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| Ellora Caves |
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History
Ellora is a spectacular heritage site, filled with some of India’s best-known and much-admired examples of art and architecture. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ellora is famous for its 34 Caves hewn out of volcanic rock, each one bearing marvellous examples of paintings and sculptures.
The architecture and the carvings of the 34 monolithic cave temples are truly awesome and breathtaking in their grand scale and design. The temples here are from a later period than those at Ajanta (350 AD to 1000 AD), and include Hindu and Jain monuments as well. (13 Buddhist, 16 Hindu and 5 Jain). The most incredible feature is that they were chiselled top downwards from a 2 km sheer rock escarpment. All the rock cut caves in Ellora are man made.
Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist sites dating back to 500 -750 AD while Caves 13 to 29 are Hindu Brahmanic Caves. Caves 30-34 belong to the Jain faiths. Pride of the place goes to the Kailasa Temple with its vibrant sculpted friezes and detailed paintings. One can amaze at the beautiful and serene Buddha sculptures in Cave 2 and admire the wall paintings in Cave 6.
Cave 10 or the Vishwakarma Cave is also known as the Sutar Jhopada or Carpenters Cave referring to the stone rafters resembling wooden beams here and the fineness of the seated Buddha sculpture. Cave 11 and 12 are multi-storeyed and filled with beautiful carvings.
The most impressive and monumental structure at Ellora is the Kailash Temple (Cave 16); carved out of a single solid block of stone to resemble Lord Shivas mountain abode in the Himalayas.
Trek through these Hindu caves and gaze at the countless bas-reliefs along the walls, most of them depicting episodes from Shiva’s life and a few showing Lord Vishnu’s various incarnations. Interesting some of the Hindu Caves were once Buddhist sites and one can see the transition in the carvings and friezes.
One can witness the Mahabharata come alive in the long sculpted friezes running along the walls of the Kailash Temple. The Jain Caves, though less grand in scale as compared to the Hindu Caves, bear some beautiful sculptures, particularly the Gomatesvara image. One can even stop to admire the exquisite carvings of the two River Goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna, which flank the temple entrance.
Take a deep breath and get prepared to be totally blown away by the skill of countless nameless Indian artists at Ellora. You are sure to walk away with some great insights into India’s rich cultural heritage. Ellora is sure to leave you filled with deep respect for India’s masterful artists.
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Best time to visit
Winter months (from October to February) when winter temperatures make the days pleasant, perfect for sightseeing. Weekends and holidays tend to be very hectic with plenty of visitors to the caves.
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Trivia
Explore the impressive Kailash Temple, the world’s largest monolithic sculpture, which required hours of diligent chiselling, sculpting and carving and scooping out of an estimated 200,000 tons of basalt rock, with absolutely no margin for error!
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Timing
The caves are open from 9:00am to 5:30pm.
Ellora Caves remain closed on all Monday’s but are open on all National Holidays.
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Holiday Packages
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Travel Tools
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