Saturday, January 3, 2009

ELEPHANTA CAVES


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Located 10 km from the Gateway of India at Mumbai.

The entire cave temple complex covers an area of about 60,000 sq ft and consists of a main chamber and two lateral ones, courtyards and several subsidiary shrines.

The caves are hewed from solid rock.

Cave 1 represents the evolved Brahmanical rock-cut architecture.

The caves are thought to date back to the Silhara kings of the 9th through 13th centuries.

These rock cut temples dedicated to Shiva Mahadeva.

The Trimurti of Elephanta showing the three faces of Shiva is almost akin to the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh.

It was named Elephanta by the Portuguese after the statue of an elephant near the landing area of the island.

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