Friday 19 April 2013

Tour of Elephanta Caves, Mumbai Harbor India

A leisurely one hour boat ride across Mumbai harbour takes us to Elephanta Island and the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Elephanta Caves. Carved out of solid basalt between 4C - 7C AD, our guide Mr Shyamal explains that these caverns represent homage to the Hindu God Shiva.  

  Believed to be built between 5th and the 8th century AD, the Elephanta Caves are a network of sculpted caves located at Elephanta Island, 10 kms away from Mumbai fort. The caves consist of two groups, the Hindu caves which contain sculptures dedicated to the god Shiva and the Buddhist caves. These caves were renovated in the 1970’s and was a declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1987. It is currently maintained by the Archaeological survey of India.