Elephanta caves

Also called: Gharapuri caves · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Elephanta caves (also called the Gharapuri caves) are rock-cut cave temples on Elephanta island, also called Gharapuri, in Mumbai harbour, Maharashtra. Most were cut around the 6th century CE. The main cave is dedicated to Shiva and is famous for a huge three-headed bust called the Maheshamurti, also known as the Sadashiva.

They matter because they show Brahmanical (Hindu) temple art at its best inside the rock-cut tradition. The cave is filled with large sculpted panels showing Shiva's stories. Elephanta has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

Explanation

Background: where Elephanta fits in the rock-cut tradition

• Rock-cut means the building was not built up from blocks. Workers cut into a hill and removed stone until a hall was left behind, so the whole thing is one piece of rock.
• The tradition began with Asoka's Barabar caves for the Ajivikas in the 3rd century BCE. It grew with Buddhist halls at Karla and Ajanta in the western Deccan. [1]
• By about the 6th century CE, cave-cutting had moved towards Shaiva (Shiva-worshipping) shrines. Elephanta is one of the finest early examples of this change.
• Who paid for it is not known for certain. No founding inscription survives. Many historians link the main cave to the Kalachuri dynasty, but others suggest the Konkan Mauryas or the early Chalukyas. The date is worked out mainly from the style of the sculpture, so it stays approximate.

Main features: the Great Cave (Cave 1)

• There are seven caves in all:
• Five Hindu caves in the western group. The largest is the Great Cave, or Cave 1.

• Two Buddhist caves in the eastern group, on the smaller hill known as Stupa Hill.

• Material: the caves are cut into the island's hard basalt rock.

• Plan: a large pillared hall with several entrances.
• Inside stands a square linga shrine. A linga is the plain pillar-like symbol of Shiva.

• The shrine has four doorways. Each doorway is guarded by tall dvarapalas (door-guardian figures).

• The Maheshamurti (Sadashiva): a three-headed bust of Shiva, about 6 m tall, cut deep into the back wall.

• The centre face is calm and inward-looking. It shows Shiva as the great god and the source of all.
• The left face is fierce, with a moustache and snakes. It is often called Aghora or Bhairava (Shiva as destroyer).
• The right face is soft and feminine. It is often read as Uma or Vamadeva (Shiva's gentle, creative side).

• The idea: one god with many aspects. It does not show Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva together.

• Large narrative panels (stone pictures that each tell a story) around the hall:

• Ardhanarishvara: Shiva as half-man, half-woman. It shows that male and female powers are one.
• Gangadhara: Shiva catching the river Ganga in his hair as she falls from heaven.
• Kalyanasundara: the marriage of Shiva and Parvati.
• Nataraja: Shiva as the lord of the cosmic dance.
• Andhakasuravadha: Shiva killing the demon Andhaka.
• Yogishvara: Shiva as the lord of yoga, seated in meditation.
• Ravana shaking Mount Kailasha: the same story was carved again, more famously, at Ellora about two centuries later. [4]

Style: how it looks

• The figures are deep-cut, large and rounded. They almost step out of the wall.
• Light and shadow are used on purpose. The dark hall lit from the side makes the faces seem to glow.
• The mood is calm, grand and balanced. Even the fierce scenes keep a quiet dignity. This is why art historians rank Elephanta among the high points of Indian sculpture.

Later history and results

• The island's old name is Gharapuri. The Portuguese called it "Elephanta" after a large stone elephant they found near the landing place. That elephant now stands in Jijamata Udyan in Mumbai.
• Under Portuguese control, many sculptures were damaged. That is why so many panels today have broken arms and faces.
• The caves are now protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). They were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: mostly around the 6th century CE. Some scholars put the start in the late 5th century. The exact date is debated.
• Place: Elephanta (Gharapuri) island in Mumbai harbour, off the coast of Maharashtra, in the western Deccan / Konkan region. It is the same broad region as the Karla and Ajanta caves. [1]
• Patron: uncertain. The Kalachuris are the most common suggestion. The Konkan Mauryas and the early Chalukyas are other possibilities.
• Religion: mainly Shaiva (the Great Cave and the other Hindu caves). There is a small Buddhist group on Stupa Hill.
• How we know about it:
• No inscription tells us who paid for the caves or when.
• Style is the main evidence. Historians compare the sculpture with dated work elsewhere in the Deccan to fix the date.

• Portuguese accounts and the later naming of the island tell us about its colonial history.

• Heritage status: UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987). It is centrally protected by the ASI.

Don't confuse with

• Ellora (Kailasa, Cave 16): Elephanta is a cave dug into the hill, probably 6th century, with no certain patron. Kailasa is a whole free-standing temple cut downward from the top. It is 8th century and was begun under Rashtrakuta Krishna I (c. 756–773). Ellora became a UNESCO site in 1983. [3][4][5]
• Ajanta caves: Ajanta is Buddhist and is famous for tempera paintings such as Padmapani in Cave 1. It lies above the Waghora river. Elephanta is mainly Shaiva and is famous for sculpture, not painting. [1][2]
• "Trimurti" as Brahma–Vishnu–Shiva: the Elephanta bust is often loosely called "Trimurti". But it shows three aspects of Shiva alone (Maheshamurti or Sadashiva). It does not show the three gods of the Hindu trinity.
• Kanheri caves: these are also in Mumbai, but they are a Buddhist cave group inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park. They are not on Elephanta island.

Prelims Hooks

• Elephanta (Gharapuri) caves: Mumbai harbour, Maharashtra. UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
• Main image: the three-headed Maheshamurti / Sadashiva of Shiva. Trap: it is not Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
• Name origin: given by the Portuguese, after a stone elephant found on the island.
• Seven caves: five Hindu (Shaiva) and two Buddhist.
• Panels to remember: Ardhanarishvara, Gangadhara, Kalyanasundara, Nataraja, Andhakasuravadha, Ravana lifting Kailasha.
• Order in time: Barabar (3rd century BCE, Asoka) → Karla and Ajanta (Satavahana–Vakataka) → Elephanta (c. 6th century CE) → Kailasa, Ellora (8th century, Rashtrakuta). [1][4]

Mains Points

• Elephanta shows the shift from Buddhist to Brahmanical rock-cut art.
• Earlier cave-cutting in the western Deccan served Buddhist monks, as at Karla and Ajanta. [1]
• By about the 6th century, the same skill was used for Shiva temples, which led on to Ellora's Kailasa in the 8th century. [4]

• Use this to show continuity of technique alongside change of religion.

• The caves turn religious ideas into stone.

• The Maheshamurti puts the fierce, calm and gentle sides of one god into a single image.
• Ardhanarishvara joins male and female in one body.

• These panels show how Puranic Shaivism (the worship of Shiva based on the Puranas) taught its ideas visually to ordinary worshippers.

• Elephanta is a case study in heritage loss and protection.

• There is no founding inscription, so its date and patron must be worked out from style.
• Its sculptures were damaged under Portuguese rule.
• Today it is protected by the ASI and listed by UNESCO (1987). This is useful for GS-I answers on conserving Indian heritage.

Related concepts

• Rock-cut architecture
• Barabar caves
• Lomas Rishi cave
• Nagarjuni caves
• Rock-cut monasteries
• Chaitya and vihara
• Bhaja caves
• Karla caves
• Kanheri caves
• Nasik caves

Read more

• The rock-cut tradition