Sadashiva Cave temple of Shiva Elephanta Island

The statue of Eternal Shiva (Sadashiva) at Elephanta is rich in multiple associations and meanings, an attempt to render the Godhead in visible form. The great height (7m) and darkness of the statue reinforce Shiva's mysterious awesomeness, which must have been even more impressive during worship, when the statue would have been illuminated by the flickering light of numerous small oil lamps. There are hints from early travelers that the cave may also have been plastered and painted, although no traces of this remain today.

Shiva's majestic central face (Tatpurusha-Mahadeva) is calm and detached, the eyes closed in meditation. His right-facing head (Vamadeva-Uma) is peaceful and feminine, with out-thrust lower lip (like a flower?), contemplating a lotus. His left-facing head (Aghora-Bhairava) is fierce and masculine, scrutinizing the head of a cobra. The three faces taken together express the contradictory nature of the Divine, which gathers up and transcends all opposites.

This form of Shiva has a fourth head (Sadyojata-Nandin), which is here present conceptually but not physically. It is seen in other sculptures, for example, a smaller Sadashiva that was recovered from the Elephanta site and is now in the Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay.