Ellora Cave Temple

Ellora, also called Verul or Elura, is the corrupted form of the ancient name Elapura. Ellora caves are renowned throughout the globe for their excellent artwork and prehistoric temple. Portraying the rich tradition of India, Ellora Cave temples have been declared as the World Heritage Site. Reminiscent of the cave temples of Ajanta, these are too excavated out of the solid rock. In total, there are 34 cave temples that are divided into three groups, Buddhist, Hindu and Jain respectively. These three groups can be further termed as three periods, which sustained from 200 - 600 A.D. (Buddhism) to 500 - 900 A.D. (Hindu) and finally 800 - 1000 A.D. (Jain). Every year, Ellora festival of classical dance and music is organized at these caves by MTDC. Positioned in the lap of the Chamadari hills, the temples appear as a lop-sided ridge of rock budding vertically from the ground. Ellora caves celebrate the three faiths of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The exotic sculptures and intricate carvings of these temples depict the affluent culture of India. The enormous artistry of these caves is the result of the various experiments done in the period of 300 years. Amongst the 34 cave temples, no more than 12 temples (Cave 1 to 12) belong to the Buddhist period. Following Buddhist caves, there are seventeen caves (Cave 13 to 29) that embrace Hindu temples. Constructed somewhere during 600 - 875 A.D., the Hindu caves are entirely imprinted with carvings and sculptures of apsaras, tree nymphs, animal motifs, trees, plants, Gods and Goddesses. One can see intricately carved pillars that are massive, but sized proportionately according to the size of caves. Several pillars are plain and lack carvings, however a larger number have carved bases, brackets and grooved shafts. Cave No. 16 comprises the Kailash temple that is known to have the largest monolith structure of the world. After Hindu caves, there comes the number of Jain caves. Built between 800 A.D. and 1000 A.D., five caves (Cave 30 to 34) belong to the Jains.