Why visit Aurangabad
- Gateway to the Ajanta & Ellora caves
The 34 caves at Ellora hewn from a 2 kilometre-long escarpment are among the most splendid examples of rock cut architecture in India. The caves fall into three distinct groups - Buddhist, Hindu and Jain. The finest of the Ellora group of rock-cut caves is the magnificent Kailasanatha temple (cave 16). Commissioned by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna 1 in the 8th century, this mammoth complex, spanning 81 meters by 47 meters, was carved out of a huge rocky cliff face. Sculptors chiselled through 85,000 cubic meters of rock, beginning at the top of the cliff and working their way down. The resulting marvel, embellished with huge sculptural panels, was meant to depict mount Kailasa, the sacred abode of Lord Shiva.
The 30 extra ordinary rock cut caves at Ajanta lie within a horse shoe-shaped escarpment, overlooking the narrow Waghora river gorge. The earliest and finest examples of Buddhist painting in India are seen in the caves at Ajanta. The murals show scenes from the Buddha's life and from the jataka tales, which recount stories of the Buddha's previous incarnations as an enlightened being or Bodhisattva. The colour, derived from plants and minerals are rich shades of ochre, mine, black, green and lapis lazuli. The caves here fall into two groups. The early group belongs to the more austere Hinaya phase of Buddhism (2nd - 1st century BC), during which the Buddha was not represented in human form but only as symbols such as the wheel of law or a Bodhi tree. The second group dates from the Mahayana period (5th-6th century AD), carved out when artistic expression was more exuberant. The caves were inhabited by monks, artists and craftsmen, who used them as monsoon shrines
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