TFIPOST हिन्दी
TFIPOST Global
Tfipost.com
Tfipost.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    BJP Slams TMC's Kalyan Banerjee for Referring to PoK as ‘Azad Kashmir’, Mocking Security Forces in Parliament

    BJP Slams TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee for Referring to PoK as ‘Azad Kashmir’, Mocking Security Forces in Parliament

    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Pakistan Was Forced to Kneel Before India’s Might, Confirms Rajnath Singh

    Pakistan Couldn’t Handle India’s Retaliation, DGMO Pleaded for Truce: Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha

    BJP Ramps Up Protests Against Congress Plan to Split BBMP

    BJP Ramps Up Protests Against Congress Plan to Split BBMP, Cites Political Conspiracy

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    India Bans 25 OTT Platforms

    India Bans 25 OTT Platforms Including ULLU, ALTT & Desiflix for Obscene Content

    Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds formally signed the Free Trade Agreement

    India, UK Sign Historic FTA; Modi Sends Stern Message on Terror, Corruption, and Democracy Abuse

    What Can the Hindustan Zinc Share Price Tell Us About Strategic Resource Investing in India

    What Can the Hindustan Zinc Share Price Tell Us About Strategic Resource Investing in India

    How to Choose the Best Bank to Open a Savings Account in 2025

    How to Choose the Best Bank to Open a Savings Account in 2025

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    Pakistan Was Forced to Kneel Before India’s Might, Confirms Rajnath Singh

    Pakistan Couldn’t Handle India’s Retaliation, DGMO Pleaded for Truce: Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha

    Pahalgam Attack Mastermind Hashim Musa Eliminated in J&K

    Ex-Pak Para Commando, Pahalgam Attack Mastermind Hashim Musa Eliminated in J&K Encounter

    J&K Encounter Under Operation Mahadev: 3 Lashkar Terrorists Killed, Pahalgam Link Confirmed

    J&K Encounter Under Operation Mahadev: 3 Lashkar Terrorists Killed, Pahalgam Link Confirmed

    Landmark US Tech Transfer: India to Produce V-BAT Drones

    US Origin V-BAT Drones to Be Made in India Under Rare Defence Deal

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    India Rejects Western Pressure: National Interest Over Global Optics

    Should We Switch Off Our Economy? Indian Envoy’s Sharp Response to Question on Russian Oil

    China’s Failed Gamble in the Maldives: A Broader Pattern in South Asia

    China’s Failed Gamble in the Maldives: A Broader Pattern in South Asia

    Pakistan Backs Off: Islamabad Caves In on TRF After U.S. Terror Tag

    Pakistan Backs Off: Islamabad Caves In on TRF After U.S. Terror Tag

    From ‘India Out’ to Red Carpet Welcome: The Turnaround

    Modi-Muizzu Meet Yields Breakthrough Pacts, From ‘India Out’ to Red Carpet Welcome: The Turnaround

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • Education
    • History
    • Indology
    Chola Legacy, Modi’s Message: Restoring Dharma in Tamil Political Discourse

    Rajendra Chola to PM Modi: Reclaiming Tamil Nadu’s Forgotten Hindu Civilizational Heritage

    Schools in Delhi May Soon Bear Names of Local Kargil Martyrs, Says Minister on Vijay Diwas

    Schools in Delhi May Soon Bear Names of Local Kargil Martyrs, Says Minister on Vijay Diwas

    NCERT Textbook Reveals Mughal Religious Intolerance

    Ruthless Babur, Violent Akbar, Destructive Aurangzeb: NCERT Textbook Reveals Mughal Religious Intolerance

    India Built Gardens Long Before Babur Dreamt of Charbagh

    Before the Mughals: India’s Civilisation Built Gardens Long Before Babur Dreamt of Charbaghs

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Games
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Divya Deshmukh, First Indian to Win FIDE Women’s World Cup

    19-Year-Old Divya Deshmukh Makes History as First Indian Woman to Win FIDE World Cup

    How Rajabet Casino is Innovating Online Betting in India’s Competitive Market?

    India Cautions Citizens in Cambodia Amid Tensions Along Thai Border

    India Cautions its Citizens in Cambodia Amid Tensions Along Thai Border

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
Tfipost.com
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    BJP Slams TMC's Kalyan Banerjee for Referring to PoK as ‘Azad Kashmir’, Mocking Security Forces in Parliament

    BJP Slams TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee for Referring to PoK as ‘Azad Kashmir’, Mocking Security Forces in Parliament

    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Pakistan Was Forced to Kneel Before India’s Might, Confirms Rajnath Singh

    Pakistan Couldn’t Handle India’s Retaliation, DGMO Pleaded for Truce: Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha

    BJP Ramps Up Protests Against Congress Plan to Split BBMP

    BJP Ramps Up Protests Against Congress Plan to Split BBMP, Cites Political Conspiracy

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    India Bans 25 OTT Platforms

    India Bans 25 OTT Platforms Including ULLU, ALTT & Desiflix for Obscene Content

    Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds formally signed the Free Trade Agreement

    India, UK Sign Historic FTA; Modi Sends Stern Message on Terror, Corruption, and Democracy Abuse

    What Can the Hindustan Zinc Share Price Tell Us About Strategic Resource Investing in India

    What Can the Hindustan Zinc Share Price Tell Us About Strategic Resource Investing in India

    How to Choose the Best Bank to Open a Savings Account in 2025

    How to Choose the Best Bank to Open a Savings Account in 2025

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    Pakistan Was Forced to Kneel Before India’s Might, Confirms Rajnath Singh

    Pakistan Couldn’t Handle India’s Retaliation, DGMO Pleaded for Truce: Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha

    Pahalgam Attack Mastermind Hashim Musa Eliminated in J&K

    Ex-Pak Para Commando, Pahalgam Attack Mastermind Hashim Musa Eliminated in J&K Encounter

    J&K Encounter Under Operation Mahadev: 3 Lashkar Terrorists Killed, Pahalgam Link Confirmed

    J&K Encounter Under Operation Mahadev: 3 Lashkar Terrorists Killed, Pahalgam Link Confirmed

    Landmark US Tech Transfer: India to Produce V-BAT Drones

    US Origin V-BAT Drones to Be Made in India Under Rare Defence Deal

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    India Rejects Western Pressure: National Interest Over Global Optics

    Should We Switch Off Our Economy? Indian Envoy’s Sharp Response to Question on Russian Oil

    China’s Failed Gamble in the Maldives: A Broader Pattern in South Asia

    China’s Failed Gamble in the Maldives: A Broader Pattern in South Asia

    Pakistan Backs Off: Islamabad Caves In on TRF After U.S. Terror Tag

    Pakistan Backs Off: Islamabad Caves In on TRF After U.S. Terror Tag

    From ‘India Out’ to Red Carpet Welcome: The Turnaround

    Modi-Muizzu Meet Yields Breakthrough Pacts, From ‘India Out’ to Red Carpet Welcome: The Turnaround

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • Education
    • History
    • Indology
    Chola Legacy, Modi’s Message: Restoring Dharma in Tamil Political Discourse

    Rajendra Chola to PM Modi: Reclaiming Tamil Nadu’s Forgotten Hindu Civilizational Heritage

    Schools in Delhi May Soon Bear Names of Local Kargil Martyrs, Says Minister on Vijay Diwas

    Schools in Delhi May Soon Bear Names of Local Kargil Martyrs, Says Minister on Vijay Diwas

    NCERT Textbook Reveals Mughal Religious Intolerance

    Ruthless Babur, Violent Akbar, Destructive Aurangzeb: NCERT Textbook Reveals Mughal Religious Intolerance

    India Built Gardens Long Before Babur Dreamt of Charbagh

    Before the Mughals: India’s Civilisation Built Gardens Long Before Babur Dreamt of Charbaghs

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Games
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Paw-lling Error: Golden Retriever named ‘Dog Babu’ Gets Voter-Ready in Bihar

    Divya Deshmukh, First Indian to Win FIDE Women’s World Cup

    19-Year-Old Divya Deshmukh Makes History as First Indian Woman to Win FIDE World Cup

    How Rajabet Casino is Innovating Online Betting in India’s Competitive Market?

    India Cautions Citizens in Cambodia Amid Tensions Along Thai Border

    India Cautions its Citizens in Cambodia Amid Tensions Along Thai Border

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
Tfipost.com
Tfipost.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Premium
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Defense
  • Geopolitics
  • Knowledge
  • Law
  • Lounge

Elephanta Caves: How Mahadev’s beautiful Cave Temples are being desecrated

Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra by Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra
30 December 2021
in Opinions
Elephanta, Caves, UNESCO, Mumbai, World heritage site
Share on FacebookShare on X

The Elephanta Caves are cave temples dedicated to Mahadev. Essentially, they are a site of Hindu worship. Does anybody worship Mahadev inside these marvellous temples anymore? No. These temples have become mere tourist spots, where adharmic activities of the highest order can take place, where adharmics can do just about anything, and where nobody is required to take their shoes off even while standing close to the Shiva Lingams. 

All of this, while authorities taking care of the site will not blink an eye. They have a rather high tolerance capacity for nuisance and are more concerned about minting as much money as possible from tourists. 

RelatedPosts

‘Justice Denied’: What the 2006 Mumbai Train Blast Acquittals Say About Our Legal System

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Southern Legacy: The Maratha Flame in Tamil Nadu

Decades of Appeasement Under Fire as Urdu Sahitya Academy Faces Eviction in Mumbai

Load More

The Elephanta Caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, mostly in high relief, that show syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist ideas and iconography. Except for a few exceptions, much of the artwork is defaced and damaged. The main temple’s orientation as well as the relative location of other temples are placed in a mandala pattern. The Elephanta Caves are most commonly placed between the 5th and 7th centuries.

Did you know that the temples inside these caves were sites of active worship until Portuguese colonisers set foot in India with an extremist form of Christianity in their hands? 

They established a base on Elephanta island. The name ‘Elephanta caves’ is also a legacy that Indians have carried over for incomprehensible and uncreative reasons. The island is called ‘Gharapuri’, and there is an immediate need to refer to the caves as such. The term ‘Gharapuri Leni’ is used by locals, and that is what should be mainstreamed soon.

How the UNESCO Tag has Made Things Worse

What does a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation mean? It means that a monument or a city is a protected site, due to its importance based on any one of ten selection criteria including historical, cultural or architectural significance. 

The management body of the heritage site also gets generous funding from UNESCO, which is the biggest socio-cultural preservation institution in the world.

The thing with the UNESCO World Heritage designation is that it is centred totally on tourism. What the designation does is protect the cultural, archaeological and architectural importance of the location, while also boosting tourism.

One of the unintended consequences of UNESCO protection is extreme tourist development. And when a temple is reduced into a picnic stop, you have people doing what they like — norms get blurred and people can come in wearing jeans, pyjamas, shorts and other such attire. You are not left with a dress code. And while some devotees will wear traditional attire out of respect, not everyone will be courteous enough.

Brihadisvara Temple, a Hindu mandir dedicated to Mahadev Shiva located in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur on the southern bank of the Cauvery River too is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, it has become a tourist hotspot. 

Read more: How UNESCO’s world heritage status hurts the sanctity of Thanjavur’s Brihadisvara Temple

Similarly, the Gharapuri Leni (Elephanta caves) are also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Anyone visiting Mumbai makes it a point to visit these caves. Not for spiritual, religious or cultural purposes, mind you. But simply for recreation and photography. These magnificent cave temples of Mahadev have been turned into tourist spots with unrestricted entry, and a spot where indecency has become an acceptable form of behaviour. 

https://twitter.com/PranitSatardek1/status/1475350359493136385?s=20

With people in the country becoming financially capable to boost tourism, tourists are increasingly looking for ‘new’ sites to visit. Tourists often end up searching for amazing destinations and what better destination to visit than a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Unfortunately, nobody is aware of the sacred nature of the Gharapuri caves. The stone carvings of Hindu deities too, do not seem to affect tourists, who walk around the caves with absolute contempt for tradition. 

There is an immediate need for Indians to read up the history of these pious caves and develop a sense of reverence which is fast becoming absent among them.

Also Read: Tiruvannamalai Arunachaleshwar Temple – History & how to reach

Tags: Brihadisvara TempleElephanta CavesGharapuri LeniMumbaiShiva LingaUNESCO World Heritage Site
Share20TweetSend
Previous Post

Kamal Haasan’s derogatory depiction of Mahadev can never be forgiven

Next Post

Elon Musk and China are on collision course, literally

Related Posts

Ahead of Operation Sindoor Debate, Congress Faces Dilemma: Veterans Sidelined, Dynasts and Lightweights in Focus
Analysis

Congress’ Operation Sindoor Debate Dilemma: Veterans Sidelined, Dynasts and Lightweights in Focus

28 July 2025

As the Lok Sabha prepares for a high-stakes debate on Operation Sindoor, the Congress Party finds itself in a...

The Decline of Jat Political Dominance in North India: A Post-Dhankhar Reality Check
Analysis

The Decline of Jat Political Dominance in North India: A Post-Dhankhar Reality Check

28 July 2025

The resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has sent ripples across India’s political landscape, particularly within the Jat community....

A Response to Dr. Ruchika Sharma’s Reading of History
Opinions

On Truth and Taxes: A Response to Dr. Ruchika Sharma’s Reading of History

23 July 2025

In her recent piece in The Indian Express, historian Ruchika Sharma takes aim at the revised NCERT Class VIII...

Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Currently Playing

Inside the ₹30,000 Cr Tug of War Between Karisma Kapoor and Sunjay’s Family

Inside the ₹30,000 Cr Tug of War Between Karisma Kapoor and Sunjay’s Family

00:04:08

Should the HR&CE Exist? The Controversial Control Over Hindu Temples in Tamil Nadu

00:06:31

Will India Buy F-35s from US or Build Su-57s with Russia? IAF’s Big Push Explained

00:08:32

PM Modi’s Blueprint for Tamil Nadu Begins at Rajendra Chola’s Capital Gangaikonda Cholapuram

00:07:57

One Woman. Two Brothers. Jodidaran- A Living Example of Polyandry in Himachal's Hatti Tribe.

00:05:32
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube
tfipostTfipost.com
Right Wing | News Analysis | Indian Opinion
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
MASHABLE IS A GLOBAL, MULTI-PLATFORM MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY. FOR MORE QUERIES AND NEWS, CONTACT US AT info@mashablepartners.com


©2025 TFI Media Private Limited

No Result
View All Result
  • Premium
  • Politics
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Law
  • Lounge
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
TFIPOST हिन्दी
TFIPOST Global

©2025 TFI Media Private Limited