Elephanta Caves 3D Model: CyArk’s Reality Capture Mission

CyArk, in collaboration with Iron Mountain and Google Arts & Culture, recently completed a high-resolution Elephanta Caves 3D model and immersive virtual tour, bringing this UNESCO World Heritage Site to life. The effort combined laser scanning, photogrammetry, and local expertise to create a digital twin of the cave complex—despite having only two days on-site.

What Are the Elephanta Caves?

The Elephanta Caves are a network of rock-cut temples dating back to the 5th to 8th centuries, dedicated primarily to the Hindu god Shiva. Carved into solid basalt, the site features massive sculpted reliefs, pillars, and shrines—many of which are deteriorating due to time, tourism, and environmental exposure. Their location on an island and the lack of comprehensive documentation made them an ideal candidate for CyArk’s preservation mission.

Chris Whitesides and Gaurav Gamre at Elephanta Caves Entrance

A Collaborative Effort: Meet the Team

CyArk partnered with INSTUCEN Trust (India Study Centre), a leading Indian research and education institution that played a vital role in securing permits, navigating government relations, and contributing to multiple aspects of the project. INSTUCEN provided narration for the virtual experience, participated in the scanning process, and offered subject-matter experts in Indian etchings, epigraphy (inscriptions), history, anthropology, and geology. These experts are featured in the interactive Tapestry experience, which will be explored later in this article.

Three CyArk staff members traveled to Elephanta Island to train INSTUCEN participants in reality capture techniques. Once trained, the CyArk and INSTUCEN teams collaborated to document the site together.

L-R: Lead CyArk trainer Rob Kesack with Professors Yogini Aatreya and Riddhi Joshi from Instucen Trust

A Challenging Field Effort

The team was permitted only two days on-site to complete the documentation, so efficiency was critical. Each day began very early. By sunrise, the heat and humidity were already intense. To reach Elephanta Island before the public ferry service began, the team hired a local fishing boat to transport them from Navi Mumbai.

The trip took them through an active industrial port, passing massive container ships before arriving at the island dock. From there, they faced a steep climb—approximately 1,000 stone steps, equivalent to about 50 flights of stairs—carrying all of their scanning and photography equipment in sweltering conditions.

At the top, officials from the Archaeological Survey of India granted early access to the site. The first two hours each morning, before tourists arrived, were essential for uninterrupted work. After that window, the site was open to the public, and thousands of visitors passed through each day. The team continued documenting the caves during open hours, but managing crowds made progress significantly slower.

Project team ferrying to Elephanta on local fishing boat

Creating the Elephanta Caves 3D Model: Technology and Workflow

The team scanned from 197 positions using a FARO Focus Premium scanner with an average point spacing of 4mm. Color scanning was used to help with alignment of photogrammetry and laser scan data later in the process. CyArk pre-registered data in FARO SCENE and completed final alignment in Leica Cyclone. Simultaneously, they captured more than 6,500 high-resolution photographs, processed in CaptureOne for color correction, then integrated with the lidar data in Epic Games RealityScan.

The color-balanced photogrammetry data was merged with the lidar scans to produce a fully textured, metrically accurate 3D model. Lidar-derived geometry provided precise scale, while photogrammetry added realism through detailed textures. The result was 3GB model with a 4mm texel size—the e57 point cloud is 113GB.

Documentation sites within Elephanta Caves

Light & Color – The Biggest Challenge for this Model

Aside from the limited time, the most challenging aspect of data collection was managing the wide variation in lighting conditions within the caves. Areas near cave entrances were well lit by natural daylight, while deeper chambers were dark, requiring longer exposure times for photography. These inconsistencies made color balancing difficult. To address this, the team used color calibration cards photographed within various parts of the site to ensure consistent color representation across the entire model. This process helped maintain visual accuracy despite the uneven lighting environment.

Variable light conditions were a challenge for maintaining color balance across the model

Don’t Delay, Visit Elephanta Today!

You can explore Elephanta today through CyArk’s Tapestry platform or via the embedded viewer below. The interactive experience features a high-resolution 3D model of the cave complex, enhanced with expert narration, detailed photography, and multilingual support. Visitors can navigate freely, access interpretive content, and learn about the site’s history, architecture, and preservation efforts—no sweaty stairs required!

While you’re on Tapestry, be sure to explore other immersive heritage experiences available on the platform. CyArk undertakes numerous projects each year, with new content added regularly. Exciting developments are on the horizon—including upcoming 3D Gaussian Splat experiences—which promise to reduce production time and cost, making it possible to document and share even more cultural sites in the future.

CyArk also releases their raw lidar and photogrammetry data on Open Heritage 3D for those interested.