Ellora Caves

Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu Temples, Buddhist Viharas and Jain temples cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from the period 600–1000 CE.[1][2] Cave 16 features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world, the Kailash temple, a chariot-shaped monument dedicated to the god Shiva. The Kailash temple excavation also features sculptures depicting various Hindu deities as well as relief panels summarizing the two major Hindu epics.

There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills, 34 of which are open to public.[3] These consist of 17 Hindu (caves 13–29), 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves,[4][5] each group representing deities and mythologies prevalent in the 1st millennium CE, as well as monasteries of each respective religion.[4] They were built close to one another and illustrate the religious harmony that existed in ancient India.[2][6] All of the Ellora monuments were built during the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which constructed part of the Hindu and Buddhist caves, and the Yadava dynasty, which constructed a number of the Jain caves. Funding for the construction of the monuments was provided by royals, traders and the wealthy of the region.[3][7]

Although the caves served as temples and a rest stop for pilgrims,[5] the site’s location on an ancient South Asian trade route also made it an important commercial centre in the Deccan region.[8] It is 29 kilometres (18 miles) north-west of Sambhaji Nagar, and about 300 kilometres (190 miles) east-northeast of Mumbai. Today, the Ellora Caves, along with the nearby Ajanta Caves, are a major tourist attraction in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).[9]

Etymology

Ellora, also called Verul or Elura, is the short form of the ancient name Elloorpuram.[10] The older form of the name has been found in ancient references such as the Baroda inscription of 812 CE which mentions “the greatness of this edifice” and that “this great edifice was built on a hill by Krishnaraja at Elapura, the edifice in the inscription being the Kailasa temple.[3] In the Indian tradition, each cave is named and has a suffix Guha (Sanskrit), Lena or Leni (Marathi), meaning cave.[3][11]

It is many a times also thought to be derived from Ilvalapuram, named after the asura Ilvala who ruled this region who was vanquished by Sage Agastya.[12]

Location

Ellora Caves, general map (the rock is depicted as dark green)

The Ellora caves are situated in state of Maharashtra about 29 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of the city of Aurangabad, 300 kilometres (190 miles) east-northeast of Mumbai, 235 kilometres (146 miles) from Pune and about 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of the Ajanta Caves, 2.3 kilometres (1.42 miles) from Grishneshwar Temple (India).

Ellora occupies a relatively flat rocky region of the Western Ghats, where ancient volcanic activity had created multilayered basalt formations, known as the Deccan Traps. The volcanic activity that formed the west-facing cliff that houses the Ellora caves occurred during the Cretaceous period. The resulting vertical face made access to many layers of rock formations easier, enabling architects to pick basalt with finer grains for more detailed sculpting.[13]