ELLORA CAVES

Ellora cave, located in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra is another important cave site. It is located a hundred kilometers from Ajanta and has thirty-two Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves. It is an unique art historical site in the country as it has monasteries associated with the three religions dating from fifth century CE onwards to the eleventh century CE. There are twelve Buddhist caves having many images belonging to Vajrayana Buddhism like Tara, Mahamayuri etc. Buddhist caves are big in size and are of single, double and triple storey. Their pillars are massive. Ajanta also has the excavated double storey caves but at Ellora, the triple storey is a unique achievement. All the caves were plastered and painted but nothing visible is left.

Unlike the Ajanta caves, the Ellora cave temples were carved out on the sloping side of the hill. Hence most of the temples have courtyards. The sculptures at Ellora are monumental, and have protruding volume that create deep recession in the picture space. The images are heavy and show considerable sophistication. Cave no 16 is a rock cut temple, known as Kailash leni and it has been carved out of a single rock, a unique achievement of the artisans.

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