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| Home > Indian Sculptures > Hindu Sculptures > Elephanta Caves
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| | Elephanta Caves
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Elephanta Caves
 The island where Elephanta caves are located is known as Gharapuri means fortress city. It is the 7th century cave temple complex, famous for the rock cut sculptures of India. It is dark cave in a tiny island housing one of the most imposing examples of early rock- cut architecture.
The main cave known as Elephanta, is supported by massive pillars, with a square base having fluted shafts. And at the inner walls of the caves, various sculptures of the gods from the Hindu mythology appear in almost same sizes.
There is a cave temple at that is dedicated to Lord Shiva, was excavated sometime in the 7th century. The constructors were the Rashtrakuta kings who ruled on this area between 757 AD -973 AD. The arrangement of the sculpturing elements of the Elephanta cave temple was deemed symbolic such as the sea represents sansara, the turbulent river of life, and the surrounded island was, thus a place of physical and spiritual refuge.
The Naming Of Elephanta
 The island was originally known as Gharapuri or the Fort Town. But it was christened as Elephanta by the Portuguese after they captured it from the Sultan of Gujarat in AD 1535. They renamed it according to its huge sculpted elephant. As proper care were not taken & with turning the pillared mandapa into a shooting gallery for their fun, the famous elephant fall into pieces.The cave temple that is situated some 75 meters above jetty level, marked for following the pattern of the Dumar Lena cave in Ellora, closely.
Sculptural Details
The rock cut temples is created by carving out of rock; various shapes are carved with creating the columns, the internal spaces and the entire images. The entire temple is a huge sculpture, occupying a big area. The entire complex of the temple is created through the rock removal. The surfaces of some of the rock sculptures are highly finished while some are untreated bare rocks.
It is said that the entire cave temple complex covers an area of about 60000 sq. feet. It consists of a main chamber and two lateral ones, courtyards and several shrines. Above the temple is the mass of natural rock, maintaining the cave structure.
Architecture
From the three sides, the temple structure can provide access to the devotees and visitors. The actual temple structure consists of parts such as the main chamber, courtyard and numerous shrines. The entrances of the east and the west sides form the axis of the architecture of temple. The axis of the temple is lined by a hall containing 20-pillar.
At the western end of the hall, there is a small place that is enshrining a Shivalingam. And  at the end of the north-south axis, the image of Trimurthi, a manifestation of Lord Shiva is carved. The colossal 20-feet high image of Sadasiva Shankara is a three-headed structure thus called as Trimurthi. Truly, it is considered as the masterpiece of the ancient Indian architecture. With this artistic creation, there are other elaborately sculptured images of Kalyanasundara, Gangadhara, Ardhanariswara and Uma Maheswara on the wall of the southern side. At the West Side of the north entrance the images of Natraja and Andhakaasuravadamoorthy attract the attention.
Similarly to the east entrance the images of Yogiswara and Ravanaanugrahamoorthy are carved. On the whole, the Elephanta caves essentially sculptures the non-anthropomorphic forms of Shivalingam as well as the quintessential and the manifest forms.
The Enigmatic Image of Trimurti:
One of the walls across from the entrance is marked with the centerpiece of the cave, the triple- headed figure of Shiva as Maheshwara or Lord of the Universe.
 The famous statue of Trimurti depicts the three aspects of Shiva as creator, preserver and destroyer. The head from the left is believed as the life-giving shakti of Shiva, Uma, while the head from the right shows him as Rudra or Bhairava, a fearful figure with hanging snakes in his hair & neck. And the central & most noteworthy face is the swarupa or true self of Shiva, who is calm & serene giving blessings with right hand (which is now broken).
Shiva : In Many Forms
Under this style of architecture, an individual & distinct image of Shiva is placed at the center of the pillared hall. This allowed light to infiltrate the darkest depth of the cave. At Elephanta, it can be said, as the feature of the place is skillful placement of the main image of Shiva as Maheshwara. In relation to the three entrances, it is arranged on such a place that is receiving the accurate amount of light. The light is falling on image makes it as though the Lord is emerging from eternal darkness to serve his blessings.
At the place, this image has become the focus of the entire temple as it is placed in a chamber at the end, away from the entrance. In sculptures of the cave, not much minor decorative carvings is seen, & some such carving is employed only to heighten the effect of the monumental sculpted panels depicting Shiva in myriad forms.
With stepping into the foyer of the cave one can notice a carving of Shiva in the form of Nataraja, the god of dance at the right & at the left Lakulisa is sculptured. This image is carved in the Buddhist mould, it shows a 7th century priest engaging in a activity of reabsorbing Buddhism into Hinduism. He is sculptured as seated on a lotus, which is the symbol of enlightenment.
The carved structure of the Elephanta is absolutely marvelous. The garbhagriha of the main shrine temple has entrances from the four sides. At the doorways, giant dwarapalas and their gana i.e. attendants work as guards. The appearance of the dwarapalas is carved with all minute details of sculptured image. The shrine itself has a meter- high lingam of Shiva.
In the main mandapa, at the four corners various images depicting Shiva in different moods are noteworthy. The carving of Shiva as Ardhanarishwara seems to be important as in this form he combines the female and the male aspects in his own self. And a panel with Ardhanarishwara, depicting the descent of the heavenly river Ganga to earth is carefully carved. With Ganga the company of her two tributaries, the Yamuna and the Saraswati are also marked here with their presence.
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