Goa Gajah Temple: Guide To Ubud’s Elephant Cave
Goa Gajah Temple, also known as Ubud’s Elephant Cave, is one of the coolest historical locations to visit in Bali. Thought to be at least 1,000 years old, I personally enjoyed visiting Goa Gajah more than other popular temples in Ubud, like Tirta Empul Water Temple, because it receives fewer tourists and crowds. That being said, for some reason, there are a wild amount of scammers at this temple which detracts from the location’s historical significance and beauty.
All About Goa Gajah: History & More
Goa Gajah’s name literally translates to “Elephant Cave” in Indonesian, and it’s referred to by both names. The origin of Goa Gajah is a bit murky because it is so ancient. The Elephant Cave is at least 1,000 years old. No one knows who built Goa Gajah due to its age. It wasn’t discovered in the modern-day until it was excavated in 1923 by Dutch archaeologists.
How Old is Goa Gajah?
Goa Gajah is thought to date back to the 11th century, making it over 1,000 years old! There are relics present at Goa Gajah older than the 11th century, which makes it possible (but not confirmed) that Goa Gajah is even older. Although the cave is thought to be more than 1,000 years old, the first written mention of Goa Gajah was in the year 1365 in a Javanese poem called Desawarnana.
Why is Goa Gaja Called the Elephant Cave?
Originally it was thought that the large figure at the mouth of the cave was an elephant, but now it’s thought that it might be the Hindu god Ganesh, who is frequently portrayed as having an Elephant’s head. You can see some smaller Elephant statues inside the cave.
What Makes Goa Gajah Temple So Special?
Besides its rich history, Goa Gajah is unique in Bali because it’s a temple complex with both Hindu and Buddhist religions present. The famous Elephant Cave is Hindu, and there’s also an active Buddhist temple in the complex – as well as ruins of a Buddhist temple that was destroyed by an earthquake in the 20th century.
What You Will Find At Goa Gajah Temple Complex
✅ The Elephant Cave
The first thing you’ll notice is the giant and highly decorated Elephant Cave. With the opening styled like a giant demonic mouth, it’s a very intimidating cave to enter, but once you’re inside it’s actually surprisingly small. On one side of the cave there’s a small statue devoted to the Hindu God Ganesh, and on the other are three small statues devoted to (possibly) the god Shiva.
✅ Hindu Baths
One of the most famous things to do in Ubud is to visit the famous Pura Tirta Empul for a Hindu purification ritual. There’s a smaller version of these baths in the Goa Gaja complex that gets way fewer tourists than the Pura Tirta Empul. The baths at Goa Gajah were the most recently excavated site on the complex. Only discovered in the 1950s, the baths feature 7 statues of women which represent the 7 holy rivers in India: the Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Sindhi, Narmada, Kaveri, and Sarasvati Rivers -One statue was destroyed by an earthquake, but the others are relatively intact and still pour water.
✅ A Buddhist Temple
There were lots of signs pointing towards the Buddhist temple on the Goa Gajah temple complex, but I personally found the active Buddhist temple on the grounds rather underwhelming. What was very interesting was the ruins of a much older Buddhist temple that was either destroyed by an earthquake in 1917 or the 1940s, depending on who you ask. The original Buddhist temple is said to be even older than the Elephant Cave, dating back to the 9th century.
✅ A Sacred Garden
The garden was my favorite unexpected part of the Goa Gajah temple grounds. It’s immaculately maintained with lots of flowers, and it’s a beautiful contrast to the stone ruins of the old Buddhist temple in the garden. You can have a Hindu blessing done here, like we did, for a small fee.
My Top Tips For Visiting Goa Gajah Temple
✔️ Bring mosquito repellant – There’s a small pond at the Goa Gajah temple complex, and Ubud is in the jungle so there are a lot of mosquitos. Keep in mind that mosquitos in Bali also carry diseases like Dengue Fever.
✔️ Enter the temple complex as quickly as possible – To avoid all the aggressive saleswomen in the parking lot!
✔️ Dress conservatively – If you have your legs showing they give you a free sarong rental at the temple.
✔️ Bring small bills for the entrance fee and tips
💰 Goa Gajah Temple Entrace Fee
The entrance fee at Goa Gajah temple is 50,000 Indonesian Rupiah ($3.50), and it includes a sarong rental because men and women need to have their knees covered to enter the temple.
How To Get To Goah Gajah Temple
Goa Gajah is located about a 10-minute drive from Ubud Center. The easiest way to get to Goa Gajah from Ubud town is either by renting a scooter yourself or hiring a scooter taxi through Grab or Gojek apps.
4 Scams To Look Out For At Goa Gajah Temple
Goa Gajah temple is uncharacteristically scammy for Bali. Here are a few of the travel scams we encountered at the Elephant Cave:
🚩 Ladies Lying and Saying You Need to Buy a Sarong (They’re Rented for Free at the Entrance)
The minute your scooter or car enters the Goa Gajah parking lot you will be charged by ladies selling sarongs. They’re racing each other to be the first person to reach a new tourist. Normally, this wouldn’t be a scam, just people trying to sell their goods – but the sarong ladies tell tourists they can’t enter Goa Gajah without buying a sarong from them. This is a bald-faced lie because every entrance ticket to Goa Gajah includes a free sarong rental.
🚩 A “Priest” Offering a Blessing at the Temple… And Then Demanding Payment
The same guy who wanted to take a picture of us came up and asked “Can I bless you” – I knew this was for money, but I had never gotten a Balinese Hindu blessing before so I let him perform the ritual on us. We tipped him 50K Indonesian Rupiah for the blessing. Something about pay-for-play for a blessing is kinda grimy, but it’s a good thing to do at least once in Bali.
🚩 Guys Telling You to Take a Photo & Then Asking for Payment
While we were in the temple gardens a man kept walking by and saying “Beautiful, this would be a beautiful spot for a photo”. We didn’t really want to take a photo there, but he was kinda hinting that he wanted to take a photo of us. Later the same guy was also saying “You should take a photo together” to me and my friend because we were taking photos of each other. Obviously, if we took a photo together we would need a guy to take a photo for us so that was his way of offering services.
👉 Sometimes if you let a guy at Goa Gajah take a photo of you, they follow your group around the complex, explaining the temple, and then demand a large tip at the end – even though you didn’t ask them to follow you.
🚩 Tour Guides Coming Up to You Unsolicited and Then Demanding Payment
Immediately upon entering the temple, you’ll be approached by a guy saying “Please enjoy our amazing temple, we have a Hindu temple on one side and a Buddhist temple on the other side, are you interested?” It actually took me a moment because it was phrased so oddly for me to figure out the man was selling his services as a tour guide. The guides at the temple will ask if you’re “interested” in the cave, and then tell you some information, and then ask for a tip.
These things are only a “scam”, per se, because payment isn’t discussed upfront. Instead, a man approaches you and acts like he works there and wants to share some facts about the temple, but he’s actually selling his services as a tour guide.
The guides don’t disclose prices up front and then at the end demand a high fee, like 300K Indonesian Rupiah ($20) for a few minutes tour. I would recommend hiring a tour guide to walk the grounds with you, but just negotiate it upfront rather than have a guy spout off three sentences about the temple and then ask for cash.
My Experience At Goa Gajah Temple
Goa Gajah is a little bit scammy compared to other attractions in Bali, but a more than worth-it addition to any Ubud Itinerary. I personally don’t like going to the main tourist spots in Ubud anymore, like the Pura Tirta Empul Water Temple, because the crowds have just gotten too out of control. So, I appreciated that Goa Gajah has a beautiful water-purification temple element with 1/10 the crowd. The Elephant Cave is what I would call a “hidden gem” in Ubud.
I took a Grab scooter taxi to Goa Gajah, and I was dropped off at the parking lot entrance. Immediately 3 women carrying sacks of fabric rushed up to me and crowded me, all shouting.
The sarong ladies were all screaming at me that I wouldn’t be allowed to enter the temple grounds without buying their sarongs.
I had already read online that entrance to Goa Gajah included a sarong rental, so I knew this was a scam – but what made it even more ridiculous was that I was already wearing a floor-length skirt!
A man pointed to a sign by the entrance, my eyes aren’t too good so it took me a second to make it out but apparently menstruating women aren’t allowed on the temple grounds 😬.
Obviously, no one is checking whether or not the visitors are menstruating, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind if you want to be a respectful visitor.
Once we entered the temple grounds things calmed down a lot. There were very few people there even though we went in the afternoon on a Sunday.
We were actually able to have the whole Elephant Cave to ourselves, which was amazing.
Once you enter the Elephant Cave it’s very smokey from all the incense. Little candles are burning by the ancient elephant shrines, it’s a very special place.
The complex is a lot larger than I thought before I visited. You can take a path through the jungle beyond the Elephant Cave and visit a beautiful garden, with a giant tree and ruins of older temples.
