Elephanta Caves

The island has been referred to as Gharapuri (literally meaning village of caves) in ancient literature. It has a coastline of about 7 km, covers an area of 1050 ha and consists of two hills separated by a narrow valley. The highest point rises to a height of 173 m above sea level. The island once had a share of mangrove forest but a large chunk of it has gone missing over the years. The Portuguese named the island Elephanta, after a huge rock cut elephant statue found on the island. The elephant statue was damaged in attempts to relocate it to England, was moved to Victoria Gardens (now Jijamata Udyaan) in 1864, and reassembled in 1914. Because of its strategic location at the mouth of the Thane Creek, the island has served as a pit stop for ancient sailors dating back to the 2nd century BCE. The caves, for which the island is famous, came up much later. Nothing much is known about the history of the caves.