Rest day Ellora Caves

Rest day to visit the Ellora Caves a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

These 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff, not far from Aurangabad, in Maharashtra. Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to live. Not only is the Ellora complex a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of tolerance that was characteristic of ancient India.

The rock-cut activity was carried out in three phases from the 6th century to the 12th century. The earliest caves (caves 1-12), excavated between the 5th and 8th centuries, reflect the Mahayana philosophy of buddhism then prevalent in this region. The Brahmanical group of caves (caves 13-29), including the renowned Kailasa temple (cave 16), was excavated between the 7th and 10th centuries. The last phase, between the 9th and 12th centuries, saw the excavation of a group of caves (caves 30-24) reflecting Jains philosophy.

Photos Cave 16

Extremely impressive massive caves. This just blows your mind how all this was done with no modern day equipment.


                                                        Shri Kailasa Temple, Ellora



Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2025 at 3:08 PM

    Wow Erin! Super cool sites to see. Hope you're on your bike soon. Greetings from NM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rennae RossFebruary 24, 2025 at 9:34 PM

    Wow, Erin! These are amazing!

    ReplyDelete

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