The Amazing Rock cut Kailash Temple of India

 

When most of us were growing up, we learned about a handful of man-made wonders of the world such as the pyramids in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China. One that may have slipped right past you could have been the Kailashnath Temple in Maharashtra, India.

What's most amazing about the Kailashnath Temple is that it's carved out of one single rock. Carvers started at the top and excavated downward, exhuming the temple out of the existing rock. The traditional methods were rigidly followed by the master architect, which could not have been achieved by excavating from the front.

Kailash Temple is one of the 34 monasteries and temples known collectively as the Ellora Caves, extending over more than 2 km. Kailash temple is at Cave 16 in Ellora.

Dedicated to Hindu Lord Shiva, the temple was built between 756-774 CE by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I and measures about 60 feet tall and 200 feet wide. All the carvings are done on more than one level. Originally flying bridges of stone connected these galleries to central temple structures, but they have since fallen. The base of the temple has been carved to suggest that elephants are holding the structure aloft.

The Kailash Temple is sometimes called the Kailashnath Temple, and was designed to resemble the sacred Mount Kailash located in Tibet, which is said to be the abode of the Lord Shiva. Because of this, the Kailash Temple is dedicated to Shiva and many of the sculptures at Kailash Temple are of this Hindu god. Originally, this structure was coated in a thick layer of white plaster so that it appeared to be covered with snow like the sacred mountain; some traces of this plaster remain today.

It took generations and more than 100 years to complete and about 400,000 tons of rocks were scooped out to construct this monolithic structure. The end result covers an area twice the size of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It is one of the largest structures in the world, rivaling even the Taj Mahal in Agra. 

Even the sculptures at Kailash Temple are carved from the same piece of rock as the rest of the temple. These include huge elephants, pillars and columns, the dominating main gateway, the five shrines in the large courtyard, the three-tiered tower, and even the second and third stories of the temple. Enter the Kailash Temple Ellora through a massive two-story gateway and into a gracious courtyard graced by statues of elephants that seem to be supporting the massive temple, the sacred bull Nandi, and carvings of lions. You will also see a sculpture of the god Ravana trying to lift Mount Kailash, home of the Lord Shiva. Within the courtyard are actually two temples, traditional in Shiva architecture. The first is a temple for sacred Nandi, which is connected to the huge main temple by a rock bridge.

 

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