Goa Gajah - Elephant Cave: Bedulu, Bali

By Wombat | October 29th, 2005 | No Comments

A few of the people I have been showing around Bali wanted to see the Elephant Caves, or Goa Gajah. When we arrived there, a ceremony had just finished.

As you descend the steep steps into the shallow valley, the first sight that attracts your attention is the gaping mouth of the cave. Further down the steps, the holy bathing pools and square ancient relics, like prehistoric gravestones, standing firm in a in a large rectangle.

Ancient stone relics

Bathing Pools

Goa Gajah was thought to be hermitage for 11th Century Hindu priests. The doorway to the cave, the upper jaw of a monstrous head, and its representation scopes two views - some say it represents the widow-witch Rangda, others say it is the earth god Bhoma.

As you enter the T-shaped cave hewn by hand from the rocky hillside, you can see the meditation cells for the hermits or ascetics. Inside the damp and dark cave, on the left-hand side in a niche is a statue of the Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesh, and to the the right-hand side, three Linggas, the phallic symbols of Siwa.

Outside the cave, I ham’d it up with some of the locals before departing.