Ellora Caves - Another World Heritage Site

The day after visiting the caves at Ajanta, Sharon, Kylie, Jenni and myself drove to Ellora to visit the caves there.  These caves were carved out with a hammer and chisel over 5 centuries by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monks.

These caves line an escarpment and stretch out over 2kms.  In front of these caves are elaborate courtyards and many of these temples are multi-level.

Cave 10

The earliest caves were Buddhist monasteries (viharas).  These caves also contain statues of Buddhist goddesses including the goddess of learning, Mahamayuri.  The most famous of the Buddhist temples is in Cave 10 which has ceiling ribs carved into the stonework.

The Hindu temples and caves are next.  These ones were cut from the top down, so the builders began with the roof and worked down.  These caves are dedicated to Vishnu and Brahma.  The feel of these caves is very different.  The Buddhist one are very peaceful, but the Hindu ones are more dramatic.  

One of the Hindu caves, the Kailasa Temple, was built to represent Mt Kailasa, Shiva's Himalayan home.  The entire thing was built with hammers and chisels and over 200,000 tonnes of rock had to be removed.