Ellora caves: a man-made wonder of India. Caves of Ellora: a unique temple complex and the "top of the world"
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Ellora - a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra, a system of caves and numerous castles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cave Temples of Ellora are the benchmark of ancient temples. In total, 34 sacred caves are carved into the rock, located along a single line, for two kilometers.
Before entering the caves, visitors are greeted by many monkeys. Which, quite naturally, without being afraid of people, relax and have fun by taking away food from visitors.
It is hard to even imagine how difficult it was to create two kilometers of solid old halls with primitive construction tools.
Some of them reach a decent size - about ten acres. There are many beautiful columns and sculptures in the caves.
Nowhere on the planet did world religions coexist so closely as in India. Penetrating one into the other, they enriched science and culture with great discoveries and achievements.
The fruits of these labors have come down to us through the millennia.
In India, everything is amazing - the atmosphere, color, the grandeur of the centuries-old heritage. You feel it especially sharply in temples. One of the largest is in central state Maharashtra and is called the Temple.
More precisely, this is a whole temple complex of 34 caves, where structures carved in basalt are located.
Temples of the three most common religious and philosophical trends in the country: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Until now, scientists have not come to a consensus on exactly how such huge complexes were built in antiquity.
Along with the temple Taj Mahal caves included in the List world heritage UNESCO.
The history of the temple complex Ellora
Location of the Temple Ellora was not chosen randomly. Here, near Ajanta, busy trade and caravan routes converged from the northern part of India to the ports west coast. Traders and travelers from all over the world flocked to the rapidly growing village.
For more than 500 years, part of the profits received in the form of taxes from trade were spent on the construction of Ellora.
Just at this time, Buddhism is losing its position, and Hinduism is gaining more and more supporters.
construction India showed the world how tolerant it is to all religions and philosophical teachings of its citizens.
The cave ensemble includes 34 temples and monasteries, which are carved into basalt rocks and occupy about 2 km in length. Historians argue about the exact age, but they name the period between the 6th and 10th centuries.
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Twelve caves are sanctuaries of Buddhism, seventeen of Hinduism, and only five of Jainism.
Due to the high hardness of the basalt, all the buildings are very well preserved.
They suffered the most during the struggle of the Muslims against the pagans, but even then the fanatics could not cause serious harm to the statues and temples.
The famous temples of the architectural ensemble of Ellora
The pearl of the caves Ellora in India are rightly considered kailasanath temple, named after the sacred Himalayan peak. It will not impress you with its size, such buildings are not uncommon in the country - 40 m high, 80 and 50 m long and wide.
Strikingly different. Absolutely the entire temple - from the huge plinth with life-size figures of lions and elephants to the tops of the towers - is carved from solid rock. In fact, this is not a building, but a sculpture.
They began to build it from top to bottom - a construction technique that had never been seen before. Trees were uprooted on a rocky cliff, the soil was cleared, a giant monolith was cut off with three trenches and they began to carve a complex configuration of the building, giving shape from the sides. They dug a well in the depths and for all the time they hollowed out and removed more than 400,000 tons rocks.
For a hundred and fifty years, generations of carvers and stonecutters have been doing hard, complicated work, realizing that they themselves, even their children and grandchildren, will not see the result of their work.
Not a single modern construction company has undertaken to repeat the work of the masters, and the theories of archaeologists, architects and historians have not yet been confirmed in practice.
The outer walls of the temple are decorated with rich carvings - dozens of elephants, lions and decorative elements fill literally every centimeter. For a greater resemblance to the snow-covered peak, the temple was covered with white plaster for a long time.
The interior is also beautifully decorated. A huge bas-relief crowns the arches of the main tower, numerous statues dedicated to Shiva are full of life and depict heroic or family scenes from the life of the gods.
It is also worth mentioning that the entire excavated stone seems to be “nothing”, if we recall that the entire ancient Kailasanath Temple is completely painted. It is in these ancient places that the artistic industriousness of the Indians clearly exceeds all permissible norms.
Ellora is literally overflowing with vital sacred energy, which is felt literally in every image, every stone and crack. It is in the ancient Temples of Ellora that life itself lives!
Caves of various faiths Ellora
The earliest caves of Ellora are considered Buddhist, built approximately from 500 to 750 years.
Monks lived in them, and there were also halls for meditation, serving the gods. The later ones are prettier and more intricately decorated. The influence of the nearby Hindu architects, who in 600 erected the first temple, had an effect.
A solemn mood is created by high rib vaults, huge statues Buddha, his disciples and Mahamayuri - the patroness of science and education. The stupa inside is hollow when singing mantras creates an incredible resonant sound.
Hindu monasteries were carved from top to bottom, as was the Kailasanath temple. From 600 to 870 years, 17 caves of Ellora were carved and decorated, all the walls of which are covered with bas-reliefs with the events of sacred books.
The carvings are very detailed, with many small ornaments that have been spared by time and impress modern tourists just as they did in the old days.
Part of the premises served for the needs of the monks. According to information, they moved here from nearby Ajanta when it fell into disrepair.
Jainism- the youngest religion that originated as a Protestant branch of Hinduism. Therefore, the Jaina caves, the smallest of all the temples of Ellora, date back to 800-900 years.
Here, asceticism is combined with beautiful decoration; paintings that adorned the ceilings of temples have partially come down to us. Majority Jain caves so it wasn't finished. The religion's popularity was short-lived, although today it has about three million adherents in the country.
If you want to get to know the history of the ruling dynasties and religious cults of the country better, the preserved architectural monuments that clearly tell about the greatness of ancient empires will help you do this. Certainly one of the most important ancient history are the cave temples of India, which served as a refuge and the main center of learning for the followers of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism from the beginning of our era.
The most famous and well-preserved cave temples are located in the state of Maharashtra near the city of Aurangabad - ancient capital the Mughal empire. Long before the arrival of the Mongol conquerors, this region was the center of the development of trade and religion. ancient trade routes passed through the plains of the Deccan, and the pilgrims found refuge in the caves, which were rebuilt as spiritual abodes.
I want to talk about the cave temples of Ajanta and Ellora - the true gems of ancient Indian art and architecture. Even at the beginning of our era, there were trade routes along the territory of the Deccan plateau (the modern state of Maharashtra), along with traders, the first Buddhist ascetics went, carrying their faith to the territory of southern India.
To escape from the seasonal rains and the scorching sun, travelers needed shelters. The construction of monasteries and temples is a long and costly business, so the first pilgrims chose caves in rocky mountains, which gave coolness and heat and remained dry during the rainy season.
The first Buddhist caves were carved in the 2nd century BC, when they were simple and uncomplicated shelters. Later, at the turn of the 4th-6th centuries, the cave temple complexes grew into huge monastic cities, where hundreds of monks lived, and the caves turned into three-story monasteries, skillfully decorated with sculptures and wall paintings.
In the cave cities of Ajanta and Ellora, three religions were consistently practiced - Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Now on the territory of the complexes you can see ancient statues and wall paintings of these three religions. So, the first inhabitants cave cities there were Buddhists, then Hindus came, and the last to be carved out were Jain temples, although it is possible that followers of all religions coexisted here at the same time, creating a tolerant religious society in the middle of the first millennium.
The cave temple complex of Ajanta is located 100 kilometers from the city of Aurangabad, it is located in the bed of the Waghor River and was cut down from the 2nd century BC to the middle of the 7th century AD. For centuries, ancient sculptors methodically removed soil from basalt rock, and the interior of the caves was decorated with elegant sculptures and frescoes.
At the end of the 5th century, the Harishena dynasty, which was the main sponsor of the construction of the caves, fell, and the complex was gradually abandoned. The monks left their secluded abode, and locals gradually forgot about the existence cave temples. The jungle swallowed the caves, walling up the entrances with a thick layer of vegetation. An artificial microclimate was formed in the caves, which has preserved to our times the frescoes of the beginning of the first millennium, which have no analogues not only in India, but throughout the world. Thus, the caves have brought the beauty of ancient masters to our days.
The complex was discovered by British Army officer John Smith in 1819 while hunting for a tiger. From the opposite bank of the Waghor River, he saw the archway of the entrance to Cave No. 10.
Now it is one of the most famous sights. central India. On this moment in the complex you can visit 28 caves belonging to the Buddhist tradition. In caves 1,2,9,11,16,17, ancient frescoes have been preserved, and in caves 9,10,19,26 you will see elegant Buddhist sculpture.
Some caves served as a place for performing rituals and group prayers, they are called "chatya", or meeting rooms, others served as the dwelling place of the monks, they are called "vihara", or monasteries. The caves have different layouts and decorations.
Some caves are under development, these examples clearly show how the complex was built. From the opposite bank of the Waghor River opens beautiful view for the whole complex, the scale of the complex is really impressive.
Previously, each cave had its own personal descent to the river for the intake of drinking water, a system was developed for the accumulation of rainwater and watercourse during the monsoon period. The walls of most of the caves were painted with detailed frescoes, the secret of which has not yet been unraveled. Separate well-preserved sections convince us of the high level of skill of ancient painters, and before our eyes forgotten history and customs of those times.
Of course, visiting the cave temples of Ajanta will create one of the most interesting experiences in India, but it will not be complete without a visit to the Ellora complex, which is located nearby. Despite the fact that both complexes are similar in concept, they are completely different in execution.
The cave temple complex of Ellora, located 30 kilometers from Aurangabad, was cut down in the period from the 5th to the 11th century and has 34 caves, 12 of which are Buddhist (1-12), 17 Hindu caves (13-29) and 5 Jain caves (30 -34), cut down in chronological order.
If the Ajanta complex is famous for its frescoes, then in the 34 caves of the Ellora temple complex it is certainly a sculpture. Ellora acquired a true dawn with the withering of Ajanta, apparently most of the monks and masters moved here starting from the 6th century AD. In Ellora, the viewer is struck by the scale of the buildings, for example, some caves are three-story "viharas" - monasteries where up to several hundred monks could live. Of course, such a scale is amazing, especially considering that the dates of construction refer to the 5th-7th centuries of our era.
But the true pearl of the complex is the temple of Kailasanath (the lord of Kailash), or cave No. 16. This 30-meter temple was carved for 100 years during the eighth century. For its construction, 400,000 tons of rock basalt rock were extracted, while not a single detail was brought into the temple from the outside, everything was cut out in rock basalt rock from top to bottom, as on a modern 3-D printer.
Of course, nothing like this in India simply does not exist. This masterpiece of ancient architecture is on par with the temples in Cambodia, Java and the temple complex in Burma, but it was built almost a millennium earlier.
The temple is an allegory of the sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet, on which, according to legend, Lord Shiva was in meditation. Previously, the entire temple was covered with white plaster in order to resemble the snow-capped peak of Kailash, all the sculptures were skillfully painted with paints, the details of which can still be seen today, many temple galleries are decorated with detailed stone carvings. To understand the greatness of the Kailasanath temple, you need to see it with your own eyes, photographs can hardly convey its grandeur and beauty.
The temples of Ajanta and Ellora attract many tourists from India and all over the world, on holidays it can be quite crowded, and in order to better understand the history in stone, it is recommended to take a tour with a guide. It is better to choose the city of Aurangabad as a base for visiting the temples, there are many hotels for every taste and budget, you can get here by train, plane or bus from Mumbai or Goa.
A visit to the cave temples of Ajanta and Ellora is definitely one of the most vivid and memorable experiences in India. A trip to Aurangabad is easy to make in three days, visiting the cave temples will be a great addition to relaxing on the beaches of Goa.
Showing you this object, once again I am amazed and once again I can’t even believe that such majestic structures could have been built a long time ago. How much labor, effort and energy was invested in these rocks!
Maharashtra's most visited ancient site, the Ellora Caves, which are 29 km northwest of Aurangabad, may not be in as spectacular a location as their older sisters at Ajanta, but the astonishing richness of their sculpture fully compensates for this shortcoming, and their not to be missed if you are on your way to Mumbai or from Mumbai, which is 400 km to the southwest. A total of 34 Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves - some of which were created at the same time, competing with each other - encircle the foot of the Chamadiri cliff, which stretches for two kilometers, where it passes into open plains. The main attraction of this territory - the gargantuan-sized temple of Kailash - rises up from a huge, sheer-walled depression in the hillside. The largest monolith in the world, this incredibly huge piece of solid basalt has been transformed into a picturesque cluster of intersecting colonnaded halls, galleries and sacred altars. But let's talk about everything in more detail ...
The temples of Ellora arose in the era of the state of the Rashtrakut dynasty, which in the 8th century united under their rule western part India. In the Middle Ages, many considered the Rashtrakut state to be the greatest state, it was compared with such powerful powers as the Arab Caliphate, Byzantium and China. The most powerful Indian rulers at that time were the Rashtrakutas.
The caves were created between the 6th and 9th century AD. In total, there are 34 temples and monasteries in Ellora. The interior decoration of the temples is not as dramatic and rich as in the Ajanta caves. However, there are refined sculptures of a more beautiful form here, a complex plan is observed and the sizes of the temples themselves are larger. And all the memos are much better preserved to this day. Long galleries were created in the rocks, and the area of one hall sometimes reached 40x40 meters. The walls are skillfully decorated with reliefs and stone sculptures. Temples and monasteries were created in the basalt hills for half a millennium (6-10 century AD). It is also characteristic that the construction of the caves of Ellora began around the time when the holy places of Ajanta were abandoned and lost sight of.
In the XIII century, by order of Raja Krishna, the cave temple of Kailasantha was created. According to quite specific treatises on construction, a temple was erected, everything was stated in them to the smallest detail. Between heavenly and earthly temples, Kailasantha was to become an intermediate one. Kind of a gate.
Kailasantha measures 61 meters by 33 meters. 30 meters height of the whole temple. Kailasantha was created gradually, they began to cut down the temple from the top. First, they dug a trench around the boulder, which eventually turned into a temple. Holes were cut in it, later these will be galleries and halls.
By gouging about 400,000 tons of rock, the Kailasantha temple at Ellora was created. From this it can be judged that those who created the plan of this temple had an extraordinary imagination. Features of the Dravidian style are demonstrated by Kailasantha. This can be seen both in the gate in front of the Nandin entrance, and in the very outline of the temple, which gradually narrows towards the top, and along the facade with miniature sculptures in the form of decoration.
All Hindu buildings are located around the most prominent Kailash temple, which represents sacred mountain Tibet. In contrast to the calm and more ascetic decoration of Buddhist caves, Hindu temples are decorated with catchy and bright carvings, which is very characteristic of Indian architecture.
Near Chennai in Tamil Nanda is the temple of Mamallapuram, with its towers the tower of the Kailasantha temple resembles. They were built around the same time.
Incredible effort has been put into the construction of the temple. This temple stands in a well 100 meters long and 50 meters wide. At Kailasanath, the foundation is not only a three-tiered monument, but also a huge complex with a courtyard near the temple, porticos, galleries, halls, statues.
The lower part ends with a plinth of 8 meters, it is girded with figures of sacred animals of elephants and lions from all sides. The figures protect and at the same time support the temple.
The original reason it's enough remote place became the center of such an active religious and artistic activity, became a lively caravan route, which ran here, connecting flourishing cities in the north and ports on the west coast. Profits from profitable trade went to the construction of the sanctuaries of this complex, hollowed out in stone for five hundred years, begun in the middle of the 6th century. n. e., about the same time that Ajanta, located 100 km to the northeast, was abandoned. This was the period of the decline of the Buddhist era in central India: by the end of the 7th c. Hinduism began to rise again. The revival of Brahmanism gained momentum over the next three centuries under the patronage of the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta kings, two powerful dynasties, thanks to which the most of works in Ellora, including the creation of the Kailash temple in the 8th century. The third and last stage of the take-off of construction activity in this area came at the end of the first millennium of a new era, when the local rulers turned from Shaivism to Digambara Jainism. A small cluster of less prominent caves to the north of the main group stands as a reminder of this era.
Unlike the secluded Ajanta, Ellora did not escape the consequences of the fanatical struggle with other religions that accompanies the coming to power of the Muslims in the 13th century. The worst extremes were taken during the reign of Aurangzeb, who, in a fit of piety, ordered the systematic destruction of "pagan idols." Although Ellora still bears the scars of that time, most of her sculpture has remained miraculously intact. The fact that the caves were carved into solid rock, out of the monsoon rains, has kept them in remarkably good condition.
All caves are numbered, approximately according to the chronology of their creation. Numbers 1 to 12 in the southern part of the complex are the oldest and date from the Buddhist Vajrayana era (AD 500-750). The Hindu caves, numbered 17 to 29, were built at the same time as the later Buddhist caves and date back to between 600 and 870 BC. new era. Further north, the Jain caves - numbers 30 to 34 - were gouged from 800 AD to the end of the 11th century. Due to the sloping nature of the hillside, most of the cave entrances are set back from ground level and behind open courtyards and large pillared verandas or porticos. Entrance to all caves except the Kailash temple is free.
To see the oldest caves first, turn right from the car park where the buses arrive and walk along the main path to Cave 1. From here, gradually work your way further north, resisting the temptation to go to Cave 16, a Kailash temple that is best left for later. when all the tour groups leave at the end of the day and the long shadows cast by the setting sun bring its striking stone sculpture to life.
Man-made rock caves dotted across the volcanic hills of the northwestern Deccan are among the most amazing religious monuments in Asia, if not the world. Ranging from tiny monastic cells to colossal, elaborate temples, they are remarkable for being hand-cut into hard stone. Early caves of the 3rd c. BC BC, seem to have been temporary shelters for Buddhist monks when torrential monsoon rains interrupted their wanderings. They copied earlier wooden buildings and were financed by merchants, for whom the castless new faith was an attractive alternative to the old, discriminatory social order. Gradually, inspired by the example of Maurya emperor Ashoka, local ruling dynasties also began to convert to Buddhism. Under their patronage, during the 2nd c. BC e., in Karli, Bhaja and Ajanta, the first large cave monasteries were created.
At this time, the ascetic Theravada Buddhist school predominated in India. Closed monastic communities had little interaction with the outside world. The caves created during this era were mostly simple "prayer halls" (chaityas) - long, rectangular apsidal chambers with cylindrical vaulted roofs and two low pillared passages curving gently around the back of a monolithic stupa. As symbols of Buddha's enlightenment, these hemispherical burial mounds were the main centers of worship and meditation, around which communities of monks made their ritual detours.
The methods used in creating caves have changed little over the centuries. Initially, the main dimensions of the decorative facade were applied to the front of the rock. Groups of masons then cut a rough hole (which later became an elegant horseshoe-shaped chaitya window) through which they cut further into the depths of the rock. As workers reached floor level, using heavy iron picks, they left chunks of untouched rock, which skillful sculptors then turned into columns, prayer friezes and stupas.
By the 4th c. n. e. the Hinayana school began to give way to the more luxurious Mahayana or "Great Vehicle" school. The greater emphasis of this school on the ever-increasing pantheon of deities and bodhisattvas (merciful saints who put off their own attainment of Nirvana in order to assist humanity in its progress towards Enlightenment) was also reflected in the change architectural styles. The chaityas were supplanted by the richly decorated monastic halls, or viharas, in which the monks both lived and prayed, and the image of the Buddha assumed greater prominence. Taking the place where the stupa used to stand at the end of the hall, around which ritual detours were made, a colossal image appeared, which carried 32 characteristics (lakshanas), including long hanging earlobes, a bulging skull, curls of hair that distinguish the Buddha from other beings. Mahayana art reached its peak at the end of the Buddhist era. The creation of an extensive catalog of themes and imagery contained in ancient manuscripts such as the Jatakas (legends about previous incarnations of the Buddha) as well as those displayed in the marvelous, awe-inspiring wall paintings at Ajanta may have been partly due to an attempt to stir up interest in a faith that By that time, it had already begun to fade in this region.
The desire of Buddhism to compete with the resurgent Hinduism, which took shape in the 6th century, eventually led to the creation of a new, more esoteric religious movement within the Mahayana. The direction of the Vajrayana, or "Thunder Chariot", emphasizing and affirming the creative principle of the feminine, shakti; in secret rituals, spells and magic formulas were used here. Ultimately, however, such modifications proved powerless in India in the face of the revived appeal of Brahmanism.
The subsequent transfer of royal and popular patronage to the new faith is best seen in the example of Ellora, where during the 8th century. many of the old viharas have been converted into temples, and polished shivalings have been installed in their shrines instead of stupas or Buddha statues. Hindu cave architecture, with its emphasis on dramatic mythological sculpture, reached its highest expression in the 10th century with the majestic Kailash Temple, a gigantic copy of the structures on the surface of the earth that had already begun to replace the caves carved into the rocks. It was Hinduism that bore the brunt of the fanatical medieval persecution of other religions by Islam, which reigned in the Deccan, and Buddhism by that time had long since moved to the relatively safe Himalayas, where it flourishes to this day.
Buddhist caves are located on the sides of a gentle recess in the slope of the Chamadiri cliff. All but Cave 10 are viharas, or monastic halls, which the monks originally used for study, secluded meditation and communal prayers, and mundane activities such as eating and sleeping. As you walk through them, the halls will gradually become more and more impressive in size and style. Scholars attribute this to the rise of Hinduism and the need for rivalry in seeking the patronage of rulers with the more reverent Saivite cave temples that have been excavated so close in the neighborhood.
Caves 1 to 5
Cave 1, which may have been a granary, as its most Big hall It is a simple, unadorned vihara containing eight small cells and almost no sculpture. In the much more impressive Cave 2, the large central chamber is supported by twelve massive square-based columns, and Buddha statues sit along the side walls. The entrance leading to the altar room is flanked by the figures of two giant dvarapalas, or gate guards: the unusually muscular Padmapani, the bodhisattva of compassion with a lotus in his hand, on the left, and the richly jeweled Maitreya, the “Buddha of the Future”, on the right. Both are accompanied by their spouses. Inside the shrine itself, a majestic Buddha sits on a lion-shaped throne, looking stronger and more determined than his serene predecessors in Ajanta. Caves 3 and 4, which are slightly older and similar in design to Cave 2, are in rather poor condition.
Known as "Maharvada" (because during monsoon rains the local Mahar tribe took refuge in it), Cave 5 is the largest one-story vihara in Ellora. Its huge, 36 m long, rectangular meeting room is said to have been used by the monks as a refectory, with two rows of benches carved into the stone. At the far end of the hall, the entrance to the central shrine is guarded by two beautiful statues of bodhisattvas - Padmapani and Vajrapani ("Thunder Holder"). Inside sits the Buddha, this time on a dais; his right hand touches the ground making a gesture indicating “Miracle Thousand Buddhas”, which Master did to confuse a group of heretics.
Cave 6
The next four caves were dug at about the same time in the 7th century. and are just a repetition of their predecessors. On the walls of the vestibule at the far end of the central hall in Cave 6 are the most famous and beautifully executed statues. Tara, the wife of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, stands on the left, with an expressive, friendly face. On opposite side the Buddhist goddess of teaching Mahamayuri, depicted with a symbol in the form of a peacock, is located, in front of her a diligent student sits at the table. There is an obvious parallel between Mahajuri and Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge and wisdom corresponding to her (the mythological vehicle of the latter, however, was a goose), which clearly shows to what extent Indian Buddhism of the 7th century. borrowed elements from a rival religion in an attempt to revive his own waning popularity.
Caves 10, 11 and 12
Dug out at the beginning of the 8th c. Cave 10 is one of the last and most magnificent chaitya halls in the Deccan Caves. To the left of its large veranda, steps begin, rising to the upper balcony, from where a triple passage leads to the inner balcony, with flying horsemen, celestial nymphs and a frieze decorated with playful dwarfs. From here you have a beautiful view of the hall with its octagonal columns and vaulted roof. From the stone "rafters" carved into the ceiling, imitation beams that were present in earlier wooden structures, the popular name of this cave comes - "Sutar Jhopadi" - "Carpenter's Workshop". At the far end of the hall, the Buddha sits on a throne in front of a votive stupa - this group is the central place of worship.
Despite the discovery in 1876 of its previously hidden subterranean floor, Cave 11 is still referred to as "Dho Tal", or "two-tiered" cave. Its top floor is a long pillared assembly hall with a shrine to the Buddha, and images on its back wall of Durga and Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva, indicate that the cave was converted into a Hindu temple after it was abandoned by the Buddhists.
Neighboring cave 12 - "Tin Tal" or "three-tiered" - is another three-tiered vihara, the entrance to which leads through a large open courtyard. Once again, the main attractions are on the top floor, which was once used for learning and meditation. On the sides of the altar room at the end of the hall, along the walls of which five large figures of bodhisattvas are located, there are statues of five Buddhas, each of which depicts one of his previous incarnations of the Teacher. The figures on the left are shown in a state of deep meditation, and those on the right are again in the “Miracle of a Thousand Buddhas” position.
Seventeen Hindu caves of Ellora are grouped around the middle of the cliff, where the majestic Kailash temple is located. Carved out at the start of the Deccan Brahmin renaissance, during a time of relative stability, the cave temples have a sense of life that their discreet Buddhist predecessors lacked. There are no longer rows of big-eyed, soft-faced Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Instead, huge bas-reliefs stretch along the walls, depicting dynamic scenes from Hindu legends. Most of them are associated with the name of Shiva, the god of destruction and rebirth (and the main deity of all the Hindu caves of the complex), although you will also find numerous images of Vishnu, the guardian of the universe, and his many incarnations.
The same patterns are repeated over and over again, which gave the artisans of Ellora an excellent opportunity to hone their technique over the centuries, the crown and greatest achievement of which was the Kailash temple (Cave 16). The temple described separately is an attraction that you must definitely visit while in Ellora. However, you can better appreciate its fine sculpture if you first visit the earlier Hindu caves. If you don't have too much time, keep in mind that numbers 14 and 15, located directly to the south, are the most interesting of the group.
Cave 14
Dating from the beginning of the 7th century, one of the last caves of the early period - Cave 14 - was a Buddhist vihara converted into a Hindu temple. Its plan is similar to Cave 8, with the altar room separated from the back wall and surrounded by a circular passageway. The entrance to the sanctuary is guarded by two imposing statues of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna, and in the alcove behind and to the right, the seven goddesses of fertility "Sapta Matrika" rock plump babies on their knees. The son of Shiva - Ganesha with the head of an elephant - sits to their right next to two terrifying images of Kala and Kali, the goddesses of death. Fine friezes adorn long walls caves. Starting from the front, the friezes on the left (when facing the altar) depict Durga killing the buffalo demon Mahisha; Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, sits on a lotus throne, while her elephant servants pour water from their trunks on her; Vishnu in the form of the boar Varaha, saving the earth goddess Prithvi from the flood; and finally Vishnu with his wives. The panels on the opposite wall are dedicated exclusively to Shiva. The second one from the front shows him playing dice with his wife Parvati; then he performs the dance of the creation of the Universe in the form of Nataraja; and on the fourth frieze, he nonchalantly ignores the futile attempts of the demon Ravana to throw him and his wife off their earthly dwelling - Mount Kailash.
Cave 15
Like the neighboring cave, the two-storey Cave 15, which is reached by a long staircase, began its existence as a Buddhist vihara, but was occupied by the Hindus and turned into a Shiva shrine. You can skip the generally not particularly interesting first floor and go straight up, where there are several examples of Ellora's most majestic sculpture. The name of the cave - "Das Avatara" ("Ten Avatars") - comes from a series of panels located along the right wall, which represent five of the ten incarnations - avatars - Vishnu. On the panel closest to the entrance, Vishnu is shown in his fourth image of the Lion Man - Narasimha, which he took to destroy the demon, which "neither man nor beast could kill, neither day nor night, neither inside the palace nor outside" ( Vishnu overcame him, hiding at dawn on the threshold of the palace). Pay attention to the serene expression on the face of the demon before death, which is confident and calm, because he knows that, being killed by a god, he will receive salvation. On the second frieze from the entrance, the Guardian is depicted in the incarnation of the sleeping “Primal Dreamer”, reclining on the rings of Ananda, the cosmic serpent of Infinity. From his navel, a lotus flower shoot is about to grow, and Brahma will emerge from it and begin the creation of the world.
The carved panel in the recess to the right of the vestibule shows Shiva emerging from the lingam. His rivals, Brahma and Vishnu, stand humbly and pleadingly before his vision, symbolizing the predominance of Shaivism in this region. And finally, in the middle of the left wall of the room, if you stand facing the sanctuary, the most elegant sculpture of the cave depicts Shiva in the form of Nataraja, frozen in a dancing pose.
Caves 17 to 29
Only three of the Hindu caves located on the hillside north of the Kailash temple are worthy of inspection. Cave 21 - "Ramesvara" (Ramesvara) - was created at the end of the 6th century. Believed to be the oldest Hindu cave in Ellora, it contains several marvelously executed examples of sculpture, including a pair of beautiful river goddesses flanking the veranda, two wonderful gatekeeper statues, and several sensual amorous couples (mithunas) adorning the balcony walls. Note also the magnificent panel depicting Shiva and Parvati. In Cave 25, located further away, there is a striking image of the Sun God - Surya, driving his chariot towards the dawn.
From here, the path leads past two more caves, and then abruptly descends along the surface of a steep cliff to its foot, where a small river gorge is located. Crossing a seasonal stream with a waterfall, the path climbs up the other side of the crevice and leads to Cave 29 - Dhumar Lena. This one dates from the end of the 6th c. the cave is distinguished by an unusual ground plan in the form of a cross, similar to Elephanta cave in Mumbai harbor. Its three staircases are guarded by pairs of rearing lions, and the walls inside are decorated with huge friezes. To the left of the entrance, Shiva pierces the demon Andhaka; in the adjacent panel, it reflects the attempts of the many-armed Ravana to shake him and Parvati off the top of Mount Kailash (note the fat-cheeked dwarf teasing an evil demon). The south side depicts a dice game scene in which Shiva teases Parvati by holding her hand as she prepares to throw.
Kailash Temple (Cave 16)
Cave 16, the colossal temple of Kailash (daily 6am to 6pm; Rs 5) is Ellora's masterpiece. In this case, the term "cave" is erroneous. Although the temple, like all caves, was carved into solid rock, it is strikingly similar to the usual structures on the surface of the earth - in Pattadakal and Kanchipuram in South India, on the model of which it was built. This monolith is believed to have been conceived by the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna I (756-773). However, a hundred years passed, and four generations of kings, architects and artisans passed, until this project was completed. Climb up the path that leads along the northern cliff face of the complex to the landing above the squat main tower and you'll see why.
The size of the building alone is amazing. Work began by digging three deep trenches at the top of the hill, using picks, hoes, and pieces of wood, which, soaked in water and inserted into narrow cracks, expanded and crumbled the basalt. When a huge piece of raw rock stood out in this way, the royal sculptors set to work. It is estimated that a total of a quarter of a million tons of fragments and crumbs were cut down from the hillside, it was impossible to improvise or make mistakes. The temple was conceived as a gigantic copy of the Himalayan dwelling of Shiva and Parvati - the pyramidal Mount Kailash (Kailash) - the Tibetan peak, which is said to be the "divine axis" between heaven and earth. Today, almost all of the thick layer of white lime plaster that gave the temple the appearance of a snowy mountaintop has fallen away, revealing carefully crafted surfaces of grey-brown stone. At the back of the tower, these protrusions have been eroded by centuries and faded and blurred, as if a gigantic sculpture was slowly melting from the brutal Deccan heat.
The main entrance to the temple leads through a high stone partition, which is designed to delimit the transition from the mundane to the sacred realm. Passing between the two river goddesses guarding the entrance, Ganga and Yamuna, you find yourself in a narrow passage that opens into the main forecourt, opposite the panel depicting Lakshmi - the Goddess of Wealth - being showered by a pair of elephants - this scene is known to the Hindus under the name "Gajalakshmi". Custom requires pilgrims to circumnavigate Mount Kailash in a clockwise direction, so descend the steps on the left and walk across the front of the patio to the nearest corner.
From the top of the concrete staircase in the corner, all three main sections of the complex are visible. The first is the entrance with the Nandi buffalo statue - vehicle Shiva lying in front of the altar; the next, the intricately decorated walls of the main assembly hall, or mandapa, recessed into stone, which still retain traces of the colored plaster that originally covered the entire interior of the structure; and finally, the sanctuary itself, with a short and thick 29-meter pyramidal tower, or shikhara (which is best viewed from above). These three components rest on an appropriately sized raised platform supported by dozens of lotus-gathering elephants. In addition to symbolizing the sacred mountain of Shiva, the temple also depicts a giant chariot. The transepts protruding from the side of the main hall are its wheels, the Nandi shrine is its yoke, and the two life-size trunkless elephants in front of the courtyard (mutilated by marauding Muslims) are draft animals.
Most of the main attractions of the temple itself are limited to its side walls, which are covered with expressive sculpture. The long panel along the stairs leading to the northern part of the mandapa vividly depicts scenes from the Mahabharata. It shows some scenes from Krishna's life, including the one shown in the lower right corner of the baby god suckling the poisoned breast of a wet nurse sent by his evil uncle to kill him. Krishna survived, but the poison dyed his skin a characteristic blue color. If you continue to look around the temple clockwise, you will see that most of the panels of the lower sections of the temple are dedicated to Shiva. In the southern part of the mandapa, in an alcove carved from the most prominent part of it, you will find a bas-relief, which is generally considered the most beautiful example of sculpture in the complex. It shows how Shiva and Parvati are disturbed by the many-headed demon Ravana, who was imprisoned inside the sacred mountain and is now rocking the walls of his prison with his many hands. Shiva is about to assert his supremacy by calming the earthquake with the movement of his big toe. Parvati, meanwhile, watches him nonchalantly, leaning on her elbow, while one of her maids flees in a panic.
At this point, make a slight detour and climb the stairs in the lower (southwest) corner of the courtyard to the “Hall of Sacrifices” with its striking frieze of the seven mother goddesses, the Sapta Matrika, and their terrifying companions Kala and Kali (represented standing on top of mountains of corpses), or head straight up the steps of the main assembly hall, past the energetic battle scenes of the spectacular frieze of the Ramayana, and into the altar room. The sixteen-columned assembly hall is shrouded in a gloomy half-light, which is designed to focus the attention of the worshipers on the presence within the deity. Using a portable electric flashlight, the choukidar will illuminate fragments of the ceiling painting, where Shiva in the form of Nataraja performs the dance of the birth of the Universe, and numerous erotic mithuna couples are also presented. The shrine itself is no longer a functioning altar, although it still houses a large stone lingam mounted on a yoni pedestal, symbolizing the dual aspect of Shiva's generative energy.
It is remarkable that after so many years, the cultural, historical and architectural heritage of the planet has been imprinted on our earth forever. And one of them is the caves of Ellora. The caves and temples of Ellora are listed by UNESCO as monuments that are world heritage humanity.
one of the questions that interests me is this: there must have been a lot of people living or coming here. And how were the water pipes arranged here? Yes, at least the same Topas Sewerage
Cave Temples in Ellora Caves
The temples of Ellora are located in the state of Maharashtra and arose during the era of the state of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which in the 8th century united the western part of India under their rule. In the Middle Ages, many considered the Rashtrakut state to be the greatest state. It was compared with such powerful powers as the Arab Caliphate, Byzantium and China. official science believes that the Temples of Ellora were built between the 6th and 9th century AD. However, independent researchers, taking into account the nature of the building and the high-tech design of rocks, attribute the date of construction to more ancient period, approximately by 8,000 BC
In total in Ellora exists 34 temples and monasteries, carved into the monolith of one of the mountains of Charanandry, are a real embodiment of the achievements of Indian cave architecture. Each cave of Ellora is unique and beautiful, and a particle of the soul of the Indian people is invested in each. The interior decoration of the temples is not as dramatic and rich as in the Ajanta caves. However, there are refined sculptures of a more beautiful form here, a complex plan is observed and the sizes of the temples themselves are larger. And all the memos are much better preserved to this day. Long galleries were created in the rocks, and the area of one hall sometimes reached 40x40 meters. The walls are skillfully decorated with reliefs and stone sculptures. Temples and monasteries were created in the basalt hills for half a millennium (6-10 century AD). It is also characteristic that the construction of the caves of Ellora began around the time when the holy places of Ajanta were abandoned and lost sight of.
These caves were created as Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples and monasteries, the so-called viharas and mathas, during the period from the 5th to the 10th centuries. So 12 out of 34 caves are Buddhist sanctuaries, 17 are Hindu and 5 are Jain.
Previously, it was believed that the Buddhist part of Ellora (caves 1-12) was built the very first - in the 5th-7th centuries. But more recent studies have shown that some Hindu caves were created in more early times. So, this part, for the most part, consists of monastic premises - large multi-level rooms carved into the rock, some of which are decorated with images and sculptures of the Buddha. Moreover, some sculptures are carved with such skill that they can be confused with wooden ones. The most famous Buddhist cave is the 10th cave - Vishwakarma. In its center stands a statue of Buddha 4.5 meters high.
The Hindu part of Ellora was created in the 6th-8th centuries and is made in a completely different style. All the walls and ceilings of the premises of this part are completely covered with bas-reliefs and sculptural compositions of such complexity that sometimes several generations of craftsmen worked on their design and creation. The most striking is the 16th cave, which is called Kailasanatha or Kailasa. It surpasses all other caves of the complex in its beauty. It is rather a real temple, carved into a monolithic rock.
Dzhanist caves were created during the 9th-10th centuries. Their architecture embodied the craving of this religion for asceticism and simplicity. They surpass the rest of the premises in size, but, despite all their simplicity, they are not inferior to them in uniqueness. So in one of these caves, Indra Sabha, an amazing lotus flower is carved on the ceiling, and on the upper level there is a statue of the goddess Ambika, sitting astride a lion among mango trees hung with fruits.
The complex of cave temples of Ellora is located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, not far from Ajanta, and consists of 34 cave temples that were created during the 8th-9th centuries. Twelve of them are Buddhist, two are Jain and the rest are Hindu. The Hindu part of the ensemble includes a huge rock temple Kailasanatha.
The emergence of the cave temples of Ellora dates back to the era of the state of the Rashtrakut dynasty, which in the VIII century united under their rule western territories India. Medieval Arab chroniclers named the state of the Rashtrakuts among the greatest states of that time, along with the Arab Caliphate, Byzantium and China.
The Rashtrakutas were the most powerful Indian rulers of that time. Around 750, they began a grandiose construction in their lands. Undoubtedly, the influence on Ellora of the earlier cave temples of Ajanta. But how natural features, and the trends of modern times, led to the creation of a completely original monument in Ellora, where stone sculpture began to play the main role. The cave halls of Ellora, created at the beginning of the 8th century, differ significantly from Ajanta in their size and more complex plan. Long galleries are laid in the rocks, the area of some halls reaches 40x40 meters. The walls of the halls are decorated with stone sculptures and reliefs in abundance.
The main cave temple of Ellora is called Tin Thal. This is the largest underground temple ever created in India. It consists of three floors and is located in the depths of a rectangular courtyard resembling a narrow well 33 meters wide and 20 meters deep, the entrance to which leads through a narrow monolithic gate. The facade of the temple is extremely simple and ascetically severe. It consists of three rows of square columns resting on monolithic rock platforms. The height of the facade is 16 meters.
A narrow staircase carved in stone leads to the temple. And when a person gets inside the underground sanctuary, vast halls with countless powerful square columns and statues of Buddhist deities open up to his gaze. The halls of Tin Thal overwhelm with their colossal and severe, elementarily simple forms. The width and depth of the halls reaches 30-40 meters. The gloomy mystical mood in the temple is enhanced by the effect of the dusk deepening in its depths, in which huge stone sculptures ghostly flicker.
The same impression is produced by other, smaller cave temples of Ellora. In the Rameshvara temple, sculptural relief and stone carving dominate almost the entire surface of the walls and columns. Huge wall high reliefs literally surround the viewer. Terrible fantastic statues carved into the rock make a particularly strong and hypnotizing impression due to their plastic power and sharp contrast of light and shadow.
The facades of the Rameshvara temple are decorated with four columns and two semi-columns with intricately carved capitals and large female caryatid figures located on both sides of the columns. Stone carving adorns the entire facade of the cave temple, but its splendor only emphasizes the massiveness of the columns, resembling muscles tensed in superhuman effort. In the later cave halls of Ellora, one can feel the loss by the sculptors of the artistic achievements of the masters of the previous era. The temple complex of Ellora completed the ancient Indian tradition of building rock temples.
The central building of Ellora is huge temple Kailasanatha, carved into a monolithic, lonely standing rock. The very idea of such a fabulous building, towering among the cave temples surrounding it, is unusual. The temple is perfect in its power and size. unique and can only be compared with the rock temples - Abu Simbel and the temple of the goddess Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri. The majestic and unique rock temple of Kailasanatha is carved like a sculpture from a monolithic rock, isolated from the slopes surrounding Ellora low mountains three deep, up to thirty meters deep, clefts. This rock mass was hewn, starting from the top and down to the very bottom, without the use of scaffolding. Initially, the entire Kailasanath temple was covered with white plaster and was called Ranga Mahal - "painted palace". Its snow-white silhouette stood out like a bright spot against the background of the rocks.
The Kailasanatha Temple was built, or rather, cut into the rock, for a very long time. It began to be created under the ruler Dantidurga from the Rashtrakuta dynasty, and completed under Krishnaraj I. The temple rises in the middle of a courtyard cut out of the rock with an area of 58x51 meters and more than 33 meters deep into the rock. The area of the temple is 55x36 meters.
The lower part of the temple is carved in the form of an eight-meter-high plinth. In its center there are monumental sculptures of elephants and lions about three meters high, as if holding the weight of the temple building on their backs. Closely spaced rows of elephants are carved in such a way that it seems that this is only the visible part of them, and the rest of the elephants are hidden under the massif of the temple. This idea of a huge structure resting on the backs of elephants and lions is mythological and symbolic - after all, the world, as is known from ancient legends, stands on three elephants. Only there are much more elephants in Kailasanath...
From top to bottom, the temple is covered with stone carvings, made with great skill. As the Russian pre-revolutionary Indologist I. P. Minaev wrote, the temple in Ellora has “such a mass of images that it can be considered a book of Indian mythology.”
One of the most interesting images on the walls of the Kailasanatha temple is the relief of Ravana trying to overthrow Mount Kailash. This is one of the most dramatic works of Indian medieval sculpture. The central event of the relief is the taming of the demon Ravana by the god Shiva, who seeks to destroy the sacred Mount Kailash (the hypostasis of the sacred Mount Meru), on which Shiva lives. This plot symbolizes the clash of the forces of good and evil. An enraged demon, depicted as a terrible many-headed and many-armed creature, rages in a rage, unsuccessfully trying to shake the sacred mountain. His wife Parvati clung to the almighty Shiva in fear. But the frantic efforts of the demon are not afraid of Shiva: with one slight wave of his hand, he pacifies the monster.
No less interesting are other reliefs of the Kailasanath temple: “Shiva the Conqueror”, “The Abduction of Sita”. They are performed with such art, with such a captivating expression that the viewer cannot remain just an observer and at some point he is sincerely captured by the drama of the events depicted. Such an impact of the artistic image on a person first appears in Indian art only in Ellora.
