Goa Gajah, The Elephant Cave With No Elephant

There are more than a lot of temples in Bali. Some are new, some are old and the others are categorized as ancient temples. One of ancient temples in Bali is Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) in Ubud. Goa Gajah is located in Bedulu village, Blahbatuh district, Gianyar regency. Goa Gajah is very close to Ubud, and around 27 km from Denpasar.

The name of Goa Gajah which literally means “Elephant Cave” leads people to think that they will find elephants in the place. Sadly, you will not find any elephants in Goa Gajah. The history of the name “Goa Gajah” is still uncertain, but there are some speculations. First, the name of Goa Gajah was taken from the name of the river in the area, Petanu River which oroginally named “Lwa Gajah” or “Gajah River”. The other speculation is the name of “Gajah” refers to Ganesha, the Hindu God with elephant head. The last speculation about the name of Goa Gajah is referring to the ancient inscriptions that found which are talked about Goa Gajah with the name “Antakunjarapada”.

What you can find in Goa Gajah is the combination of ancient cave, ancient stone-wall carving, and the beautiful of nature. The area is divided into the north and south area. In the north area, you will find Hinduism and in the south area, you will find the Buddhist. In Goa Gajah, the main object is the cave itself, with a big stone-wall carving on the door of the cave. The carving is believed to protect the cave from the evil spirit. Inside the cave in Goa Gajah, you will find the place to pray, it is believed that long time ago it was a place to pray and meditate for the priests. You will also find three stones with different colors clothes wrapped to it. The stones are the representation of the three main of Hindu God is Bali, Brahma, Wisnu and Siva. In front of the cave, you will find the ancient fountain and bathing pool. The fountain and the pool are believed to be a place to do “melukat”, the activities of bathing to clean yourself spiritually.

To go to the Buddhist site in the south area of Goa Gajah, you have to go downstairs. In the south area of Goa Gajah, you will find more trees, a river, a pond, and of course the Buddhist statues. It is cooler in the south area because of the trees, and you will also find a pond full of Lotus. You also can go down to the river to see the Buddhist statue in Goa Gajah closely, and feel the freshness of the water of the river in Goa Gajah. Don’t worry cause the river is not deep at all, it is only your feet depth. You can go around the south area of Goa Gajah then you will find yourself in the back side of the cave. So you don’t have to turn around and see the same things to go back to the entrance of Goa Gajah.