hello everybody and welcome to ancient architects please subscribe now to get the latest ancient history news and independent research from around the world located on the island of bali near ubud indonesia is this ancient sanctuary in hindu archaeological sites known as goa gajar or the elephant cave the actual history of this structure is shrouded in mystery and the most common belief is that it was built for spiritual meditation for hindu priests or maybe a hermitage it could have also had a specific ritual function some say it got its name from the hindu god ganesh who has a statue inside but the name probably comes from its close proximity to the petanu river also known as the elephant river a folk tale says it was created by the fingernails of a legendary giant known as cabo iwa but historians have examined the style of architecture and believe it dates back to the NUMBER_TOKENth century in close proximity relics were discovered that predate the NUMBER_TOKENth century so the origins could go back much further it's possible the cave was dug out first and the ornamentation around the opening came later the first mention of this cave in history comes from the javanese poem called desavanana which was written in NUMBER_TOKEN. dutch archaeologists rediscovered the cave in NUMBER_TOKEN but the associated fountains and bathing pools located outside the cave were not found until NUMBER_TOKEN years later in NUMBER_TOKEN this was the last time the cave was explored and much of the area still remains unexcavated if you walk around you can literally see piles of relics of unknown origin and now out of context some of which have been laid out in a nearby garden the location is characterized as a sacred hindu site one of many on barley and is surrounded by a number of ancient temples we can see that the entrance of the elephant cave has many menacing faces that are carved into the stone and it's assumed they were added to ward off evil spirits walking through the demonic like mouth and it's like you're entering some kind of underworld some claim the entrance represents the hindu earth god boma but others say it could be something more sinister and it actually belongs to the child eating witch ranger a character from local balinese mythology the inside of the cave is actually very small you enter through a dark narrow passage and the cave ends with an intersection to the left is a small niche with a statue of ganesh the hindu god with an elephant head and to the right is a small chamber of worship where you can see the remains of a lingam a phallic symbol associated with the god shiva as well as his female counterpart the yoni but because a number of buddhist relics have also been discovered around the site including carved images of stupas and chatra not to mention the close proximity of a buddhist temple it is very possible it was a significant sight for both hinduism and buddhism in times gone by the two square bathing pools outside have water spouts held up by six female figures originally there were seven but one was damaged in an earthquake these seven statues and associated water spouts are said to depict the seven holy rivers of india in NUMBER_TOKEN goa gajar was added to the unesco world heritage tentative list but it was taken off NUMBER_TOKEN years later in NUMBER_TOKEN.
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