Enjoy the Goa Gajah / Elephant Cave Temple

Gua Gajah (Elephant Cave)  is located in west side of Bedulu countryside, Blah Batuh Sub district and Gianyar Regency. It is about 27 km from Denpasar town. This cave is built at crevasse edge from the federation of 2 rills that is called Pangkung River , where the irrigation is mixed with Petanu River flow. The federation area of two rivers is called Campuhan/Mixture. It owns the magical energy on the basis of Rwabineda Concept/two different matters on this basic concept hence Gua Gajah (Elephant Cave) is intentionally built among two rivers.

From Ubud head for Bedulu and look out for the obvious ‘tourist object’ indicated by the crowd of people around. Goa Gajah is named after Sungai Petanu (Elephant River) and dates back to the 11th Century. Originally the temple was a dwelling for Hindu priests. The main highlights of this temple are the short cave with the massive carved face entrance and the holy pools. Visitors will go into the cave, spending several minutes in the darkness checking out the Shiva lingum at the end, before exiting to take holy water.

The large gaping mouth at the cave entrance is probably in honor of the Earth god Bhoma, or alternatively the witch Rangda. Wrapped up in symbolism, the scary cave entrance might mean one is being devoured or at least entering another reality. Many people view the temple entrance to be a a carved elephant’s head and apparently there are other animal shapes either side of the entrance.
The interior of the short cave is shaped like a T-junction. Inside the darkness takes a moment to get used to, although there in no danger of getting lost. The interior was cut my Balinese priests centuries ago by hand. Balinese legend says the giant Kebo Iwa carved the cave out with his fingernails in only 1 night. The Shiva lingga (Hindu stone phallic symbols representing fertility), of which there are 3, are located at the end of right turn. At the end of the left turn is a Ganesha statue. Shiva (the Destroyer) of course represents death. In many cultures around the world, for example the Amazonian tribes S. America, the shaman, or witch-doctor deals with the realm of death and transcendence. Perhaps the darkness and threatening nature of Goa Gajah was a place for early Balinese priests to delve into another reality temporarily.

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