Ellora Caves – Kailasa Temple its monuments….!! Maharashtra.
All the monuments at
Ellora Caves were built during the Rashtrakuta Empire, which formed part of the
Hindu and Buddhist Caves, and the Yadava dynasty, which later built several
Jain Temples.
1. 
View Of Kailasa Temple, Ellora Caves
The site has more than 100 Caves at the site but 34 monasteries and
temples (Open to the public) which are built in 2sq km. These 34 sites include
17 Hindu Caves and Temples (Caves 13 to 29) 12 Buddhists ( Caves1 to 12) and 5
Jain (Caves 30 to 34). It is located
near Ellora Village near Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra, India. Ellora
monuments were built between 600AD to 1000AD. The temples were cut from
basaltic rocks and had elaborate façades and inner walls. The Ellora complex
was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
Ellora complex is
famous for its unique artistic creation and rock-cut architecture, its
sanctuaries dedicated to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, reflecting the spirit
of tolerance that was characteristic of Ancient India.
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| Front View of Kailasa Temple of Ellora Caves |
The Kailasa Temple at Ellora caves was built by Krishna 1 in 753-773CE during the Rashtrakuta Empire. It is also known as Kailasanatha Temple and is the largest rock-cut temple in the world.
Ellora (also called
Ellura and in ancient times, Elapura) is a holy site in Aurangabad in the Maharashtra state of India. The name of a village located here was Ellora,
hence these caves are called Ellora Caves. Although there is no written proof
of who built this temple, after a lot of research it was found that at the time
when this temple was built, it was ruled by King Krishna 1 of the Rashtrakuta
Empire. So, the credit for the construction of the temple goes to Krishna I. Karakraja
II who was the king of the Gujarat Branch of the Rashtrakuta Empire. According
to some mentions on copper plate inscriptions of his time, Krishna I had built
a very beautiful and grand temple at this time, which even the Gods were amazed
to see, although there is no mention of the name of the temple in those
mentions.
The most notable of the
cave temples is Kailasa named for the mountain in the Kailash Range of the
Himalayas where the Hindu Bhagwan Shiva resides. This temple built during the
time of Krishna I , involved the removal of 1,50,000 to 2,00,000 tons of solid
rock. The complex is approximately 164feet (50m) long, 108feet (33m) wide, and
100 feet (33m) high. Each pillar of Kailasa Temple speaks a divine language and
comes with a certain heritage. The view from the top of the cliff shows the
sheer scale of the entire construction. Notably, the statue of Ravana lifting
mount Kailash is a major milestone in the history of Indian architecture.
According to Dhavalikar
no major part of the monolithic temple has been subsequently considered: architectural
evidence suggests that initially the entire temple was planned.
