Ellora Caves

 The Ellora Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Aurangabad, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from AD 600–1000, including Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain caves. The complex is a leading example of Indian rock-cut architecture, and several are not strictly caves in that they have no roof. 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. These consist of 17 Hindu caves 13–29, 12 Buddhist caves 1–12 and 5 Jain caves 30–34 caves, each group representing deities and mythologies prevalent in the 1st millennium CE, as well as monasteries of each respective religion. They were built close to one another and illustrate the religious harmony that existed in ancient India. All of the Ellora monuments were built during the Rashtrakuta dynasty r. 753-982 AD, which constructed part of the Hindu and Buddhist caves, and the Yadava dynasty c. 1187–1317, 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.

Although the caves served as temples and a rest stop for pilgrims, the site's location on an ancient South Asian trade route also made it an important commercial centre in the Deccan region. It is 29 km 18 mi northwest of Aurangabad and about 300 km 190 mi 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.

Etymology

Ellora, also called Verul or Elura, is the short form of the ancient name Elloorpuram. The older form of the name has been found in ancient references such as the Baroda inscription of 812 AD 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. In the Indian tradition, each cave is named and has a suffix Guha Sanskrit, Lena or Leni Marathi, meaning cave.

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

Location

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

The Ellora caves are situated in state of Maharashtra about 29 km 18 mi northwest of the city of Aurangabad, 300 km 190 mi east-northeast of Mumbai, 235 km 146 mi from Pune and about 100 km 62 mi west of the Ajanta Caves, 2.3 km 1.4 mi 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.

Chronology

The construction at Ellora has been studied since British colonial rule. However, the overlapping styles between the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves has made it difficult to establish agreement concerning the chronology of their construction. The disputes generally concern: one, whether the Buddhist or Hindu caves were carved first and, two, the relative dating of caves within a particular tradition. The broad consensus that has emerged is based on comparing the carving styles at Ellora to other cave temples in the Deccan region that have been dated, textual records of various dynasties, and epigraphical evidence found at various archaeological sites near Ellora and elsewhere in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Geri Hockfield Malandra and other scholars have stated that the Ellora caves had three important building periods: an early Hindu period 550 to 600 CE, a Buddhist phase 600 to 730 CE and a later Hindu and Jain phase 730 to 950 CE.

The earliest caves may have been built during the Traikutakas and Vakataka dynasties, the latter being known for sponsoring the Ajanta caves. However, it is considered likely that some of the earliest caves, such as Cave 29 Hindu, were built by the Shiva-inspired Kalachuri dynasty, while the Buddhist caves were built by the Chalukya dynasty. The later Hindu caves and early Jain caves were built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty, while the last Jain caves were built by the Yadava dynasty, which had also sponsored other Jain cave temples.