Monday, February 10, 2014

Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves is on a small island Elephanta just 11 km north-east of the Apollo Bandar,  Mumbai. This is a small round island which is 7 km in circumference. The island is named after a colossal elephant found in the island, which is popularly known as ‘Gharapuri’.



After reaching the island one can either walk by a narrow road or  go by a narrow-gauge toy train from the boat area to the base of the steps leading up to the caves.  As the caves are located on the top of a hillock one has to climb up a flight of 600 steps to reach the caves. The island consists of two groups of caves: the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The caves we visited here are:


These caves hewn from solid basalt rock have been dated to between the 5th and 8th centuries. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the god Shiva. The sculptures here not only huge, but also magnificent and beautiful. These caves have been declared a World Heritage Site. 



The place is open from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. To reach this place one has to travel by ferry or boat from the Gateway of India in the Mumbai. The journey takes 1 hour to reach the island by sea. 

45 comments:

Krishna/കൃഷ്ണ said...

great info and photos

thanks

Cloudia said...

what a great place to see!



ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral

=^..^=

Muza-chan said...

Interesting place :)

Ramakrishnan said...

Elephanta fascinates the visitor with its incredible architecture and sculpture.

The Mukhtiars said...

LOvely CLICKs

Rhonda Albom said...

Sounds like an interesting island to discover. Was it a volcano? (I ask because it is round)

Lowell said...

One hour? That's pretty amazing. As are the caves. And I'm assuming the huge elephant is still hanging around? I think I saw his trunk in with some of the other luggage. :)

desi Traveler said...

They are such a wonderful place to visit and photograph

George said...

It looks as if these caves are worth the trip. The sculpture is beautiful.

Carver said...

Great shots of an interesting place.

carol l mckenna said...

Intriquing post and photos about your world for OWT ~ great post ~ thanks,

carol and artmusedog
www.acreativeharbor.com

Photo Cache said...

the boat is similar to the ones i saw in bangladesh. it's really appealing.

eileeninmd said...

Wow, it is an adventure to reach the caves. It is an interesting place to explore. Great photos.

Sylvia K said...

I always enjoy captures of such historic and beautiful places and this one is certainly no exception!! Fascinating!! Thanks for sharing, Rajesh! Hope you have a great week!

Anonymous said...

What a great place to visit.

Leovi said...

Yes , nice pictures , I like that interesting place ! Really gorgeous caves full of art! Greetings !

R Niranjan Das said...

This definitely is a wonderful place to explore some beautiful sculptures and carvings. Nice post, Rajesh.

Sudhir R said...

Waiting to be see these caves Rajesh!

Sridharan said...

I have not visited this place, looks more like ellora that I visited. Nice captures..

Jeevan said...

Sounds like a place worth visiting! Thanks for the information about it

Gillena Cox said...

very interesting; have a nice Tuesday

much love...

Roger Owen Green said...

always ENTERTAINING.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Reader Wil said...

Very interesting, Rajesh! Thanks for this post! Good choice!
Wil, ABCW Team.

photowannabe said...

Fascinating.

Pallavi said...

Been here a few years back and loved it!

Ileana said...

It is an interesting place to visit. Great photos.Have a nice day!

A Homemaker's Utopia said...

Wonderful pictures and a nice post :-)

Hildred said...

Very interesting, and great photos.

Joy said...

A boat trip combined with a world heritage site, perfect.

Budget Travel Talk said...

India is a fascintating country :)

Powell River Books said...

The caves sound very interesting to visit. The water taxi also looks like a fun ride. - Margy

Nabanita said...

I really wish to visit these caves once!

kalpana solsi said...

Rajesh , I too have written about Elephants Caves.

Suzy said...

I have been to the Elephanta Caves. A very unique and interesting place.

Anonymous said...

It must be an amazing place to see in person, considering how far back it dates.

Visiting from the Thursday Challenge.

~Lindy

magiceye said...

Lovely captures!

Unknown said...

Beautiful captures from Elephanta Caves :)

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
It's an amazing place - love the shot of the ferry with its many 'fenders' though!! YAM xx

Abhijit Ray said...

I had been there once. I enjoyed the ride and the place. There were a lot of monkeys. Nice photographs.

Deepa Gopal said...

Beautiful captures and thanks for the info :)

Anonymous said...

Went there when I was very young, now only the photos remain. Thanks for taking me down the memory lane :)

Anonymous said...

Great shots. I'd been to Elephanta caves. It's a fun place.

Ranjana's craft blog said...

Lovely...

Anonymous said...

have been to this place .... but somehow did not like it much ..it was overcrowded

Mridula said...

The journey to the caves looks equally interesting!