ELEPHAN’TA ISLE

or GHARAPURI, a small island in the Bay of Bombay, between Bombay and the mainland, 6 miles north-east of the ~ Head of Indian Elephant former; circumference about 5 miles. It consists of two long hills chiefly overgrown with wood. A city is supposed to have flourished on the island between the third and tenth centuries, but now it has only a few inhabitants, who rear sheep and poultry for the Bombay market. It is celebrated for its rock temples or caves, the chief of which is a cave-temple supposed by Fergu on to belong to the tenth century, 130 feet long, 123 broad, and 18 high. It is supported by pillars cut out of the rock, and containing a colo al figure of the trimurti or Hindu Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. The temple is still used by the Bania caste for the Sawa at certain festivals.