The Caves of Ellora

by James Muth

     Natural caves are some of the most beautiful and dark things in the world, but caves made for religious purposes, carved out of a mountain by hand, are even more beautiful, and dark. In Aurangabad, India at the Ellora caves site, there are 34 man-made caves that are 30 km away from the center of the city. There are 12 Buddhist, 17 Hindu and 5 Jain caves. The group visited 2 caves from each religion.

            The first Jain cave that we visited was unfinished. It was a bit of a climb to get up to the mouth of the cave. There were lots of intricate carvings on the pillars on the outside, but on the inside it looked more like a natural cave. It was a different experience to see not completely finished pillars. It gave the group an insight on how difficult it must have been to turn a mountain into a temple. In the cave there were also bats, as expected, and even a large toad. Outside the cave there was a small puddle that housed three crabs. No one knew for sure how the crabs got up there, but it was interesting to see them there. The second Jain cave was very large and it had two layers. Both smelled of guano but the amazing carvings, like a life sized elephant, made us forget that in an instant. There was a lot to see and learn so we were kept busy for a while.

the unfinished cave from the outside

the unfinished cave from the inside

The second Jain cave

A giant, carved elephant at the second Jain cave

Grace peeking through a hole

Mom meditating

Jain sculpture

            The Hindu caves we went to were gigantic. The first one had several depictions of Lord Shiva. One at the entrance was Shiva fighting some unseen terror; another was of him with his wife. The main and noticeable difference between Jain and Hindu caves are the construction. The Hindu caves let in much more light because three of the four sides in the cave are cut completely out, all the way to the surface. There was enough light to see from one end of the cave to another. The other cave we saw wasn’t really a cave. It certainly didn’t feel like one. It was technically still cut out of the mountain but our guide – Bharat- used the term “monolithic architecture. The structure was a giant temple-like building in the center of the cleared out section of the mountain. Around the edge of the cut out area there was a passageway that had all the incarnations of Vishnu along the edges. Three of the four sides of the cave were the above-mentioned passageways. The temple in the center had two layers and lots of statues of animals. That cave is the largest one at the Ellora cave site.

Lord Shiva

Holy cow!

The temple in the center of the largest "cave"

            The Buddhist caves that we visited were very similar to the ones that we saw in Ajanta. One cave had several layers and looks like an ancient apartment building. It kind of is because Monks used to study and live there. The other Buddhist cave we visited was a chanting hall. If anyone said anything, it would echo and no one would know who said it. So of course everyone sang and harmonized a little because the echo made for great acoustics. It was very interesting to learn about the construction of these caves so that the religion could be perfected or performed.

the ancient apartment building

the chanting hall

            The caves at the Ellora site were stunning, wowing, fantastic and dark. The religions were clearly represented in each one of the caves. Whether there were depictions of Lord Shiva or Master Buddha, there was always something to be amazed at, including the darkness.