Elephanta Island (also called Gharapuri (literally "the city of caves") or Pory Island) is one of a number of islands in

Mumbai Harbour Mumbai Harbour (also English; Bombay Harbour or Front Bay, Marathi''Mumba'ī bandar''), is a natural deep-water harbour in the southern portion of the Ulhas River estuary. The narrower, northern part of the estuary is called Thana Creek. The ...

, east of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Tourist attractions and accessibility

This island is a popular tourist destination because of the island's

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

s, the

Elephanta Caves The Elephanta Caves are a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. They are on Elephanta Island, or ''Gharapuri'' (literally "the city of caves"), in Mumbai Harbour, east of Mumbai in the Indian state of Mahā ...

, that have been carved out of rock. The island is easily accessible by ferry from Mumbai, being about from the south east coast of the island city. Boats leave daily from the Gateway of India, taking about an hour each way. The tickets for these can be bought at the Gateway itself. The first ferry leaves at 9 am and the last at 2 pm. From the boat landing stage on the island, a walkway leads to steps that go up to the famous caves. There is also a narrow-gauge toy train from the boat area on the dock to the base of the steps leading up to the caves (about 600 meters). Along the path, hawkers sell souvenirs like necklaces, anklets, showpieces and keychains. There are also stalls to buy food and drinks. Small monkeys play along the sides of the path, occasionally thieving items from the hawkers, trashcans and tourists. Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) has plans to connect the island from Haji Bunder, Mumbai via Ropeway. Once built, it will take only 14 minutes to reach the UNESCO World Heritage Site whereas currently ferry takes about an hour.

History

Known in ancient times as ''Gharapuri'' (or, 'place of caves'), the name ''Elephanta island'', was given by 16th-century

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

explorers, after seeing a monolithic basalt sculpture of an elephant found near the entrance. They decided to take it home but ended up dropping it into the sea because their chains were not strong enough. Later, this sculpture was moved to the Victoria gardens and then the Victoria and Albert Museum (now

Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum is the oldest museum in Mumbai. Situated in the vicinity of Byculla Zoo, Byculla East, it was originally established in 1855 as a treasure house of the decorative and industrial arts, and was later renamed in honour of ...

) in

, by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

.HT Cafe, Mumbai, Monday, 4 June 2007 pg.31 - Article "Lord of the Islands" by Jerry Pinto This island was once the capital of a powerful local kingdom. In Manuscript F by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

(kept at the Library de France) there is a note in which he says "Map of Elephanta in India which Antonello the haberdasher has." It is unclear who this Florentine traveller Antonello might have been.

Orientation

The island has an area of . It is located at approximately . The area comes under the jurisdiction of the

Raigad district Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad after the fort that was the first capital of the former Marath ...

in Maharashtra.

Agricultural makeup

The island is thickly wooded with palm, mango, and tamarind trees.

Inhabitants

It has a population of about 1,200. The inhabitants are mainly involved in growing rice, fishing and repairing boats. There are two British-era cannons at the top. Quite recently, a small dam has been built so as to hold rainwater but that part of the island is privately owned and not accessible for tourists. There are a total of three villages: Shentbandar, Morabandar and Rajbandar, of which Rajbandar is the capital. Caves and stalls can be seen in Shentbandar. Morabandar has a thick forest. Staying overnight is not permitted for tourists. The first return ferry leaves at 12:30pm and the last at 6:30pm.

Gallery

View of Elephanta island jetty.JPG, View of Elephanta island jetty, from

Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img14 Elephanta Caves.jpg, An Elephanta Caves

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

India-Elephanta-Water.jpg, Boats of fishermen living on the island Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img12 Elephanta Island ferry.jpg, Elephanta-Mumbai ferry Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img25 view from Cannon Hill.jpg, View from Cannon Point Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img26 view from Cannon Hill.jpg, Houses on Elephanta Island Elephanta Canon 2 1.jpg, Cannon at Elephanta Island Elephanta Ferry 39.jpg, Ferry to Elephanta Island Elephanta Ferry 3.jpg, Sea gulls enroute Elephanta Island Elephanta Cave 1 2.jpg, Entrance of Cave 1 of Elephanta Caves

References

External links

Elephanta

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Going’s tough at Gharapuri
* Duffer's Guide to Elephanta, ''

Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore editions wer ...

'', 22 February 2007, pg A14 {{Authority control Geography of Raigad district Islands of Mumbai Tourist attractions in Raigad district