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| Home > Indian Sculptures > Hindu Sculptures > Ellora Caves
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| | Ellora Caves
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 The Ellora caves were carved into the sides of a basaltic rock of the Charanadari hill in Deccan, at Aurangabad. It is situated in the tiny mountain village of Verul - known today as Ellora. It is said that it is the finest specimens of `cave - temple architecture`. Presence of elaborate facades and exquisitely adorned interiors adds in the artistic glory of it. These structures were carved during the 350 AD to 1000 AD.
There are 34 caves at Ellora of which 12 are Buddhist, 17 Hindu and 5 Jain.
There are total 34 caves at the place covering a distance of about 2-km in length. And out of 34 caves, 12 of the caves are of Buddhist most probably of 600 AD to 800 AD, 17 are of Hindus from the period of 600 AD - 900 AD and the rest are of Jain from 800 AD - 1000 AD. So, these caves are a definite example of religious tolerance practiced by man.
The direction of caves is facing to the west, so the caves are best seen in the afternoon. The Buddhist caves are mainly situated to right to the curve of the Charanadari Hill, then there are the Hindu caves & finally, the Jain cave temples to the far left.
 One of the sculptures of the Buddhist caves, truly convey the nobility, grace and serenity inherent in the Buddha. Some caves house images that contains the Buddhist and Hindu faith under the same roof - the latter dedicated to the God of Vishwakarma, who is the patron saint of Indian craftsmen. The Vishvakarma cave can be said as both a Chaitya and a Vihara. Here, in a sitting position of Buddha is placed in the stupa.
Actually, the Ajanta & Ellora caves are nearby & created in almost same time, the chaityas and viharas of Ellora are architecturally and sculpturally different. When it is compared to the paintings and sculptures of Ajanta, the representations at Ellora are more earthly & even the minute details are also artistically carved in rock.
These rock sculptures show the elements from the Vajrayana School of Buddhism that was permeated with primitive ideas of magic and mysticism. This can be noticed with the presence of the dwarapalas to each doorway, the gigantic Boddhisattavas and their consorts have a robust earthiness in appearance. It is the architectural skill rather than the sculptural aesthetics that makes presence of Ellora noted.
At the pick of the carving skills is architecture of Kailashanath temple, a worship place of Hindus. It was built over 150 years before starting from 760 AD under the period of Rashtrakutas. This temple carving is perhaps the largest monolith in the world. Entire volume of the temple is covered with exquisite sculptures that are depicting various scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharatha.
About Kailasa Temple -
 These caves are extremely impressive. The Kailasa Temple is having a volume twice to that of any single cave. Approximately 200,000 tonnes of rock was excavated for the construction of temple, making the temple world`s largest monolithic structure. The craftsmen must have started working to downwards i.e. first chiseled the roof out of the rock and then worked on the subordinate part. Among the interiors, pillars were decorated rather than only being the functional. Kailasa is the home of Lord Shiva at Himalayas. So the temple is representing that home, it exquisitely contains sculptures that depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. There are five Jain caves, which are also worthwhile to see.
The temple is an example of unordinary skills. The other Buddhist caves as well as the first few Hindu caves are fair enough but the Kailasa temple is incomparable. The magnificence of Kailasa Temple or Cave 16 is unforgettable. It is believed that the work of carving has been started by the Rashtrakuta king, Krishna I. The excavation of rock must rank as an architectural wonder of India.
Two great trenches were dug into the hillside first, they were long -some of even 90 meters long. They were connected at the deepest point with the help of an another trench of 53 metres at the across. This gave the temple a look as though it is rising from a vast courtyard at ground level.
The great block of residual rock that is rising above 30 metres, was then carved into the three- storeyed vimana, the main mandapa, two giant dhwajasthambas or pillars, and four sub- shrines.
With starting from the top, the mass of rock was given the particular shape. And as the layer was shaped to its proposed shape, the sculptors began ornamenting the structure. Hence, before moving downward, each layer was hewn and decorated completely, that helped in eliminating the need for any scaffolding.
The main shrine and the Nandi mandapa are built on a plinth, at a higher level ranging over 7.8 metres. On the entire vertical surface of this is carved with mythical animals and gargoyles. The structure of the temple can be studied with reference of The Chota Kailasa temple.
The Main temple
 This is seen as flanked on either side of the two free- standing pillars of some 15.9 meters in height. The gracefully proportioned pillars attract the attention & believed to have once borne for the trishul or trident of Shiva.
Corridors have been carved into the mountain that ranges the temple on three sides. These corridors containing a series of sculpted figures depicting the scenes from the great Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
The Chota Kailasa temple
More 2 kms along the same rock-face are the Jain caves, considered as the most recent, having been excavated between AD 800-1100. And from these the Chota Kailasa in cave 30 and the Indrasabha in Cave 32 are the most noteworthy. Chhota Kailasa is basically a miniaturized version of the Hindu Kailasa temple. And the masterpiece of the Jain caves is no doubt can be represented through the Indrasabha temple.
 The doorway opens in a courtyard where a small shrine was placed. But the temple itself is of a large edifice due to appearance of a high flight of steps and flanked by a huge dhwajsthamba and a statue of an elephant. And the three-sides of the temple wall are carved in a series of shrines to the many Jain tirthankaras or saints.
The time period when the caves were built, breeze of religion centered themes were on top. Even some caves were fashioned simultaneously - maybe this is also a result of the religious competition. At the time, when Buddhism was in the phase of declining in India and Hinduism regaining ground, so the representatives of both were eager in attracting potential followers. Although Ellora has more caves than Ajanta, the inside area is small and simple only the exception is of Kailasa Temple.
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