The pier stretches for some 400 metres out into the bay before following the shoreline for another 200 metres to the base of the 120 steps that lead up to the caves. There is a train but when we arrived one of the small diesel locomotives was undergoing repair so it was a walk in the hot sunshine but there was plenty to take in, and plenty of hawkers to fend off, as shown in the photo with the little girl minding three sacred cows on the beach.
Of course either side of the pathway and up the steps were hundreds of stalls selling tourist souvenirs. For the most part the stallholders were good-natured but there were a couple guys selling polished stone necklaces etc. who hounded some ladies in the group all the way along the pier to the steps and back again even following them on to the motor launch so persistent were they.
We were told that about 1,000 people live on the island running the stalls and providing a sedan chair service to carry the less able up the steps to the cave. This looked to be a very precarious operation, as customers of this service were held shoulder high and indeed rather costly at 800 Rupees per ride up or down – about £8.00. I learnt that many of the local inhabitants are fishermen who supplement their income in the summer running the stalls or providing the sedan chairs. Yes you guessed, amongst all the bling I found some wooden hand painted fridge magnets of Lord Shiva and an elephant.
The caves date from the 8th Century and have remarkable statues in bas-relief that tell the story of Lord Shiva’s life in carved stone. The first photo above shows (Sorry as ever the sun was in the wrong position!!) the entrance to the main cave. The island is formed of volcanic basalt rock that is easy to carve so the cave was first excavated leaving rough vertical blocks that were finally carved into the intricate supporting columns shown.
The cave was extremely busy and it was very difficult, despite our excellent guides attempt to make himself heard, so I’m less than confident that I understand the full story told in the reliefs that elucidate story of Lord Shiva’s life the central focus of worship in the Hindu religion. I will update the Blog after further research.
Lord Shiva comprises three core tenets of the Hindu religion, namely Brahma; The Creator, Vishnu; The Preserver and Shiva; The Destroyer. The photo is of the most impressive panel known as the trinity: with the face of Shiva the Creator on the left, the Preserver in the centre and the Destroyer on the right.
Other panels show Lord Shiva in other contexts such as half man/half women, as the God of Dance and of his marriage to Parvati.
Unfortunately the Portuguese soldiers who discovered the island debased many of the panels. They did not understand the meaning of the reliefs and so debased much of the detail to assuage their fear.
Elephanta Island gets its name from and huge carved stone elephant that was found at the base of the steps that lead up to the caves. When the British arrived they found this elephant sculpture in pieces once again destroyed by the Portuguese but reassembled it and is now displayed in Delhi (?).
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