Ellora Caves- Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist Temples

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  Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

We moved for Fardapur back to Arungabad. This is the location of the Ellora Caves. These caves, unlike to totally Buddhist caves at Ajanta, are a mix of Jain, Hindu and Buddhist Caverns. The Ellora group of 34 Caves is from a later period. The Buddhist Group of 12 caves is from 600-800 AD, the Hindu group or 17 caves is from 600-800 AD, and the Jain group of 5 caves is from 800-1000 AD. While the Ajanta caves are famous for their paintings on stucco, the Ellora group is famous for its detailed sculpture. For over 5 centuries monks from various religious orders carved temples here to their Gods into a 2 Kilometer long basalt escarpment. The coexistence of several religious orders at one site suggests a long period of religious tolerance. 

The most spectacular of the whole lot in Ellora is the Kailasa Temple. It was built King Krishna I in 760 AD. It was built to represent Mount Kailasa , home of the Hindu God Shiva in the Himalaya. They actually cut three 7 story deep grooves into the solid rock in the form of a "U". These grooves left a solid rock standing one block wide and one block deep and 7 stories high.
 Just like cutting piece of cake out from the main square cake. They then began to carve, with hand tools, on this huge block, from the top down, to "release" a temple. They created a seven story high temple from the solid rock.  It is a must see. In the process of carving this temple out of solid rock, the removed over 200,000 tons of rock.   It is fabulous!. It has rooms, stairways, ornaments, and anterooms. The carving is extraordinary. Enjoy the pics of Ellora Caves.

My breathing is improving, things seem to be going very well. We leave tomorrow for a flight to Mumbai. What could go wrong there?  

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First we visited this Jain temple	Barb in the temple	Elephant in Jain Temple	A Jain temple at Ellora
Tele of Barb in the temple	Barb on the second floor	Several stories high	detail
Jain temple layout	Woman in Jain temple	Lions on Guard, Like Singhas in Thailand	Site built along small stream
Jain temple entry	water fall is located here	Trail meanders along the base of basalt ledge	Same same
Small temple	sign along the way	Hindu temple in Ellora	detail of Hindu temple
Shiva Linga object in temple	Linga shrine	close up of Shiva /Phallic object	Another Shiva Linga shrine
Board game marks on floor?	view to the outside	Bull always faces Siva Linga Object in Hindu sites	Tie downs installed later?
Stairs carved from solid stone	Cave detail information	Water goddess Hindu	Water Goddess times two
detail of water goddess	Bull platform detail	More water goddesses	shot long ways down the hall
same same	pillar details	Wall carvings Hindu Temple	Bull detail- always faces Shiva Linga
Detail of well endowded water goddess	site layout	Info re Kailasa Temple - Hindu	Video- Overhead View of Kailasa Temple Ellora
Wide shot of top of Kailasa	Wide of top	Looking down - carved from top to bottom, one rock	shot of top of temple
same visitor - wide shot across "cut"	detail of top of temple Kailasa	Closer up on top	detail opf Lion
Lions against elephants	visitor across the "Cut"	Same guy across the way - sense scale?	Entry to Kailasa Temple
Wall detail	Inside Kailasa lower floor	Caretaker close-up   Comments!	Caretaker in Kailasa
Looking toward main temple	Water goddess on wall	In the lower temple	This wall has Ramayana Story
Hindu Creation story- Ramayana	detail	From back at base of a main "groove"	Base of canyon created by hand
Looking from front to back	They cut this groove from top down	From back to front scale is hard to Imagine	Vishnu
Elephants at base of main temple Kailasa	Shot along the base	Base of temple	Temple Base
Guide waiting for someone to guide	base covered with elephants and Lions	Maybe the overhang protected base workers	wide shot of same
Groove has overhng and interior walkway	detail along base of main temple	more detail	Guide now sleeping
shot of base, walkway , overhang and pillars	another view of main temple	On second level of Kailasa temple	Shrines near the front
going into the second floor main temple.	Shiva Linga Phallic shrine interior	pillar carving	view to Hotel Kailasa grounds outside the complex
Insiue Kailasa Temple	ON second floor veranda	shrines within shrines	More carved stone on Veranda
sensous carving	all from a single piece of rock	detail	more detail
more on veranda	veranda	women on ledge under overhang	looking out
Board Game on floor?	Barb resting in temple	God head	Long shot under the overhang
shot of under the overhang	sample panel under the overhang	Much more carving of walls here	side of the temple.
side object on main temple	Famnily of Indian tourists	an exterior shrine	Cameleon?
He had a funny pulsating walk	wide shot of lizard	Buddhist temple info	These pillars holding up a mountain
Lions near entrance	Inside first floor Buddihst temple	Buddhist temple has three floors	Inside on lower floor
Second floor shot along hallway	Buddhas at each end	long shot down hallway	another hallway deepr in
Budhas by the bunch deeper inside	More buddhas in back	A final Buddhist temple	Board game on the floor
Buddha Image in temple	Buddha Image inside	Inside the last Ellora temple	Typical Tikka Chicken, Dal, Rice Briyani, chapoti

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