What is the meaning of Elephanta?
Elephanta can mean: Elephanta (wind), a wind off the Malabar coast of India. Elephanta Island, an island in Mumbai Harbour, India. Elephanta Caves, cave temples on Elephanta Island.
What is Elephanta Caves famous for?
The Elephanta Caves are located on Elephanta Island in Mumbai also known as Gharapuri island. The Elephanta island is the glorious abode of Lord Shiva and an epitome of Hindu cave culture, consists of seven caves on an island in the Sea of Oman close to Mumbai.
Why is Elephanta Island famous?
This island is a popular tourist destination because of the island’s cave temples, the Elephanta Caves, that have been carved out of rock. The island is easily accessible by ferry from Mumbai, being about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the south east coast of the island city.
Why is it called Elephanta Caves?
The caves, as well as the island, were given the name Elephanta by Portuguese invaders after they took control of the place in 1534. It was the discovery of a gigantic rock-cut sculpture of an elephant on the island that prompted them to name the place so.
Who built Elephanta Temple?
Contemporary scholars generally place the completion of the temples to the second quarter of the 6th century and as a continuation of the period of artistic flowering in the Gupta Empire era. These scholars attribute these Cave temples to king Krishnaraja of the Kalachuri dynasty.
Who destroyed Elephanta Caves?
When the island was ceded to the Portuguese by the kings of Ahmadabad in the 16th century, it ceased to be a place of worship, and the caves and sculptures were damaged by Portuguese soldiers.
Who built Elephanta?
Who formed Elephanta Caves?
The caves themselves were built much later. Recent studies on their architectural style suggest that they were constructed by King Krishnaraja of the Kalachuri Dynasty in the mid-6th century, and tens of copper coins of King Krishnaraja have been found at Elephanta.
Who named Elephanta?
They are most commonly placed between the 5th and 7th centuries. Many scholars consider them to have been completed by about 550 CE. They were named Elefante – which morphed to Elephanta – by the colonial Portuguese who found elephant statues on the caves. They established a base on the island.
How old are Elephanta Caves?
The rock-cut Elephanta Caves were constructed about the mid-5th to 6th centuries AD. The most important among the caves is the great Cave 1, which measures 39 metres from the front entrance to the back. In plan, this cave in the western hill closely resembles Dumar Lena cave at Ellora, in India.