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Private Elephanta Caves UNESCO Tour
4.9
29 Ratings
Mumbai
Explore the ancient Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and marvel at the stunning rock-cut stone sculptures dedicated to Lord Shiva. Discover the rich history and cultural significance of these Hindu and Buddhist caves.
Explore the ancient Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and marvel at the stunning rock-cut stone sculptures dedicated to Lord Shiva. Discover the rich history and cultural significance of these Hindu and Buddhist caves.
Duration:
6 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Elephanta Caves - The Elephanta Caves contain rock cut stone sculptures that show syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist ideas and iconography.
They were named Elefante - which morphed to Elephanta
- by the colonial Portuguese when they found elephant statues on it. They established a base on the island, and its soldiers damaged the sculpture and…
-
Elephanta Caves - The Elephanta Caves contain rock cut stone sculptures that show syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist ideas and iconography.
They were named Elefante - which morphed to Elephanta
-
by the colonial Portuguese when they found elephant statues on it. They established a base on the island, and its soldiers damaged the sculpture and caves.
The island is 2.4 km (1.5 mi) in length with two hills that rise to a height of about 150 m (490 ft). A narrow deep ravine separates the two hills and runs from north to south. On the west, the hill rises gently from the sea and stretches east across the ravine and rises gradually to the extreme east to a height of 173 m (568 ft). - Gateway of India - The Gateway of India is a monument built during the 20th century in Mumbai. The structure is a basalt arch, 26 m high. It was a crude jetty used by the fishing community which was later renovated and used as a landing place for British governors and other prominent people. In earlier times, it would have been the first structure that visitors arriving by boat in Mumbai would have seen. The structure was erected to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder, when they visited India in 1911. Built in Indo-Saracenic style. The Gateway was later the ceremonial entrance to India for Viceroys and the new Governors of Bombay. It served to allow entry to India.
What's Included
- Private transportation
- Bottled water
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- All fees and/or taxes
- Private transportation
- Bottled water
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- All fees and/or taxes
What's Not Included
- Lunch
- Air-conditioned vehicle for Group Tour
- Lunch
- Air-conditioned vehicle for Group Tour
Additional Information
The Elephanta Caves are recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage location and consist of five Hindu and two Buddhist caves. These Hindu caves house rock cut sculptures executed in solid basalt rock, symbolizing the Shaiva Hindu sect dedicated to Lord Shiva. Previously, all caves were adorned with paint, but only remnants persist today. The primary cave,…
The Elephanta Caves are recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage location and consist of five Hindu and two Buddhist caves. These Hindu caves house rock cut sculptures executed in solid basalt rock, symbolizing the Shaiva Hindu sect dedicated to Lord Shiva. Previously, all caves were adorned with paint, but only remnants persist today. The primary cave, also regarded as the Great Cave, served as a Hindu worship area until the inception of Portuguese rule in 1534, which led to significant damage to the caves. Following years of disregard, this cave was restored in the 1970s and claimed the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 to conserve the art within.
Location
Regal Cinema
This option is for the traveler choose Elephanata Group tour
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(29 Ratings)
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235colinj
Jan 8, 2025
UNESCO were SO right...! - Booked through Young's Tours and had a fantastic afternoon. Firstly getting to see the iconic Gateway was such a thrill and the seagulls provided the entertainment on the ferry crossing.
Both our guides were very accommodating and knowledgeable and helped take some innovative photos! ,😃
(It amazes me how such sculptures and uniformed building work could possibly have been done best part of 1400+ years ago!)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michelbt3019df
Jan 1, 2025
Memorable experience - Memorable experience with a very endearing guide, Samir, native of the island who knows it perfectly and has communicated his knowledge with great generosity and passion
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ashatanchik
Nov 19, 2024
Wonderful Tour of Elephanta Caves - I had a great experience on the Private Elephanta Caves tour! My guide, Samir, was fantastic—he shared many fascinating details about the religious significance of the site, making the visit even more meaningful. The tour itself took about two hours
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Annetcm
Nov 14, 2024
Great day - Great day with Divya. Well organised trip and good communication. Really enjoyed seeing the caves with wonderful ancient statues although so sad to learn how they were damaged by being used for target practice by early colonisers. Had local guide for caves part of tour and interesting to learn about life on the island. Also enjoyed the boat trip and being out on the water.
The slum tour was amazing and not at all what I expected. I visited Divya’s home and was so interesting to learn about the positives of living in a crowded but very caring and supportive community.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mrsarawut18
Nov 3, 2024
Review of Elephanta caves India - This place is very beautiful and inside the cave there is a beautiful history of sculptures carved in the cave and the preservation of this place is also very good.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Curious53747852480
Oct 17, 2024
Perfect tour - Nice trip with the boat to the Island, with a nice guide. The local guide at the caves was also very good and told us a lot of interestig details.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Compass05504654833
Jul 19, 2024
Elephant Island - Shot version: Awesome experience, hopefully you will get Samir as a guide, cant recomend it enough.
Long version:
I booked this tour way in advance for me and my friends trip to Mumbai, straight away I got a message from Rahul the tour operator making sure we had all our details right and what we needed to think about. When the day came for our tour they contacted us again to make sure everything was right.
We got Samir as our guide and he was on time and very professional all throughout the day. When we were supposed to go it was problem with storms so the ferry that usually picked up tourists were not going. So Rahul handled the situation and got us a fishing boat to ferry us over from another side of Mumbai as long as we could get there by cab. Our guide Samir booked us an affordable uber and off we went.
After a bumpy but nice ride over to the island via the fishing boat we experienced the caves all alone with Samir and it was an incredible experience. Samir was very knowledgeable about the hindu religion, the caves, the statues and everything. He really elevated the experience by giving us in depth stories about the caves and the shiva statues . It was our favorite tour in Mumbai and I cant recommend it enough.
/Niklas
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Superg86
May 10, 2024
Great Day Trip to Elephanta Caves. - This has a 5/5 because I had an excellent day being shown around the Caves by the guide. I was picked up and dropped off on time. The cave guide had fantastic knowledge and took some amazing photos of me.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ladytinky
Apr 16, 2024
A must when in Mumbai - This was well worth the visit. The ferry ride takes about 40 mins and then a train ride followed by an uphill walk to the caves. I had people carry me up there. Caves were amazing and the guide was so good and helped with taking pics.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Davidtrimm
Apr 29, 2024
OK if nothing else to do… - The boat ride out takes about an hour and a half (depends on tides and weather) and, of course, the same back. You need about an hour at the caves, but no longer. The caves are interesting, but not stunning. Historical and well-carved, but is this really a UNESCO world heritage site? They are well explained, but basically there are seven set-piece forms of Lord Shiva - most of which were damaged long ago by Portuguese soldiers. We slept on the way back. If you have ~4 hours to kill, then why not - it is quite relaxing on the boat - but you may be left wondering if it was worth the time.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
