As we trudged through the scrub jungle on a hill on the Elephanta Island off the Mumbai coast on March 17, 2026, Abhijit Ambekar declared with a flourish, “We will show you the wonder-discovery of our excavation.” Professor Abhijit Dandekar chipped in, “It is a show-stopper.”

As we reached the trench, where several men and women were excavating the soil deep below, it was clear that it was a spectacular discovery. There it was: a series of steps leading to a reservoir below. In other words, it was a stepped reservoir or a reservoir built with a wide staircase of perfectly aligned stone blocks.

Dr. Ambekar, director of the current excavation and Superintending Archaeologist, Mumbai Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), estimated the stepped reservoir to be about 1,500 years old.

“It is a massive structure—about 14.7 metres long, and 6.7 metres and 10.8 metres wide, forming a T-shape. The excavation has reached a depth of five metres so far. We have exposed 20 steps. The steps are built with stone-blocks which are not from the island. They were ferried from the mainland,” he said.

While rock-cut cisterns have been found earlier on the Elephanta Island, the discovery of this stepped reservoir was important because it was a carefully designed architecture for storing water, Dr. Ambekar said. “Although the island receives a large amount of rainfall from the monsoon, very little seeps into the soil because of the island’s rocky nature, and the water runs off into the sea,” he said. Hence, this stepped reservoir, which was “a remarkable engineering work.”

The ASI’s Mumbai Circle began the excavation here in November 2025. It has excavated 19 trenches, each measuring 10 metres x 10 metres.

The excavation has so far yielded a beautifully built brick structure, which could be a dyeing vat for colouring textiles, a big storage pot, terracotta figurines, glass and stone bangles, beads made of carnelian and quartz and stone anchors. A total of about 3,000 amphorae sherds of Mediterranean origin and torpedo jar sherds from West Asia, including Mesopotamia, have been unearthed. Amphorae and torpedo jars were used for storing wine, oil and fish sauce. Their potsherds showed the island’s long-distance maritime contacts.

Importantly, 60 copper, lead and silver coins have so far been found in the excavations. Several copper coins have been identified as belonging to ruler Krishnaraja of the Kalachuri dynasty of the sixth century CE, said Dr. Abhijit Dandekar, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology of Deccan College, Pune. The identification was made on the basis of the motif of a seated bull on the obverse and a temple symbol with the legend of Sri Krishnaraja on the reverse, he said.

The Elephanta Island comprised three port localities—Morabandar, Rajbandar and Shethbandar. It had maritime trade contacts with Rome and West Asia during the Early Historic period and later during the second century CE.

The island is known for its massive rock-cut caves, with sculptures dedicated to Siva, which (sculptures) belong to fifth century CE.