Goa Gajah

Ancient Hindu cave sanctuary with carved demon face entrance, 3 km from Ubud

Goa Gajah is a Hindu-Buddhist sanctuary about 3 km east of Ubud on the road toward Gianyar. The entrance to the cave is the face of a fanged demon carved into a rocky hillside — you step through the gaping mouth into a small T-shaped cave used for meditation, containing niches with Hindu and Buddhist icons. Outside, excavated bathing pools with carved water-spouting figures line a terrace above a forested ravine.

A sarong and sash are required (available to borrow). Arrive early — the site gets crowded by mid-morning as tour buses arrive. The forested ravine below the temple is worth exploring: stone-carved niches and a small waterfall are visible from the lower path. The site is easy to reach from Ubud by bicycle, scooter, or taxi.

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A story
Goa Gajah — "Elephant Cave" — is at least a thousand years old, possibly much older. The entrance is carved into the face of a demon whose gaping mouth you walk through to enter the cave. Inside is a T-shaped tunnel with niches for meditation. The name may come from the nearby Petanu River (once called the Elephant River), or from the elephant-headed Ganesha figure inside. When Dutch archaeologists first documented it in 1923 they found it almost entirely engulfed in vegetation; the bathing pools outside were not excavated until 1954.

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