The Elephant Cave or locally known as Goa Gajah is believed to have been carved in the 11th century on a hillside as a monastery which is used by the Balinese as a holy place to worship God Shiva and his elephant-headed son Ganesha. The entrance of the cave is of a carved menacing face with a widely-opened mouth.
Inside the cave, which is T-shaped, the phallic symbol of God Shiva (Lingam), its female counterpart (Yoni) and statue of Ganesha are placed in three different points. The cave itself is pretty narrow and not big. In other words, the cave could be suffocating at times when visitors are flocking in; not to mention that the cave is also frequented by the Balinese to pray.
In front of the cave are two enormous rectangular bathing pools with water fountains. The pools have water gushing from waterspouts held by standing female statues, which also by many visitors are used as the background when taking pictures. Little ruins of the temples that were struck by a huge earthquake in the past were neatly placed in a yard right the opposite of the pools.
Big ruins can be spotted down the hill through the mossy steps. The view below is spectacular, especially with the tropical rainforest atmosphere and the sound of running water from a nearby river. A Buddha statue can be found within a small temple in this area, which gives a vivid picture on how it was like Bali in the past.
In front of the cave are two enormous rectangular bathing pools with water fountains. The pools have water gushing from waterspouts held by standing female statues, which also by many visitors are used as the background when taking pictures. Little ruins of the temples that were struck by a huge earthquake in the past were neatly placed in a yard right the opposite of the pools.
Big ruins can be spotted down the hill through the mossy steps. The view below is spectacular, especially with the tropical rainforest atmosphere and the sound of running water from a nearby river. A Buddha statue can be found within a small temple in this area, which gives a vivid picture on how it was like Bali in the past.
