall into a series of smaller chambers. The roof of the hall has concealed beams supported by stone columns joined together by capitals.<ref name=state/><ref name = "historic_places"/>

{{multiple image
 |direction = vertical
 |align = left
 |width = 200
 |image1=Elephanta Caves in Maharashtra.JPG
 |image2=Elephanta Caves Panorama.jpg
 |image3=Elephanta Caves, India.jpg
 |caption1=Main entrance, Cave 1
 |caption2=Side entrance
 |caption3=Main mandapa and pillars
}}
The temple is enclosed in the cave, it has interior walls but no exterior wall. The pillars create space and symmetric rhythm as they support the weight of the hill above. The main mandapa recesses into a pillared vestibule (''ardha-mandapa'') on the south side, while a pillared portico (''mukha-mandapa'') connects it to the main entrance. Embedded within the Great Cave are dedicated shrines, the largest of which is the square plan Linga shrine (see 16 in plan).<ref name="Kramrisch1988p443"/> It is a square ''garbha-griya'' (womb house) with four entrances, located in the right section of the main hall. Steps lead from the four doorways into the sanctum, which has a linga in the ''mulavigraha'' style. Each doorway is guarded by a ''dvarapala'' on each side, for a total of eight dvarapalas, their heights spanning floor to the ceiling.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p444"/> These were badly damaged when the Portuguese ceded control of this region to the British. The linga shrine is surrounded by a mandapa and circumambulation path (''pradakshina-patha'') as in other [[Hindu temple]]s. The pillars are similarly aligned east–west to this shrine and have an east entrance. Overlaid, as if fused, on the architecture of this temple is another open temple aligned to the north–south direction with three faced Sadashiva as its focal centre. One features the abstract, unmanifest, aniconic symbol of Shiva, the other anthropomorphic, manifest, iconic symbol of Shiva. The mandapa pillars of the two align up.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p444">{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA444 |year=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=444–445}}</ref>

The northern entrance to the cave is flanked by two panels of Shiva dated to the [[Gupta period]], both damaged. The left panel depicts [[Yogeshvara|Yogishvara]] (Shiva as the Lord of [[Yoga]]) and the right shows [[Nataraja]] (Shiva as the Lord of Dance).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=32–36}}</ref> The Sadashiva is flanked by two large friezes, one of [[Ardhanarishvara]] and the other of [[Gangadhara]].<ref name="Kramrisch1988p450"/> The walls of the mandapa feature other Shaivism legends. All the friezes, states [[Stella Kramrisch]], feature the ''{{Proper name|vyaktavyakta}}'' concept of [[Samkhya]], where the state of spiritual existence transitions between the unmanifest-manifest, the figures leap out of the cave walls towards the spectator as if trying to greet the narrative. Even the manifested Sadashiva is shown to be rising out of the rocks.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p450">{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA450 |year=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=450–451}}</ref>

Each wall has large carvings of Shiva-related legends, each more than {{convert|5|m|ft}} in height. The central Shiva relief ''Trimurti'' is located on the south wall opposite the main entrance. Also called the Sadashiva, it is the iconic form of a ''pancamukha linga'' is set in a mandala pattern with the abstract linga form of Shiva.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p445"/> The Sadashiva is a colossal carving, a bit over {{convert|6.27|m}}, depicting Tatpurusha (Mahadeva), Aghora (Bhairava), Vamadeva (Uma) and Sadyojata (Nandin).<ref name="Kramrisch1988p445"/> The carving is unusual because the standard ancient Hindu texts for [[murti]] design state that the Tatpursha should face east, but in Elephanta it is the north face (pointing towards the main entrance).<ref name="Kramrisch1988p445">{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA445 |year=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=445–447}}</ref>

Smaller shrines are located at the east and west ends of the caves. The eastern sanctuary serves as a ceremonial entrance, and its shrine shows iconography of [[Shaktism]] tradition.<ref name=state/><ref name = "historic_places"/>

====Sadashiva: Trimurti====
[[File:Trimurti, Cave No. 1, Elephanta Caves - 1.jpg|thumb|[[Trimurti]] Shiva flanked by the ''[[Dvarapala|dvarapalas]]'']]
The Trimurti is considered a masterpiece and the most important sculpture in the caves.<ref name="JonesRyan2006p148"/> It is carved in relief on the south wall of the cave facing the north entrance, along the north–south axis. It is also known as ''Sadashiva'' and ''Maheshmurti''. The image, {{convert|7|m|abbr=on}} in height, depicts a three-headed Shiva, representing [[Sadasiva|Panchamukha Shiva]].<ref name = "info">[[:File:Elephanta info.jpg]]: Maharashtra Tourism plaque at the caves</ref>

The three heads represent three essential aspects of Shiva: creation, protection, and destruction.<ref name=berksonxiv/> As per another version, the three heads symbolise compassion and wisdom.<ref>{{cite book |title=Medieval India the study of a civilization |first=Irfan |last=Habib |page=49 |publisher=National Book Trust, India |isbn=978-81-237-5255-6 |year=2007}}</ref> The right half-face (west face) shows him holding a lotus bud, depicting the promise of life and creativity. This face is symbolism for [[Brahma]], the creator or [[Parvati|Uma]] or [[Vamadeva]], the feminine side of Shiva and creator.<ref name=berksonxiv/> The left half-face (east face) is that of a moustached young man. This is Shiva as the terrifying [[Aghora (Shiva)|Aghora]] or [[Bhairava]], the chaos creator and destroyer.<ref name=berksonxiv/> This is also known as Rudra-Shiva, the Destroyer. The central face, benign and meditative Tatpurusha, resembles the preserver [[Vishnu]]. This is the Shiva form as the "master of positive and negative principles of existence and preserver of their harmony".<ref name=unesco/><ref name=state/> The three-headed Shiva are his creator, preserver and destroyer aspects in Shaivism. They are equivalently symbolism for [[Shiva]], [[Vishnu]], and [[Brahma]], they being equivalent of the three aspects found in Shaivism.<ref name="JonesRyan2006p148">{{cite book |author1=Constance Jones |author2=James D. Ryan |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA148 |year=2006 |publisher=Infobase |isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5 |pages=148–149}}</ref><ref name=berksonxiv>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=xiv-xvi, 12–14}}</ref>

====Gangadhara====
[[File:Elephanta Gangadhara.JPG|thumb|upright|Shiva bringing Ganges River to earth.]]
The Trimurti Shiva is flanked on its left by ''[[Ardhanarisvara]]'' (a half-Shiva, half-Parvati composite) and ''[[Gangadhara]]'' legend to its right. The ''Gangadhara'' image to the right of the ''Trimurti'' shows Shiva and Parvati standing. Shiva brings the [[Ganges]] River down from the heavens and her immense power is contained effortlessly in Shiva's hair as she descends from heaven. The artists carved a small three bodied goddess up high, a symbolism for Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. The mother goddess Parvati stands tall next to Shiva, smiling. The carving is {{convert|4|m|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|5.207|m|abbr=on}} high.<ref name=berksonxvi>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=xvi-xvii, 13–14, 24, 46–47}}</ref>

The Gangadhara image is highly damaged, particularly the lower half of Shiva seen seated with Parvati, who is shown with four arms, two of which are broken. From the crown, a cup with a triple-headed female figure (with broken arms) to depict the three major rivers in Hindu texts. An alternative interpretation of the three-bodied goddess in Gangadharamurti panel here and elsewhere is that it represents the regenerative powers of rivers in the form of Mandakini, Suradhani and Bhagavati.<ref name=berksonxvi/> In this grotto scene, Shiva is sculpted and bedecked with ornaments, while gods gather to watch the cosmic source of earthly abundance. The gods and goddesses shown are identifiable from the ''vahana'' (vehicle) and icons, and they include [[Brahma]] (left), [[Indra]] (left), [[Vishnu]] (right), [[Saraswati]], [[Indrani]], [[Lakshmi]], and others.<ref name=berksonxvi/><ref name="Kramrisch1988p453">{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA452 |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=452–454}}</ref>

Wrapped on one of the arms of Shiva is his iconic coiling serpent whose hood is seen near his left shoulder. Another hand (partly broken) gives the semblance of Shiva hugging Parvati, with a head of matted hair. A damaged ornamented drapery covers his lower torso, below the waist. Parvati is carved to the left of Shiva with a coiffured hair dress, fully bedecked with ornaments and jewellery.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p453"/> Between them stands a ''gana'' (dwarf jester) expressing confused panic as to whether Shiva will be able to contain the mighty river goddess. In the lower left of the panel is a kneeling devout figure in ''[[namaste]]'' posture representing the heroic legendary king [[Bhagiratha]] who worked hard to bring the river of prosperity to his earthly kingdom, but unaware of the potentially destructive forces that came with it.<ref name="Kramrisch1988p453"/>

====Ardhanarishvara====
[[File:Ardhanari@ Elephanta Caves.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ardhanarishvara]] (centre): half female (Parvati) and half male (Shiva), feminine-masculine equivalence.]]
On the wall to the east of the ''Trimurti'' is a damaged four-armed ''Ardhanarishvara'' carving. This image, which is {{convert|5.11|m|abbr=on}} in height. It represents the ancient Hindu concept of essential interdependence of the feminine and the masculine aspects in the universe, for its creation, its sustenance and its destruction.<ref name="Kinsley1988p49">{{cite book |author=David Kinsley |title=Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition |url=https://archive.org/details/hindugoddessesvi0000kins|url-access=registration |year=1988 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-90883-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hindugoddessesvi0000kins/page/49 49]–52}}</ref><ref name="Collins1988p76">{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=76–81}}</ref> It is represented as half woman shown as half of Parvati in this Elephanta panel on the right side, with breast, waist, feminine hair and items such as a mirror in the upper hand. The second half-man side is Shiva with male characteristics and items iconographically his symbol. In [[Shaivism]], the concept pictorially symbolises the transcendence of all duality including gender, with the spiritual lacking any distinctions, where energy and power (Shakti, Parvati) is unified and is inseparable with the soul and awareness (Brahman, Shiva).<ref name="Kinsley1988p49"/><ref>{{cite book |author=James G. Lochtefeld |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch|url-access=registration |year=2002 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8 |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jackie Menzies |title=Goddess: divine energy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzLqAAAAMAAJ |year=2006 |publisher=Art Gallery of New South Wales |isbn=978-0734763969 |pages=14–15}}</ref>

In the panel, the relief shows a headdress (double-folded) with two pleats draped towards the female head (Parvati) and the right side (Shiva) depicting curled hair and a crescent. The female figure has all the ornamentation (broad armlets and long bracelets, a large ring in the ear, jewelled rings on the fingers) but the right male figure has drooping hair, armlets and wristlets. One of his hands rests on [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]] bull's left horn, Shiva's mount, which is fairly well preserved.<ref name=stella451/><ref name=berkson7xvii>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=7–14, 24}}</ref> The pair of hands at the back is also bejewelled; the right hand of the male side holds a serpent, while the left hand of the female side holds a mirror. The front left hand is broken, while a large part of the lower half of the panel was damaged at some point. Around the Ardhanarishwara are three layers of symbolic characters. The lowest or at the same level as the viewer are human figures oriented reverentially towards the androgyne image. Above them are gods and goddesses such as Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and others who are seated on their ''vahanas''. Above them are flying ''[[Apsara|apsaras]]'' approaching the fused divinity with garlands, music, and celebratory offerings.<ref name=stella451>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA451 |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=451–452}}</ref>

====Shiva slaying Andhaka====
[[File:Elephanta, grotta 1, rilievi riferibili al 400-550 dc ca., Shiva che uccide Andhaka 01.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Shiva slaying Andhaka]]
The panel in the northwest side of the cave, on the wall near west entrance and the Linga shrine (see 7 in plan), is an uncommon sculpture about the ''Andhakasura-vadha'' legend.<ref name="Collins1988p1">{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=1–3}}</ref> It shows [[Bhairava]], or [[Virabhadra]], a ferocious form of Shiva killing the demon ''[[Andhaka]]'' (literally, "blind, darkness"). The relief is much ruined below the waist, is {{convert|3.5|m|abbr=on}} high and posed in action. Though a relief, it is carved to give it a three-dimensional form, as if the ferocious Shiva is coming out of the rocks and impaling Andhaka with his trident.<ref name=berkson1135>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=8–15, 35–36}}</ref><ref name=stella460>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA455 |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=455–458, 460–461}}</ref>

Bhairava's headgear has a ruff on the back, a skull, and a cobra over the forehead, and the crescent high on the right. His facial expression is of anger, the conviction of something he must do, and one in the middle of the action. The legs and five of the eight arms are broken, attributed to Portuguese vandalism. The smaller broken image Andhaka is seen below Bhairava's image.<ref name=geo/> Also depicted in his right hand is the symbolic weapon that [[Hindu texts|Shaiva scriptures]] states Shiva used to kill the destructive elephant demon.<ref name=stella460/> A hand holds a bowl to collect the blood dripping from the slain Andhaka, which Shaiva legend states was necessary because the dripping blood had the power to become new demons if they got nourished by the ground.<ref name=stella460/><ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=57–65}}</ref> Furthermore, the artwork shows ruined parts of a male and two female forms, figures of two ascetics, a small figure in front, a female figure, and two dwarfs.<ref name=geo/> The uppermost part shows flying apsaras bringing garlands.<ref name=stella460/>

====Wedding of Shiva====

[[File:Elephanta Marriage.JPG|thumb|upright|left|[[Kalyanasundara]]: the wedding of Shiva and Parvati]]

The niche image carved on the southwest wall, near the Linga shrine (see 6 on plan) is the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. This legend is called the [[Kalyanasundara]] in Hindu texts.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/> Parvati is seen standing to Shiva's right, the customary place for a Hindu bride at the wedding. The carvings are substantially damaged, but the ruined remains of the sculpture have been significant to scholarly studies of Hindu literature. In many surviving versions of the [[Puranas]], the wedding takes place in King Parvata's palace. However, in this Elephanta Cave panel, the narrative shows some earlier version.<ref name=stella454wed/> Here King Parvata standing behind Parvati gives away the bride to Shiva while [[Brahma]] is the priest in the grotto relief.<ref name=stella454wed/> Gods, goddesses and celestial apsaras are cheering witness to the wedding. Vishnu is witness to the marriage, standing tall behind the sitting Brahma on the right side of the panel. Just above the main images [[rishi]] (sages) and a few characters hanging from the ceiling are seen blessing the wedding.<ref name=geo/>

The groom Shiva is shown calm and young, while Parvati is depicted as shy and emotional. Her head is tilted towards him and her eyelids joyfully lowered, while his hand (now broken) is holding hers.<ref name=stella454wed>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA454 |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=454–455}}</ref> Their dress reflect the Hindu customs. He wears the sacred thread across his chest, she the customary jewellery. The other characters shown in the wedding carry items or are shown holding items that typically grace a Hindu wedding. Chandra (moon god), for example, holds a traditionally decorated water vessel (''kalash''). Brahma, the priest, is squatting on the floor to the right tending the ''[[yajna]]'' fire (agni mandapa).<ref name=stella454wed/>

====Yogishvara: Lord of Yoga====
[[File:Yogishvara Lord of Yoga Shiva at Elephanta Cave 1.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Shiva as ''Yogishvara'', God of Yoga.]]
The panel in the east side of the portico next to the north entrance (see 9 on plan) is Shiva in Yoga. This form of Shiva is called Yogishvara, Mahayogi, [[Lakulisa]].<ref name="asi">{{cite web |url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_elephanta.asp |title=World Heritage Sites – Elephanta Caves |work=Official site of ASI |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Government of India|access-date=16 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021063323/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_elephanta.asp|archive-date=21 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Collins1988p1"/>

Shiva, states Stella Kramrisch, is the "primordial [[yogi]]" in this panel. He is the master of discipline, the teacher of Yoga arts, the master who shows how yoga and meditation lead to the realisation of ultimate reality.<ref name=stella454yogi>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=458–459 with footnotes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar |title=Elephanta |url=https://archive.org/details/elephanta00dhav |year=2007 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |isbn=978-81-904866-0-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/elephanta00dhav/page/29 29]}}</ref><ref name=michell34>{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iExAQAAIAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Jaico |isbn=978-8-184-95603-0 |pages=34–37}}</ref>

The relief is in a dilapidated condition with most of the arms and legs broken.<ref name=geo/> He is seated in [[Lotus position|padmasana]] lost in his meditation. His posture is well formed and suggests that the 6th century artist knew this [[asana]]. He sits on a lotus with a stalk shown as if coming out of the earth, his legs are crossed symmetrically. Two Nagas flank the lotus and express their reverence with a namaste posture. The great yogi is being approached by various Vedic and Puranic gods and goddesses, as well as monks and sadhus, yet there is a halo around him that keeps them at bay as if they admire it but do not wish to disturb his meditation.<ref name=stella454yogi/><ref name=michell34/><ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=36–39}}</ref>

In some ways, the yogi artwork shown in this Hindu cave are similar to those found in Buddhist caves, but there are differences. Yogi Shiva, or Lakulisa, wears a crown here, his chest is shown vaulting forward as if in breathing exercises found in Hindu yoga texts, the face and body expresses different energy. This Shiva yogi comes across as the "lord of the caves" or ''Guhesvara'' in medieval Indian poetry, states Kramrisch.<ref name=stella454yogi/> According to Charles Collins, the depiction of Shiva as Yogi in Elephanta Cave 1 is harmonious with those found in the Puranas dated to early and mid 1st millennium CE.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=36–47, 52–58, 64}}</ref>

====Nataraja: Lord of Dance====
[[File:Shiva Nataraja, grotte d'Elephanta (Mumbai, Inde), Cave 1.jpg|thumb|Shiva as Nataraja, god of dance.]]
The panel facing the Yogishvara, on the west side of the portico next to the north entrance (see 8 on plan) is Shiva as the [[Nataraja]], "cosmic dancer" and "the lord of dancers".<ref name="asi"/> It is also called the ''Nrittamurti''.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/>

The badly damaged relief panel is {{convert|4|m|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|3.4|m|abbr=on}} high and set low on the wall. His body and arms are shown as wildly gyrating in the ''lalita'' mudra, a symbolism for occupying all of space, soaring energy and full-bodied weightlessness. His face here resembles the Tatpurusha, or the manifested form of Shiva that preserves and sustains all of creation, all of creative activity.<ref name=stella459dance/><ref>{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iExAQAAIAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Jaico |isbn=978-8-184-95603-0 |pages=34, 37–38}}</ref> This is an eight-armed depiction of Nataraja. The parts of the panel that have survived suggest that he is holding an axe, a coiled serpent is wrapped around its top. In another he holds a folded cloth, possibly symbolic veil of ''[[Maya (illusion)|maya]]''.<ref name=stella459dance/>

There are fewer gods, goddesses and observers in this panel than others in this cave, with Brahma, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati are visible and have a facial expression of being spellbound. Also present are his sons leaping [[Ganesha]] and [[Kartikeya]] holding Shiva's staff, as well as an ascetic and a [[rishi]], thus weaving the family life and the ascetic monastic life, the secular and the spiritual tied in through metaphorical symbolism of dance within the same panel.<ref name=stella459dance>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=459–460}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=11–14}}</ref> The dancer and destroyer aspects of Shiva are clustered in the northwest part of the cave, in contrast to yoga and creator aspects that are found in the northeast parts.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=24–25}}</ref> This 6th-century Nataraja shares architectural elements with those found in temples in the western parts of South Asia such as in Gujarat, and in upper Deccan region.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=102–105}}</ref>

====Mount Kailash and Ravananugraha====
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| footer = Left: Shiva and Parvati on Mount Kailasha. Right: Ravana shaking Mount Kailash.
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The carvings at the east entrance are battered and blurry. One in the southeast corner of the mandapa (see 2 on plan) depicts Shiva and Parvati in [[Mount Kailash]] in the Himalayas, and the shows the ''Umamaheshvara'' story.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/> The scene includes rocky terrain and clouds layered horizontally. On top of the rock sit the four-armed Shiva and Parvati by his side. Nandi stands below her, while celestial apsaras float on the clouds above.<ref name=stella458>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |page=458}}</ref> There are traces of a crown and a disc behind Shiva, but it is all damaged.<ref name=geo/> The scene is crowded with accessory figures, which may be because the eastern entrance was meant to have a devotional focus.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=23–24}}</ref>

The panel facing the Mount Kailash panel towards the northeast corner (see 1 on plan) depicts demon king [[Ravananugraha|Ravana trying to lift Kailash]] and bother Shiva, a legend called ''Ravananugraha''.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/><ref name=sharma327>{{citation |jstor=29755892 |title=Rāvaṇa Lifting Mount Kailāsa in Indian Art |journal=East and West |volume=23 |issue=3/4 |pages=327–338 |last1=Sharma |first1=Brijendra Nath |year=1973}}</ref> The upper scene is Mount Kailash, where Shiva and Parvati are seated. Shiva is recognisable with a crown, and other characters are badly damaged. A portion of ascetic skeletal devotee Bhringi relief survives, and he is seated near Shiva's feet. Near Shiva an outline of what may have been Ganesha and Kartikeya are visible. Below the mountain surface is shown the demon-king [[Ravana]] is seen with a few arms, trying to unsuccessfully shake Shiva and Parvati in Mount Kailash. The rest of the details are blurry and speculative.<ref name=stella458/><ref name=sharma327/> According to Charles Collins, the discernible elements of this panel are generally consistent with those in medieval era Puranas, though there is a lack in literal correspondence with any single text.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=41–46}}</ref>

====Linga shrine====
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The central shrine of the Great Cave temple is a free-standing square stone cella, with entrances on each of its sides.<ref name=stellacella>{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC |year=1988 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=445–446}}</ref> Each door is flanked by two ''dvarapalas'' (gate guardians), for a total of eight around the shrine.<ref name=stellacella/> The height of the eight ''dvarapalas'' is about {{convert|4.6|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name="historic places"/> All are in a damaged condition except those at the southern door to the shrine. The Shaiva guardians carry weapons and flank the doors.<ref name=stellacella/>

Six steps lead to the inside of the cella from the floor level. In the centre is the ''mulavigraha'' [[Linga]], is set on a raised platform above the floor of the shrine by {{convert|1.8|m|abbr=on}}. It is the abstract unmanifest symbol of Shiva in union with the [[Yoni]], and the symbol of Parvati together symbolising the creative source and the regenerative nature of existence.<ref name=stellacella/> The temple and all the pillars are laid out to lead the pilgrim's view towards it, the cella is visible from any point inside the cave and its most significant progression.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=22–23}}</ref>

====East wing: Shaktism====
[[File:Grottes d'Elephanta - Sanctuaire de la grotte principale.jpg|thumb|The smaller east shrine.]]
On the east side of the main hall is a separate shrine. It is a {{convert|17|m|abbr=on}}-wide courtyard with a circular pedestal. It once had a seated Nandi facing the Linga shrine, but its ruins have not been restored. To the south side of this eastern courtyard is the Shaktism shrine, with a lion, each seated with a raised forepaw as guardian. Inside the west face of this small shrine (see 10–12 of plan) are ''Sapta [[Matrikas]]'', or the "seven mothers" along with Parvati, Kartikeya (Skanda) and Ganesha.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/> The smaller shrine's sanctum features a linga and has a circumambulatory path around it. The sanctum door has Shaiva ''dvarapalas''.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/>

The Shakti panel in the east shrine is unusual in that counting Parvati, it features eight mothers (''Asta matrikas'') in an era when ''Sapta matrikas'' were more common such as at Samalaji and Jogeshwari caves.<ref name="Schastok1985p85"/> Additionally, the mothers are flanked on one side with Ganesha and the other with Skanda (Kartikeya) when typical artwork from mid 1st millennium show the Shakta mothers with Ganesha and Shiva.<ref name="Schastok1985p85"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Meister |first=Michael W. |title=Regional Variations in Matrka Conventions |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=47 |issue=3/4 |year=1986 |issn=0004-3648 |doi=10.2307/3249973 |pages=233–262 |jstor=3249973}}</ref> According to Sara L. Schastok, the Skanda in the east shrine of Elephanta Cave 1 is significant, just like the one found in Deogarh Hindu temple site, because he is depicted with regalia, weapons and icons similar to Shiva and because he is surrounded by gods and goddesses. By portraying Skanda with Matrikas, he is equated with the Krittikas legend and thereby Kartikeya, and by showing him so prominently centred the artists are likely communicating the unity of Skanda-Shiva, that all these divinities are in essence the same spiritual concept, "all emanations of the ''lingam'' at the very heart of Elephanta", according to Schastok.<ref name="Schastok1985p85">{{cite book |author=Sara L. Schastok |title=The Śāmalājī Sculptures and 6th Century Art in Western India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jh1fF8HvJmMC |year=1985 |publisher=BRILL Academic |isbn=90-04-06941-0 |pages=85–87}}</ref>

====West wing: Other traditions====
On the west side of the main hall is another attached shrine, though in a much more ruined state. The larger cave on the south side of the west shrine is closed, contains ruins and is bigger than the eastern side shrine. Some of the artworks from here were moved to museums and private collections by mid 19th century, including those related to Brahma, Vishnu and others. The western face has two panels, one showing another version of Shiva in Yoga (see 14 on plan) and another Nataraja (see 15 on plan). Between these is a sanctum with a Shiva Linga.<ref name="Collins1988p1"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=102–109}}</ref>

This Yogi Shiva panel is damaged, but unlike the other Yogi depiction, here the leg position in Yoga asana has survived. The Yogishvara is seated on a lotus, and near him are two badly defaced characters, possibly one of Parvati and another ascetic. Above him are ruin remains of celestial gods or goddesses or apsaras. The Yogi Shiva is wearing a crown, and once again there is a space of isolation around the meditating yogi in which no other character enters. Below him, under the lotus, are Nagas and several badly damaged figures two of whom depict the [[Añjali Mudrā|''anjali mudra'']].<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=141–142}}</ref> The Nataraja shown in the west shrine is similar in style to one inside the main mandapa. However, states Collins, its depth of carving appears inferior, and it seems more eroded being more open to rains and water damage.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=102–104}}</ref>

===Caves 2-5: Canon hill===
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| footer = [[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 3|Cave 3]] (left) and [[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 4|Cave 4]] (right). The caves are smaller, the works of art inside mostly damaged. [https://www.google.com/maps/@18.9627465,72.9318023,3a,75y,306.68h,83.02t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sstnD-u4cvgY9PHF8Wqam5A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en 3D Tour].
}}
To the south-east of the Great Cave is [[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 2|Cave 2]]. The cave is unfinished. The front of this cave was completely destroyed and restored in the 1970s with four square pillars. It has two small cells in the back.<ref name=DHAV/>

[[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 3|Cave 3]] is next to Cave 2, as one continues to go away from the main shrine. It is a portico with six pillars, and a mandapa with pillars. The portico is {{convert|26|m|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|11|m|abbr=on}} deep and is supported by four reconstructed pillars.<ref name=DHAV/> At the back of the portico are three chambers. The central door at the back of the portico leads to a damaged shrine, the sanctum seems to be for a Linga, but that is lost. The shrine is a plain room {{convert|6|m|abbr=on}} deep by {{convert|5.7|m|abbr=on}} wide with a low altar. The shrine door has some traces of sculpture. The ''dvarapalas'' on each side, leaning on dwarfs with flying figures over the head, are now in fragments.<ref name=Dhavalikar73/> There are two other chambers, one on each side of the shrine.<ref name=DHAV>{{cite book |last1=Dhavalikar |first1=M. K. (Madhukar Keshav) |title=Elephanta |date=2007 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |pages=74–75 |isbn=9788190486606 |url=https://archive.org/stream/elephanta00dhav#page/74}}</ref>

[[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 4|Cave 4]] is quite damaged, the large verandah lacking all its columns. The relief remains suggest the cave was once a Shaiva temple as well. The shrine in the back contains a lingam. There are also three cells for monks and a chapel at each end of the verandah.<ref name=DHAV/>

[[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 5|Cave 5]] is unfinished and in a very damaged state, with no artistic remains.<ref name=Dhavalikar73>{{cite book |author=Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar |title=Elephanta |url=https://archive.org/details/elephanta00dhav |year=2007 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |isbn=978-81-904866-0-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/elephanta00dhav/page/73 73]–76}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iExAQAAIAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Jaico |isbn=978-8-184-95603-0 |pages=90–92}}</ref>

===Stupa hill: caves 6-7, stupas 1-2===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| total_width=550
| image1 = Elephanta Stupa Hill and Buddhist monuments.jpg
| image2 = Elephanta Cave No 6.jpg
| image3 = Elephanta Cave 6 Plan.jpg
| footer = Location map of Elephanta's Stupa Hill with its Buddhist monuments: caves 6 and 7, stupas 1 and 2. Photograph of Cave 6, and plan of the cave.
}}
Across the ravine from Cave 1 on the hill on the other side are two Buddhist caves, together with the remains of a [[stupa]] and water tanks.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Sacred Places"/> It seems the Buddhists were the first occupants of the island.<ref>"Long before the Brahmans selected Elephanta for their temple to the Great God, the Hinayana Buddhists came to the island for more or less the same purpose, to raise a monument to the Buddha." {{cite book |last1=Kail |first1=Owen C. |title=Elephanta, the island of mystery |date=1984 |publisher=Taraporevala |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylweAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva"/>

One is a large hall known as [[:Commons:Category:Elephanta Cave 6|Cave 6]], or Sitabai's temple cave ({{coord|18.963835|72.934125|display=inline}}). The portico has four pillars and two pilasters. The hall has 3 chambers at the back, the central one a shrine and the rest for monks or priests. The hall is devoid of any decoration, except for the door of the central shrine, which has pilasters and a frieze, with the threshold decorated with lion figures.<ref>For pictures of Cave 6, see [https://kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com/2018/04/29/elephanta-caves-elephanta-island-mumbai/ this site]</ref> The sanctum has no remaining image. Cave 6 is historically significant because it was converted and used as a Christian church by the Portuguese in the later years when the island was a part of their colony (at some point between 1534 and 1682).<ref>{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iExAQAAIAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Jaico |isbn=978-8-184-95603-0 |pages=112}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Guide To Elephanta |date=1934 |page=10 |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.279314/2015.279314.A-Guide#page/n21}}</ref>

Next, along the face of the eastern hill to the north of Sitabai's cave is Cave 7 ({{coord|18.965100|72.934766|display=inline}}), another small excavation with a [[veranda]], which was probably to be three cells, but was abandoned following the discovery of a flaw in the rock.

Past Cave 7, to the east, is a dry pond, with large artificial boulders and several Buddhist cisterns along its banks. Near the cistern, now at the end of the north spur of the hill, is a mound that was identified as the remains of a Buddhist [[stupa]] ({{coord|18.966026|72.936753}}). This stupa, state Michell and Dhavalikar, was originally much taller and dates to about the 2nd century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iExAQAAIAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Jaico |isbn=978-8-184-95603-0 |pages=90–93}}</ref><ref>For pictures of the stupa remains see [https://kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com/2018/05/09/in-search-of-the-elephanta-stupa/ this site]</ref>

===Lost monuments===
[[File:Brahma statue (6th century CE).jpg|thumb|upright|An Elephanta artwork depicting ''Sadashiva'' now at the [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya]], [[Mumbai]].]]
Many artworks from the Elephanta Caves ruins are now held in major museums around India. These include an almost completely destroyed [[Durga]] statue with only the buffalo demon with Durga's legs and some waist surviving. Other scholarly studied museum held Elephanta sculpture includes a part of Brahma head, several ruins of Vishnu from different statues, a range of panels and free-standing stone carvings.<ref>[http://www.csmvs.in/currently-on-display/168-mahishasuramardini.html?highlight=WyJkdXJnYSJd Basalt: Elephanta Mahishasuramardini] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107014401/http://www.csmvs.in/currently-on-display/168-mahishasuramardini.html?highlight=WyJkdXJnYSJd |date=7 November 2017 }}, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Maharashtra, Mid 6th century AD</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=S.N. Chakravarti |title=The Image of Brahma from Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_lIAQAAIAAJ |volume=Lalit Kala. Issue 1–5 |year=1955 |publisher=Lalit Kala Akademi |pages=87–89}}</ref> According to Schastok, some of these are "surely not part of the Great Cave", but it is unclear where they were found when they were moved elsewhere, or when ruins were cleared and restoration process initiated.<ref name=schastok51/>

The significant statues of Vishnu are difficult to explain and to position inside other surviving caves. One theory states that some of the caves must have represented the [[Vaishnavism]] tradition. Another theory by some scholars, such as Moti Chandra, suggests that the island once had open-air structural Hindu temples in addition to the caves, but these were the first victims of art destruction.<ref name=schastok51>{{cite book |author=Sara L. Schastok |title=The Śāmalājī Sculptures and 6th Century Art in Western India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jh1fF8HvJmMC |year=1985 |publisher=BRILL Academic |isbn=90-04-06941-0 |pages=43–44, 51–52}}</ref>

The Vishnu sculptures found among the Elephanta ruins express different styles. One wears a ''dhoti'' and has a looped girdle, while holding a conch at an angle near his thigh. The remnants of his sides suggest that this was likely a four arm iconography.<ref name=schastok51/> Another statue has elements of Shiva and Vishnu. It was identified to be Shiva by Pramod Chandra, as Kartikeya by Moti Chandra, and as Vishnu by others. It shows a chain link near the thigh, has a ''gada'' (mace) on side, and someone standing next to him with a damaged upper portion but with a small waist and full breasts suggestive of a [[Devi]]. This statue too is wearing a ''dhoti''.<ref name=schastok51/>

The island also had a stone horse according to 18th century records, just like the stone elephant that made colonial Portuguese call it "Ilha Elefante". However, this horse was removed to an unknown location before 1764.<ref>{{cite book |author=J. Ovington |title=A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVPc5Z6y3LkC&pg=PA97 |year=1994 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0945-7 |pages=97–104 with footnotes}}</ref>

==History==
The ancient history of the island is unknown in both Hindu or Buddhist records. Archeological studies have uncovered many remains that suggest the small island had a rich cultural past, with evidence of human settlement by possibly the 2nd century BC.<ref name=unesco/><ref name = "historic_places"/> The Elephanta site was first occupied by [[Hinayana]] Buddhists, before the arrival of the Brahmans to the island, to raise a large stupa to the [[Buddha]] with seven smaller stupas around it, probably around the 2nd century BCE.<ref>"Long before the Brahmans selected Elephanta for their temple to the Great God, the Hinayana Buddhists came to the island for more or less the same purpose, to raise a monument to the Buddha. To the early Buddhists a stupa was an object of supreme veneration..." in {{cite book |last1=Kail |first1=Owen C. |title=Elephanta, the island of mystery |date=1984 |publisher=Taraporevala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylweAAAAMAAJ |page=19 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="archive.org"/> Coins of the Kshatrapas ([[Western Satraps]]) dating to the 4th century CE were found on the island.<ref>Archeological Survey of India [[:File:Elephanta Caves information board.JPG|on-site notice]]</ref> The regional history is first recorded in the Gupta Empire era, but these do not explicitly mention these caves.<ref name = "historic_places"/> This has made the origins and the century in which Elephanta caves were built a subject of a historic dispute. They have been variously dated, mostly between from late 5th to late 8th century AD, largely based on the dating of other cave temples in the Deccan region.<ref name = "historic_places"/> Colonial era historians suggested that the caves were built by the [[Rashtrakutas]] in 7th century or after, a hypothesis primarily based on some similarities with the [[Ellora Caves]],<ref name = "historic_places"/> but this theory has been discredited by later findings.<ref name="berkson3"/><ref name="Spink2005p182"/>

[[File:Map of the Early Kalachuris.png|thumb|Map of the [[Kalachuris of Mahishmati|Early Kalachuris]] circa 600 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=146, map XIV.2 (b)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=183}}</ref>]]
According to Archaeological Survey of India and UNESCO, the site was settled in ancient times and the cave temples were built between 5th and 6th century.<ref name=unesco/><ref name = "historic_places"/> Contemporary scholars generally place the completion of the temples to the second quarter of the 6th century and as a continuation of the period of artistic flowering in the [[Gupta Empire]] era.<ref name="Spink2005p182"/><ref name = "historic_places"/><ref name="Michell2002">{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Elephanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iExAQAAIAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Jaico |isbn=978-8-184-95603-0 |pages=1–4, 30–33, 96–98}}</ref> These scholars attribute these Cave temples to king Krishnaraja of the [[Kalachuris of Mahishmati|Kalachuri dynasty]].<ref name="berkson3"/><ref name="Kramrisch1988p443">{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Presence of Siva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjqfkgD6YCAC&pg=PA443 |year=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0491-3 |pages=443–445}}</ref> The dating to a mid 6th century completion and it being a predominantly Shiva monument built by a Hindu Kalachuri king is based on numismatic evidence, inscriptions, construction style and better dating of other Deccan cave temples including the [[Ajanta Caves]], and the more firm dating of Dandin's ''Dasakumaracarita''.<ref name="Spink2005p182"/><ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=3–6, 47–48}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Sara L. Schastok |title=The Śāmalājī Sculptures and 6th Century Art in Western India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jh1fF8HvJmMC |year=1985 |publisher=BRILL Academic |isbn=90-04-06941-0 |pages=43–44}}</ref>

According to Charles Collins, the significance of the Elephanta Caves is better understood by studying them in the context of ancient and early medieval Hindu literature, as well as in the context of other Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave temples on the subcontinent. The historic Elephanta artwork was inspired by the legends, concepts and spiritual ideas found in the Vedic texts on Rudra and later Shiva, the epics, the Puranas and the Pashupata Shaivism literature corpus of [[Hinduism]] composed by the 5th-century. The panels reflect the ideas and stories widely accepted and well known to the artists and cave architects of India by about 525 CE. The accounts varies significantly in these texts and has been much distorted by later interpolations, but the Elephanta Cave panels represent the narrative version most significant in the 6th century.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=31–39}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Collins |first=Charles D. |title=Elephanta and the Ritual of the Lakulīśa-Pāśupatas |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |publisher=American Oriental Society |volume=102 |issue=4 |year=1982 |doi=10.2307/601969 |pages=605–609 |jstor=601969}}</ref> The panels and artwork express through their eclecticism, flux and motion the influence of Vedic and post-Vedic religious thought on Hindu culture in mid 1st millennium CE.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=38–39}}</ref>

After the caves' completion in the 6th century, Elephanta became popular regionally as Gharapuri (village of caves). The name is still used in the local [[Marathi language]].<ref name="berkson41">{{cite book |author1=Carmel Berkson |author2=Wendy Doniger |author3=George Michell |title=Elephanta: The Cave of Shiva |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press (Motilal Banarsidass, Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |pages=41–45}}</ref> It became a part of the Gujarat Sultanate rulers, who ceded it to the Portuguese merchants in 1534. The Portuguese named the island "Elephanta Island" for the huge rock-cut stone statue of an elephant, the spot they used for docking their boats and as a landmark to distinguish it from other islands near Mumbai. The elephant statue was harmed in attempts to relocate it to England, was moved to the Victoria Gardens in 1864, was reassembled in 1914 by Cadell and Hewett, and now sits in the [[Jijamata Udyaan]] in Mumbai.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name="historic places">{{cite book |author1=Trudy Ring |author2=Robert M. Salkin |author3=Sharon La Boda |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=252–5 |chapter=Elephanta Island |year=1994 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA252 |isbn=978-1-884964-04-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Sir William Foster |author2=Sir Evan Cotton |author3=L.M. Anstey |title=Bombay in the Days of Queen Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAkkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT157 |year=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-17337-3 |pages=86, 157, note 3}}</ref>

[[File:Elephanta Elephant.jpg|thumb|left|The stone elephant that gave the name Elephanta. It used to be on the south shore of the island, the British attempted to move it to England in 1864, it broke, the reassembled pieces are now at the [[Jijamata Udyaan]].]]
[[File:Aquatint of the Stone Elephant.jpg|left|thumb|The stone elephant prior from its removal from the island.]]

Scholars are divided on who most defaced and damaged the Elephanta Caves. According to Macneil, the monuments and caves were already desecrated during the Sultanate rule, basing his findings on the Persian inscription on a door the leads to the grand cave.<ref name="berkson41"/> In contrast, others such as Ovington and Pyke, link the greater damage to be from the Christian Portuguese soldiers and their texts which state they used the caves and statues as a firing range and for target practice.<ref name="berkson41"/><ref>{{cite book |author=James Campbell |title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency |url=https://archive.org/details/gazetteerbombay21enthgoog |year=1882 |publisher=Government Central Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gazetteerbombay21enthgoog/page/n100 84]–85}}</ref><ref name=ramaswami42>{{cite book |author=N. S. Ramaswami |title=Indian Monuments |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAZc4KLSYjIC&pg=PA79 |year=1971 |publisher=Abhinav |isbn=978-0-89684-091-1 |pages=42–54}}</ref>

Macneil concurs that Elephanta Caves were defaced and damaged during the colonial period but assigns the responsibility not to the soldiers but to the Portuguese authorities.<ref name="berkson41" /> The colonial era British publications state they were "defaced by the zeal of Mahommedans and Portuguese".<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Elephanta Isle|volume=9|page=261}}</ref>

The Portuguese ceded the island in 1661 to the colonial British, but by then the Caves had seen considerable damage. The Portuguese had also removed and then lost an inscription stone from the caves.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Collins |first=Charles D. |title=Elephanta and the Ritual of the Lakulīśa-Pāśupatas |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |publisher=American Oriental Society |volume=102 |issue=4 |pages=605–617 |year=1982 |doi=10.2307/601969 |jstor=601969}}</ref><ref name="frontline">{{cite journal |url=http://www.flonnet.com/fl2423/stories/20071207505906600.htm |title=Simply grand |last=Benoy K. Behl |journal=Frontline |publisher=the publishers of The Hindu|access-date=16 February 2010 |volume=24 |issue=23|url-status=dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100216134608/http://flonnet.com/fl2423/stories/20071207505906600.htm|archive-date=16 February 2010}}</ref> During the British rule, many Europeans visited the caves during their visit to Bombay, then published their impressions and memoirs. Some criticised it as having "nothing of beauty or art", while some called it "enormous artwork, of extraordinary genius".<ref name="ramaswami42" />

The British relied on the port city of Bombay (now Mumbai), which led to it becoming a major urban center and the migration of Hindus looking for economic opportunities. The Elephanta caves re-emerged as a center of Hindu worship, and according to British administration records, the government charged the pilgrims a temple tax at least since 1872.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

In 1903, the Hindus petitioned the government to waive this fee, which the British agreed to on three Shiva festival days if Hindus agreed. The Elephants Caves were, otherwise, left in its ruinous condition.<ref>{{cite book |author=Preeti Chopra |title=A Joint Enterprise: Indian Elites and the Making of British Bombay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhTiCnh6RqAC&pg=PA200 |year=2011 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-7036-9 |pages=200–201}}</ref>

{{multiple image
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| width = 240
| footer = 
| image1 = Elephanta Cave figures drawing.jpg
| image2 = Linga chapel dli A136 cor.jpg
| caption2 = Samuel Bourne, "Figures on the Linga Chapel. Elephanta," 1863-1869, photograph mounted on cardboard sheet, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC
| caption1 = A sketch and a photo of the Elephanta Caves in 19th century.<ref>[http://media-kitlv.nl/all-media/indeling/detail/form/advanced?q_search_signatuur=92158 Digital Image Archive: Leiden University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030628/http://media-kitlv.nl/all-media/indeling/detail/form/advanced?q_search_signatuur=92158 |date=7 November 2017 }}, The Netherlands</ref>
}}

In the late 1970s, the Government of India restored the main cave in its attempt to make it a tourist and heritage site. The caves were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 as per the cultural criteria of UNESCO: the caves "represent a masterpiece of human creative genius" and "bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living or which has disappeared."<ref name=unesco/>

== Preservation ==
[[File:Elephanta tourists.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Tourists taking pictures of the Trimurti]]
The convenient location of these caves near Mumbai (in comparison to other sites that are less well served by Indian travel infrastructure) and Western curiosity for historic Indian culture made Elephanta Caves a subject of numerous guide books and significant scholarly interest in the 20th century. The early speculations and misconceptions about these caves led to many interpretations and scholarly disagreements but also increased the support for their preservation. The publication of their condition, sketches and interpretation by James Burgess in 1871 brought wider attention.<ref name=collins25/> The earliest efforts to preserve the Elephanta Caves were taken by British India officials in 1909 when the site was placed under the Indian Archaeological Department and the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act included it within its scope. This helped isolate the island and preserve the ruins.<ref name=collins25>{{cite book |author=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta: On Life, Illumination, and Being |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C |year=1988 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |pages=1–2, 20–27}}</ref>

More specific legislation to preserve the Elephanta Island monuments were enacted with the [[Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act]] of 1958 and Rules (1959); The Elephanta Island (Protected Monument) Rules of 1957, which prohibits mining, quarrying, blasting, excavation and other operations near the monument; the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act promulgated in 1972 with its Rules promulgated in 1973; a Notification issued in 1985 declaring the entire island and a {{convert|1|km|mi|adj=on}} area from the shore as "a prohibited area"; a series of Maharashtra State Government environmental acts protecting the site; the 1966 Regional and Town Planning Act; and the 1995 Heritage Regulations for Greater Bombay.<ref name=state/> However, it was in the 1970s that the site received active conservation and restoration efforts. These efforts put back the ruins of Cave 1 and select parts of broken pillars in other caves, along with developing the island as a heritage site.<ref name=britelephanta/><ref name=geo/>

{{multiple image
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| image1 = Train in elephanta caves.jpg
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| caption1 = 
| image2 = Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img12 Elephanta Island ferry.jpg
| width2 = 200
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = A tourist toy train from dock to the Elephanta Caves; a typical boat that runs between [[Gateway of India]] and [[Elephanta Island]].
}}
The [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI), Mumbai Circle maintains and manages the Elephanta Caves. It is responsible for monitoring and stabilisation of the rock face, construction of supports to the cave structures where pillars have collapsed, and consolidation of cave floors and construction of a parapet wall surrounding the site. In addition, it maintains the visitor facilities and an on-site museum. The site receives approximately 1,000 visitors a day, more on Shiva ratri, dance festivals, the World Heritage Day (18 April) and World Heritage Week between 19 and 25 November for special events.<ref name=state/>

After declaring the caves, a World Heritage Site, UNESCO and the ASI have worked together to monitor the site and implement conservation methods on a routine basis.<ref name=state/>

== 3D Documentation and Virtual Tapestry Tour ==
In May 2023, [[CyArk]] along with local partners India Study Centre (INSTUCEN) Trust documented the Cave 1 (Main Cave) complex as part of Phase II of the Heritage on the Edge programme in partnership with [[Google Arts & Culture]]. The expanded programme was funded by [[Iron Mountain (company)|Iron Mountain]] and carried out with the support of the Mumbai Circle, [[Archaeological Survey of India]]. It involved documentation and processing of 197 laser scans,  over 6500 photographs, 180 panorama shots supplemented by interviews with subject matter experts and locals. Following a preview in March 2024, a 3D interactive model and virtual guided experience of Elephanta's Main Cave was launched as an open access [https://tapestry.cyark.org/content/elephanta Tapestry Tour] in September 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2024 |title=This online medium creates an immersive experience of the historic Elephanta Caves for people |url=https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/things-to-do/article/elephanta-in-the-room-23398719 |access-date=28 May 2025 |website=Mid-day |language=en}}</ref>

==In literature==
In her 1834 poetical illustration ''The Caves of Elephanta'', to an engraving of a painting by W. Purser, [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] laments the loss of the original spiritual purpose of this vast structure, so that now: 'The mighty shrine, undeified, speaks force, and only force, Man's meanest attribute'.<ref> {{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Bzk_AAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA74|section=poetical illustration and picture|pages=55–56|year=1834|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}} </ref>
{{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835/The Caves of Elephanta|The Caves of Elephanta,<br>a poetical illustration<br />by L. E. L.}}

The Elephanta Caves are mentioned more than once in [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Moby Dick]]'',<ref>{{cite book |title=Moby Dick |first=Herman |last=Melville |pages=39, 250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV8XAAAAYAAJ&q=elephanta |date=1892 |publisher=St. Botolph Society |location=Boston}}</ref> and also feature in [[W. Somerset Maugham|Somerset Maugham]]'s 1944 novel ''The Razor's Edge''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maugham |first=W. Somerset |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQ-e7N1Rm24C&dq=The+Razor%27s+Edge+elephanta+caves&pg=PT341 |title=The Razor's Edge |date=26 January 2011 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-78508-4 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|India|Society}}
{{Div col}}
*[[Ajanta Caves]]
*[[Ellora Caves]]
*[[Goa Inquisition]]
*[[History of Maharashtra]]
*[[Indian rock-cut architecture]]
*[[List of colossal sculpture in situ|List of colossal sculpture ''in situ'']]
*[[List of rock-cut temples in India]]
*[[Tourism in India]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book |author=Prasanna Kumar Acharya |title=An encyclopaedia of Hindu architecture |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press (Republished by Motilal Banarsidass) |url=https://archive.org/stream/encyclopaediaofh07achauoft#page/n9/mode/2up |isbn=978-81-7536-534-6}}
*{{cite book |author=Prasanna Kumar Acharya |title=A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture: Treating of Sanskrit Architectural Terms with Illustrative Quotations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbayQwAACAAJ |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press (Reprinted in 1997 by Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-81-7536-113-3}}
*{{cite book |last=Carmel Berkson |title=Elephanta: the cave of Shiva |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RYqq7um0hcC&q=elephanta |isbn=978-81-208-1284-0 |year=1999}}
*{{cite book |author1=Vinayak Bharne |author2=Krupali Krusche |title=Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGukBgAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6734-4}}
*{{cite book |author=Alice Boner |title=Principles of Composition in Hindu Sculpture: Cave Temple Period |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doQLZ21CGScC |year=1990 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0705-1}}
*{{cite book |author1=Alice Boner |author2=Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā |title=Silpa Prakasa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itQUAAAAIAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Brill Academic (Reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass) |isbn=978-8120820524}}
*{{cite book |last=Charles Dillard Collins |title=The iconography and ritual of Śiva at Elephanta |publisher=SUNY Press. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQNi6kAGJQ4C&q=elephanta&pg=PA25 |isbn=978-0-88706-773-0 |date=1 January 1988}}
*{{cite book |author1=A.K. Coomaraswamy |author2=Michael W. Meister |title=Essays in Architectural Theory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5B1QAAAAMAAJ |year=1995 |publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts |isbn=978-0-19-563805-9}}
*Dehejia, V. (1997). ''Indian Art''. Phaidon: London. {{ISBN|0-7148-3496-3}}.
*{{cite book |author=Adam Hardy |title=Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU0hCAS2-08C |year=1995 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-312-0}}
*{{cite book |author=Adam Hardy |title=The Temple Architecture of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofUVAQAAIAAJ |year=2007 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0470028278}}
*{{cite book |author=Adam Hardy |title=Theory and Practice of Temple Architecture in Medieval India: Bhoja's Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra and the Bhojpur Line Drawings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_oADrgEACAAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts |isbn=978-93-81406-41-0}}
*Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}
*{{cite book |author=Monica Juneja |title=Architecture in Medieval India: Forms, Contexts, Histories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7N7VAAAAMAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Orient Blackswan |isbn=978-8178242286}}
*{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Hindu Temple Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNcXrBlI9S0C |year=1976 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprinted 1946 Princeton University Press) |isbn=978-81-208-0223-0}}
*{{cite book |author=Stella Kramrisch |title=The Hindu Temple Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-aS52MgIkMC |year=1979 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprinted 1946 Princeton University Press) |isbn=978-81-208-0224-7}}
*{{cite book |author1=Michael W. Meister |author2=Madhusudan Dhaky |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian temple architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DRY3AQAAIAAJ |year=1986 |publisher=American Institute of Indian Studies |isbn=978-0-8122-7992-4}}
*{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajgImLs62gwC |year=1988 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-53230-1}}
*{{cite book |author=George Michell |title=Hindu Art and Architecture |url=https://archive.org/details/hinduartarchitec00mich|url-access=registration |year=2000 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-20337-8}}
*{{cite book |author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao |title=Elements of Hindu iconography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJD-KresBwIC |year=1993 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0878-2}}
*{{cite book |author=Ajay J. Sinha |title=Imagining Architects: Creativity in the Religious Monuments of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvqLzaSUGi8C |year=2000 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |isbn=978-0-87413-684-5}}
*{{cite book |title=South Indian Temples |author=Burton Stein |isbn=978-0706904499 |publisher=Vikas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hq5BngAACAAJ |year=1978}}
*{{cite book |author=Burton Stein |title=The New Cambridge History of India: Vijayanagara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpxeaYQbGDMC |year=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-26693-2}}
*{{cite book |author1=Burton Stein |author2=David Arnold |title=A History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC |year=2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-2351-1}}
*{{cite book |author=Kapila Vatsyayan |title=The Square and the Circle of the Indian Arts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwLJc3pBzzUC&pg=PR10 |year=1997 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-362-5}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Elephanta Caves}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081021063323/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_elephanta.asp World Heritage Sites - Elephanta Caves], Archaeological Survey of India
*[http://www.abhijna-emuseum.com/exhibition/elephanta-caves-where-the-lord-of-the-lords-resides/ Elephanta Caves], Abhijna Museum
*[http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/dlSearch.do?query=any,contains,elephanta+caves&vid=BLVU1&institution=BL&search_scope=LSCOP-WEBSITE&tab=website_tab Archive of historic Elephanta Caves ruins photographs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201859/http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/dlSearch.do?query=any,contains,elephanta+caves&vid=BLVU1&institution=BL&search_scope=LSCOP-WEBSITE&tab=website_tab |date=24 June 2021 }}, British Library
*[https://collections.vam.ac.uk/place/elephanta/x43990/ Archive of historic Elephanta Caves sketches and paintings], V&A Museum
*{{Wikivoyage-inline}}
*[http://7thtraveler.com/elephanta-caves-history-ferry-timings-entry-fee-contact-information/ Elephanta Caves Timings & Ferry Timetable]
* A painting of ''Triad Figure, Interior of Elephanta'' by [[Samuel Prout]] engraved by [[William Woolnoth]] for Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834, as an illustration to [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]'s poem {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834/The Missionary|The Missionary]]}}.

{{Caves around Mumbai}}
{{Hindu inscriptions and arts|state=autocollapse}}
{{Indian Buddhist Caves}}
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Shaivism}} 
{{World Heritage Sites in India}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Hindu temples in Maharashtra]]
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