Know About The 1200-Year-Old Hindu Temple Carved From A Single Rock

BY- JAYA CHOUDHARY

In Ellora, 29 kilometers from Aurangabad city, Maharashtra state, India, there's an old Hindu temple. It was established in the 8th century (757-783 BC) by Rashtrakuta King Krishna I (1200 years) who dominated the Indian Sub-continent between the 6th and 10th centuries and was dubbed the Kailasa Temple, the Sanskrit for "Kailasanatha." The entire narrative was recorded in the inscription of Kannada.

Kailasa is part of the Ellora caves, 34 temples, and monasteries, all sculpted rocks stretching for more than 2 km. The walls of a steep basalt cliff in the complex are excavated side by side. The temple Kailasa, or Mount Kailash in where Lord Shiva lives, is commonly called Kailashnath, which translates to the Lord Kailasha. The temple is a Dravidian stone-cut construction molded of one of 400,000 tonnes of granite with the most precise proportions and complex handicraft work.

The sanctuary contains pillars, windows, interior and outside spaces, assembly rooms, and a huge lingam in the center.Wikimedia commons

Archaeologists have come to the conclusion that three kinds of etching have been used for cutting this sanctuary by looking at the etch defects in the steep divisions. This sanctuary is supposed to have developed vertically from above because the basic designer has failed to cut the front.

Stepped sculptures are viewed via a two-story entrance into a u-formed yard bordered by a three-story segmented arcade consisting of huge gravure boards depicting vast models of a variety of divinities. The Bull Nandi is shown as a custom at each sanctuary consecrated to Lord Shiva before the principal sanctum sanctorum. The principal divinity measured 7 m in height and was based on two stories. In the base of the sanctuary, several elephants are carved into it, so that the entire sanctuary may be kept high by The Nandi Mandapa is connected to a large edifice in the form of the South Indian temple pyramid by a rock bridge.

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The sanctuary contains pillars, windows, interior and outside spaces, assembly rooms, and a huge lingam in the center. It is graved with the deities, mithuna, and many more figures in niches, plasters, windows, and pictures of these elephants. In his endeavor to lift Mount Kailasa with full might, Ravana's great sculpture exists. Shaivaite deities (Lord Shiva's followers) are mainly located on the left while the Vaishnavaite deities (Lord Vishnu's followers) are to the right. In the courtyard, there are also two Dhwajasthambha (flagstaff pillars).

In today's society, when we rely on technology for everything, it's impossible to imagine a time over twelve centuries ago when our forefathers could construct a whole edifice out of handshake using just a pair of hand tools and their bare hands. I like to think of the entire complex as proof that our forefathers had better talents and civilizations than we could possibly fathom.