Elephanta

Elephanta, an island in the Indian Ocean, in the presidency of Bombay, and 6 miles from the city of Bombay. The island, which received its name from the Portuguese on account of the figure of an elephant cut in the rock, is renowned for its grottoes or underground temples, which are very ancient Indian monuments. The principal of these temples, which are reached by a staircase leading to a terrace, is 130 feet in height, 123 in breadth, and 18 feet high, supported on many pillars of solid rock, and has a figure of the Hindoo Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. There are other caves carved with mythological subjects.