These caves are a shrine to the God Shiva and are situated on the island of Elephanta in the middle of Bombay harbour. In the watercolour the sculpture at the end of the cave shows the three aspects of Shiva the creator, the preserver and the destroyer.
The damage to the pillars which can be seen in the foreground occurred during the Portuguese occupation.
There is a drawing of an Indian subject dated 1837 by Rawlins in the British Museum