Elephanta Island

India / Maharashtra / Uran /
 island, interesting place, tourist attraction

Elephanta Island (also called Gharapuri Island or Place of Caves) is one of a number of islands across the Mumbai Harbour. This island is a popular tourist destination for a day trip because of the island's cave temples, the Elephanta Caves, that have been carved out of rock. In 1987, the caves were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The island is easily accessible by ferry from Mumbai, being about 10 km from the south east coast of the island city. Boats leave daily from the Gateway of India, taking about an hour each way for the journey. From the boat landing stage on the island, a walkway leads to steps that go up to the famous caves. Along the path, hawkers sell souvenirs that may bought at a reasonable price. There are also stalls to buy food and drinks.

Known in ancient times as Gharapuri, the present name Elephanta, was given by 17th century Portuguese explorers, after seeing a monolithic sculpture of an elephant head found here near the entrance. This sculpture has since been moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum (aka Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum) in mainland Mumbai.

The island has an area of 16 km² (6 sq miles). The area comes under the jurisdiction of the Raigad district in Maharashtra State.

A narrow gauge train takes tourists along the 1 km pier to the base of the steps which lead to the caves.

The island is thickly wooded with palm, mango and tamarind trees. The island has a population of about 1,200 involved in growing rice, fishing, and repairing boats.

The 6 caves are thought to date back to the Silhara kings of the 9th through 13th centuries (810–1260). Some of the sculptures of this site
site are also attributed to the imperial Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta (in present day Karnataka), the Trimurti of Elephanta showing the three
three faces of Shiva almost akin to the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh embodied as one being one among them. This was also also the royal insignia of the Rashtrakutas.
Other Rashtrakuta sculptures here are the reliefs of Nataraja and Sadashiva and the splendid sculptures of Ardhanarishvara.

Current Rates: (April 2009)
Boat Ride from Gateway: Rs.100-120 (Rtn)
Mini Train from Pier to Base: Rs.10 (Rtn)
Entry to Village (Govt Toll): Rs.5
Entry in Caves: Rs. 10 (for Indians), Rs. 250 (for Foreigners)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   18°57'45"N   72°56'0"E

Comments

  • I love this place very much.
  • Transferred content from other marker and also old content from current marker
  • we are goods freind, trikal village in Gharapuri.......
  • each and every time when i travel bombay i like to visit this lovely place my whole family love this place
  • We(Me, Pravin Paunikar and Arnold Antinio) are planning to visit elephanta islands tomorrow. so i am very excited to be there.
  • I JUS WISH TO GO AGAIN....WID ALL MEH CHUMZ..
  • I like this place it was toooo romantic
  • We listned about this place a lot. Therefore we are going on coming sunday.
  • Show all comments
This article was last modified 5 years ago