Ellora Caves

The main cave at Ellora is in a class of its own. The Kailasa temple (Cave 16) is a representation of Mt Kailash in the Himalayas, the mythical home of the god Shiva.

Some 200,000 tons of solid rock were carved out of the hillside to make this temple. The temple and the surrounding rock are all the same piece.

Walking around the outside of the temple from above, you can appreciate the huge scale of the temple. It stands some 42 metres deep and 37 metres wide, and is regarded as the greatest monolithic structure in the world. Considering it was constructed by hand around the 8th century AD it really is pretty amazing.

Despite the time constraints on our day, we spent an hour or so dawdling around the top, trying to get our heads around what a huge undertaking the temple must of been.

The upper floors of the temple are joined by an elevated walkway all carved in situ from the hillside of rock.

Inside the temple complex a numerous additional caves chiselled into the hill.

The temple itself is supported by a row of elephants.

The detail of the carving is truly amazing.

What is this? In all the saucy Hindu temples that we have seen, this is the first time we have seen a kiss depicted. Threesomes, orgies and shagging horses all seems perfecting normal but nowhere else have we seen anything as sordid as a kiss. It appears that someone has taken offence at some stage, and chiselled part of the faces away to keep todays youth safe from that sort of "filth."

These cheeky chaps had some binoculars as most of the naughty stuff was up high. He looked a little sheepish when quizzed by Jason about what he can see. When mum and dad arrived we had the usual fifteen photos with our new found friends.

This parrot works nicely with the reds and yellows of the original temple painting.

These figures are reasonably well preserved. Parts are still painted, parts are still plastered, and it's also possible to see the rough surface of the unfinished rock in places. A nice insight into the, "How was it done?" and, "What did it look like?" at its peak.

This one was a little booby... but a little to high to see well... where's that kid with the binoculars gone?

Nataraj the Lord of the Cosmic Dance.

The Hindu Trimurti. The three most important gods, from L-R Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. Shiva, to whom the temple is dedicated, is seen emerging from a split in the lingum, which does more than little to elude to the ancient beginnings of Hinduism and its possible origin as a fertility cult.

The complex of Ellora had other Hindu temples, though they pale in comparison to Kailasa.

This Cave is a three story Buddhist monastery, modelled nicely on Jason's old council flat in Hackney. It was strikingly similar with an authentic attempt to emulate the shoddy paint work, and cracked walls. The quaintest touch of all was the smell of piss in the stairwells... just like the old home.

The 12 Buddhists caves had some pretty cool carvings and shrines that kept us busy for a couple more hours.

The steps to this shrine were perhaps the most moving. The indentations showing the thousands or maybe millions of pilgrims that have walked here.

The Jain Caves were smaller in size and number, but made up for it with their intricacy and that old Jain trait of nakedness. Pilgrims still give these boobs a good rub on the way past.

This lotus leaf hanging from the roof of a Jain cave shows how amazing they must of been when they were just painted.