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The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan
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Ganesha on a Govardhan

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, and with everyone writing about Ganesha in some way or the other, I thought I should do a post too, but related to something I saw on my recent visit to Jaisalmer. Are you now confused? And wondering what connection Ganesha has to Govardhan and that too, Jaisalmer? Well, then, first, let me show you what I am talking about….




And now that you have seen it, let me draw your attention to the ‘a’ in the title. I am not talking about ‘The Govardhan Mountain’ but ‘a Govardhan’, and therein lies the difference! This Govardhan is a stone, a sort of marker, identifying a spot – usually water, in the desert. These markers were extensively used by the Paliwal community in Jaisalmer, to identify special sites. It could be the presence of water, or mark a tunnel, or a site for a temple. These stones were usually aligned with the directions of the compass, and had the figures of deities inscribed on them, usually, Ganesha, Vishnu, Hanuman, and another figure, which could be Rama or Krishna.  Here are some other views of the same Govardhan I showed you before…

Its certainly Vishnu on the left. Am not sure of the one on the right


This pair looks like Rama and Hanuman. What do you think?



An interesting tidbit, wouldn’t you agree? Thanks to the folks at Suryagarh for pointing them out and telling me about them! 

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Location: Jaisalmer, Rajasthan 345001, India

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