In the middle of Mumbai Harbour, the rock-cut temples on Elephanta Island are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and worth crossing the waters for. Home to a labyrinth of cave-temples carved into the basalt rock of the island, the art-work represents some of the most impressive temple cravings of all India. The main Shiva-dedicated temple is an intriguing latticework of courtyards, halls, pillars and shrines, with the magnum opus a 6m tall statue of Sadhashiva - depicting a three-faced Shiva as destroyer, creator and preserver of the universe.
The temples are thought to have been created between AD 450 and 750, when the island was known as Gharapuri. The Portuguese renamed it Elephanta Island because of a large stone elephant near the shore, which collapsed in 1814 and was moved by the British to Mumbai's Jijamata Uydan.
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