Ellora caves: Part I

A striking portrait of Parvati at the Kailashnath temple.

There are so many engaging ideas for interior design, that I couldn’t stop shooting these corners.

Another ornate wall inside the many rooms you can rest your weary self.

Another view of a stairway that leads to the upper floor. I love the mystery of high contrast.

The staircase entrance that leads to one of the prayer/rest rooms on the ground floor. Slippers can be treacherous in this zone!

A depiction of Parvati, (I think), but in this dimly lit cave it was the only subject I was able to shoot in natural light.

The Buddhist caves that lie ahead of the Kailashnath temple perhaps provided the inspiration for the architects of the Pallava Kingdom. and

One of the large alcoves on the ground floor was replete with depictions of Shiva and Parvati holding court, here you can see Lord Ganesha among some others who seemed to have brought a demon to justice. He lies mutilated under the statue to the extreme left.

Detail of a wall on the outside that suggests these were painted too.

Another view of the mini temples on the first floor. To think that this temple was carved out of a single rock starting from the top, makes me wonder how many artisans must be at work to carry out such detail.

Between two columns are gigantic sculptures depicting various stories of Shiva and his reincarnations. Seen here is a sadhu and his henchmen who were making vociferous claims about Aurangzeb’s attempts at destroying and mutilating the structure.

 

 

 

The sculpted mural of Shiva at the entrance, a strong Buddhist influence in the styling.

On the floor above the main entrance to the temple enclosure, you can take a walk around and discover smaller mini temples built out of the same rock. Amazing!

Buddha and the Bodhisattvas in the meditation room which will baffle and fascinate the best acoustics engineers in the world. I was happy to catch the shifting shaft of light that came in through a small window designed to produce dramatic and focussed effects on the sculpture to aid meditation.

There are possibly a million posts already on the web on this topic. The Ellora caves in Aurangabad, are a UNESCO world heritage site after all, an amazing feat of human ingenuity, skill and faith. I have seen caves in Cappadocia which are not half as ornate as these. Considering these were executed more than 5000 years ago makes them all that more fascinating. The scale, the craft and the graphic content of the architecture is grand, contemporary and timeless. These pictures are an essay and tribute to a marvel that deserves more attention.

The large Durbar where devotees artisans and citizens met to sing devotional songs is my guess.s

A view from one of the alcoves cut into the rock at the entrance to the temple.

An ante-room for resting attached to a larger structure that was perhaps the main durbar.

A view of the dining room that housed the monks, the frescos are burnt.