Kailasa Temple
The Kailasanath Temple is a Hindu temple located in the central part of the courtyard cut into the Basalt mountain. The uniqueness of the temple structure lies in the fact that it is not built, but carved out of the rock. The temple complex is considered the most important of the cave temples in Ellora and is an excellent creation in the architecture of India. It is separated from all other buildings by a depth of 30 meters.
Translated, "Kailasanatha" means "Lord of Mount Kailasa." The temple was built in honor of the god Shiva in the 7th-8th century AD under the leadership of the Pallava dynasty, starting with Rayasimham and ending with his son Mahendravarman III. About seven thousand workers participated in its construction, using 200 thousand tons of cut basalt, using only a chisel and a hammer. From under their hands, a huge temple complex came to life, striking in its size and accuracy of calculations.
During the construction of the Kailasanath temple, two styles of temple construction were combined – cave and ground. First, the required size of the rock was separated by cut trenches, and then they began to build the temple from above, going deeper down. At the same time, they were engaged in the decoration of the complex, performing the finest work on stone carvings and decorating with columns and sculptures depicting Indian deities, heroes of the epic. The entire structure is decorated from top to bottom with carved patterns and various shapes, and there is simply no place free from bas-reliefs.
The Kailasanatha complex covers a total area of about 2000 square meters. It consists of three halls: the temple of the god Shiva, which is surrounded by five cells, the temple of the bull Nandi and a multi-columned prayer hall. These composite zones are interconnected by walkways and are located on the same basement.
In the middle of the Nandi pavilion there is a statue of a bull, which lies with its head towards the prayer hall. In the center of the main sanctuary is a three-stage pyramid with a hexagonal dome. There is a monument of the god Shiva at the entrance to the Kailasanath Temple. The southern walls of the temple are decorated with relief compositions depicting episodes of the Ramayana, and the northern walls are decorated with images of the Mahabharata.
The lower part of the building is occupied by a basement with a height of 8 meters. The erected statues of elephants and lions up to 3 meters high are the foundation for the upper part of the Kailasanath building. Each figure is individual.
In the interior of the temple, the main decoration is frescoes depicting the main characters of the ancient Indian epic – god Shiva, Ravana, Sit.
The man-made miracle of the Kailasanath Temple is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
