We took a breezy 30 km ride away from the city of Aurangabad. The hotel we were staying at, The Green Olive, booked us a car for the day and we intended to see as much as we could. Although my cousins and I were still sleepy from checking in at 5 am, we couldn’t help but notice how the concrete jungle gave way to a real one in a matter of minutes as we drove past.
Ellora Caves
Unlike in the pictures, we didn’t see the Ellora caves standing tall, beckoning us with their age-old secrets. Instead, we made our way through a busy street lined with vendors coaxing us to buy water, ice cream, hats and sunglasses until we reached the gate. There were monkeys everywhere, their eyes darting from one shiny object to the next.
Ellora has 34 caves built between the 5th and 10th centuries and is a symbol of the religious harmony that prevailed then. Of the 34 caves, 12 of them are Buddhist, 17 are Hindu and 5 are Jain. It is interesting to note that even as caves from new religious sects were built, the older caves from other religious sects were left untouched. They are an enduring icon of India’s rich rock-cut architecture. Being a World Heritage Site, the caves display technical mastery and inimitable craftsmanship.
After paying the entry fee, we made our way to the nearest structure, the one we were most eager to look at – Cave 16, the Kailasha Temple.
Kailasha Temple
Of all the caves, number 16 is the most awe-inspiring one. Called the Kailasha Temple, it is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is twice the size of the Parthenon in Athens. What makes it special is that it isn’t built by adding stone on top of stone. In fact, an entire mountain was cut from top to bottom and intricate, symmetrical carvings were made as the workers made their way down.
All other temples in the world use a construction method that starts at the front of the mountain (cut-in monolith). Kailasha temple is the only one that uses the cut-out monolith rock cutting technique where the structure was carved by scooping out pieces of the mountain as pillars and walls were carved in a single monolith.
Many believe that building this temple with human hands in the absence of modern tools is impossible, which gives rise to a lot of speculation on its origin. Here’s an interesting video I found on why many people believe that the temple was built by aliens. I must admit, after watching the mathematics of it, it does make a lot of sense.
We spent a good hour at Kailasha temple, fascinated by its intricacies. It is a living example of sheer human will, endeavour and inner beauty. The fact that the temple was once a huge chunk of rock lingered in my mind as we sauntered around the pillars and climbed up and down its various steps. Huge carvings of elephants and Lord Shiva feature alongside finger-sized animals and human figurines on its rocky walls.
We walked into every cave from 1 to 16 and speculated on what it could be used for. Some were pretty bare, with only pillars, others looked like unfinished buildings in Mumbai, and still others had intriguing religious sculptures. While Caves 1 to 4 were plain and austere, a treasure lay in Cave 5 – a sculpture of an immense, ornate praying Buddha.
Cave 7 overflowed with lush carvings of dancing dwarfs and busty goddesses, with every detail of their clothing, ornaments and headdresses rendered with precision. Apart from these, all the caves look pretty ordinary, with sculptures and pillars.
Some caves were eerily quiet, others swarmed with school children and still others were dark meditation chambers where someone calls a deep ‘om,’ that echoes as he holds the tone, amplified by the stone walls.
The Ellora Caves are surreal. Outworldly. Pictures don’t do it justice, and if you’ve visited, you’ll know what I mean. The caves aren’t arduous and can be easily covered in a day. If they do happen to tire you out, grab lunch at one of the restaurants on the main road, a few steps away… like we did.
You may also be interested in reading my last post on Bibi Ka Maqbara, another sight to behold in Aurangabad.
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See ya there!