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Ajanta caves, Maharashtra. public domain,

Top 10 Remarquable facts about Ajanta and Ellora cave

For travelers, there certainly is no other heritage site better than these caves. The caves are located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. If you want to visit these caves you may have to travel to Ajanta village which is a hardly nine hours drive from Mumbai City.

The caves at Ajanta are all Buddhist, while the caves at Ellora are a mixture of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain They are about 34 caves at Ellora that date from the 6th to 11th centuries AD, and 29 caves at Ajanta that date from the 2nd Century BC and 6th century AD. They are both important to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The most obsolete thing about these caves is that they were crafted by hand, with only a hammer and Chisel, therefore they are the most spectacular caves in India even though there are various caves complexes.

Here are the top 10 Remarquable facts about the Ajanta and Ellora caves that you should know ;

1. The incredible Kailasa Temple

The Kailasa Temple is cave number 16 in the Ellora caves. It is the most famous attraction cave due to its size and architecture and it is entirely carved out of a single rock. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and was inspired by Mount Kailash a.

It was called by Carmel Berkson “a wonder of the world” among other rock-cut monuments. It is considered highly as a notable example of temple construction from the 1st-millennium Indian history.

2. The Dashavatara Temple 

This is another significant excavation which completed after cave 14. Dashavatara Temple in cave number 15.  It has an open court with a freestanding monolithic ‘mandapa’ in the middle and an excavated temple at the rear.

It is famous for depicting 10 different avatars of Lord Vishnu. According to Coomaraswamy, the finest relief of the cave is that it depicts the death of Hiranyakashipu, where Vishnu in man-lion form, emerges from a pillar to lay a fatal hand upon his shoulder. It is therefore a Rastrakoot.

3. Ancient paintings and sculptures

An early 19th-century painting of Cave 15, by Thomas Daniell and James Wales,

The ancient paintings and sculptures in the Ajanta and Ellora caves were inspired by Buddhism and its compassionate ethos. You are likely to enjoy the ancient paintings related to Gautam Buddha and his Jataka tales once you visit the famous Ajanta cave. The painting represents the life story of Gautam Buddha.

Later on, in 1983, the Ajanta and Ellora caves were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since the paintings and sculptures were considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art and had a great influence on the development of art in India.

4. The Vishvakarma cave

Vishvakarma cave is the most mesmerizing cave in Ellora because it exemplifies the Buddhist shrine along with a stupa. It is a chaitya worship hall, it was built around 650 CE. It is known as the ‘Carpenter’s Cave’ because the rock was given a finish that appeared as a wooden beam. The caves are multi-story buildings that serve as living quarters, kitchens, and sleeping cells for the monks that lived there.

5.The Vihara and Chaitya griha

Vihara and Chaitya griha are the two types of caves. Viharas are monasteries that were used for living and prayer, they are square halls with small cells along the sidewalls. The cells were used by monks for rest and other activities while the central larger square space was for prayers. Chaitya grihas are halls used for prayers. They are however long tunnel-like caves with round pillars on both sides and at the end, there is a stupa placed as a symbol of Lord Buddha.

6. The caves were carved in different periods

Cave 9, is a first-period Hinayana-style chaitya worship hall with stupa but no idols. By Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium,

The Ajanta and Ellora caves are viewed as the same historical monument but in reality, they were carved during different historical periods including the tourism activities and sightseeing.

The Ajanta caves hold their history, whereby they were developed between the 5th century and 11th century A.D. by various guilds from Vidarbha, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, while the Ellora caves date back to around the 9th century BC. They are newer compared to Ajanta caves. Their chronology construction is as follows-550AD to600 AD was the Hindu Phase, 600AD to730 AD was the Buddhist phase and 730 to 950AD was the Hindu and Jain phase.

7. The caves represent different traditions

The Ellora and Ajanta caves represent how the different traditions and religious harmony existed in ancient India. Therefore the Ellora carvings and monuments belong to Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cultures while the Ajanta monuments belong to the Buddhist cultures. 

This is represented as follows; the Ellora monuments and carvings, including the Rashtrakutas, Kalachuris, Chalukyas, and Yadavas. However, the Rashtrakutas and Kalachuris were constructed as part of the Hindu and Buddhist caves of Ellora while the Yadava was constructed as several Jain caves.

8. They are a combination of many caves

Both Ajanta and Ellora have different numbers of caves. As far as  Ajanta is concerned it has a set of 29 caves, which is among the finest examples of the earliest Buddhist architecture, cave paintings, and sculptures. whiles the Ellora has about 34 caves, which contain the Buddhist Chaityas or halls of worship, Viharas or monasteries, and Hindu and Jain temples.

9. Cave  26, the center of attractions

Cave 26 is a worship hall, which is much larger and it has elements of a Vihara design. It is considered to be a center of attraction due to the miracle of Shravasti, which is a family group, It was a village, where people living them referred to themselves as fortunate because they had seen Mahatma Buddha. 

This family group was painted in this cave and was considered to be an ideal family o the time and also the face of God reflects his spiritual progress.

10. Rock carved image of Lord Parshvanath

Sculptures carved on the rock in Gwalior Fortress, By Jolle – Own work, Wikipedia

The Jain temple contains a 16-foot rock-carved image of Lord Parshvanath which dates back from the Rashtrakuta period. It has an inscription that dates back from 1234AD. The inscription mentions the site as Charana Hill, a holy site.  The image is surrounded by Dharaiedndra and Padmavati. It is still an active place of worship. It is not protected by the ASI, but it is managed by a Jain Gurukul.