Ellora Caves Sanctuary Gardens Artfully Adjoin Ellora Caves Artistry

Summary: Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens are artfully natural, unofficial annexes for area wildlife to the ancient architecture and artistry of the Ellora Caves.

"The Mountain of Ellora (third view)" 1803 colored aquatint by English landscape painter Thomas Daniell (1749-March 19, 1840), from drawing by Scottish artist James Wales (1747-1795); view shows Buddhist caves, which are located in the site's southern part; Plate I of three-plate series, Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora Near Aurangabad: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens assure area wildlife of activity areas around 34 anciently, architecturally and artistically attractive caverns in the 800 to 1,600-year-old, 100-plus-cavern Ellora Caves of Maharashtra state, western peninsular India.

Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens bring together nine of the mammal species whose historical and present biogeographies traditionally brave environmental and human stresses in northern Maharashtra state. They contain animal species whose ecosystem contributions artfully consider animal and plant sustainability by casting consumed seeds elsewhere and consuming one another from need, not greed. Black-naped hare (sasa locally, Lepus ruficaudatus scientifically) diets demand different dry-season and wet-season edible species of Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens within the Ellora Caves teak forest.

Black-naped hares encounter buckthorn (Ziziphus), caperbush (Capparis) and rattlepod (Crotalaria burhia) bark, buds, germinating seeds and twigs October through May and grasses (Panicum) June through September.

Assyrian (Cordia myxa) and black (Syzygium cumini) plum, buckthorn (Ziziphus) and golden shower (Cassia fistula) trees furnish golden jackals (kolha, Canis aureus) with energizing fruit sugars.

Protein guidelines for balanced diets at all stages in life cycles get golden jackals going after birds, black-naped hares, eggs, fish, frogs, Indian gazelles and insects. Gray langur monkeys (wanar, Presbytis entellus) have bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus), fern, grass, lichen, moss-heavy diets whose digested, excreted seed dispersals help Ellora Caves teak forest sustainability. They ingest birds, cones, fruits, grass blades, roots, seeds and young shoots; and invertebrates such as insect larvae, spiders and termites in Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens.

Indian gazelles (chinkara, Gazella bennetii) juggle bittersweet (Maytenus emarginata), buckthorn (Ziziphus), mesquite (Prosophis cineraria) and rattlepod (Crotalaria burhia) fruit and leaf-filled and grass (Panicum) filled diets.

Habitat niches from the Western Ghats, known locally as Sahyadri (from Sanskrit सह्याद्रि, "benevolent") Mountains, through Ellora, to the Deccan Plateau keep Indian gazelles nutritiously hydrated.

Indian palm squirrels (khadi khar, Funambulus palmarum) link with Ellora Caves teak forest sustainability and sustainable Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens through their digested, excreted seed dispersals. Their omnivorous (from Latin omnis, "all" and -vorus, "habitually eating") diets mix fruits, fungi and nuts; insect larvae; and small birds and mammals and their eggs. Carnivorous (from Latin carō, "flesh" and -vorus, "habitually eating") panthers (bibatya wagh, Panthera pardus) and tigers (wagh, P. tigris) nevertheless need moisture-rich plants every two days.

Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens within the Ellora Caves teak forest offer predatory panthers and tigers black-naped hares, golden jackals, gray langurs, spotted deer and wild boar.

Spotted deer (chital, Axis axis) pursue herbivorousness (from Latin herba, "grass" and -vorus, "habitually eating") dusk through dawn unless environment-induced, human-practiced perturbations put them on days.

Spotted deer quest figs (Ficus racemosa) January through May, Assyrian (Cordia myxa) and black (Syzygium cumini) plums May through July and grasses (Panicum) throughout the year. Wild boar (jangali suar, Sus scrofa cristatus) require crepuscular (from Latin crepusculum, "dusk, evening, twilight") hunts after sunset and, when predator populations run low, day-shift hunting. Their daily diets stress Ellora Caves teak forest fruits, fungi and nuts; small birds and mammals and their eggs; and small invertebrates such as insect larvae.

Tenuous twenty-first-century populations of nine wild mammal species in natural, unofficial Ellora Caves sanctuary gardens never threaten tourist traffic to Ellora Caves' animal, people, plant-themed artistry.

yakshi seated on her lion (left corner) under a fruit-laden mango tree; Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; May 2004: Y. Shishido, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"The Mountain of Ellora (third view)" 1803 colored aquatint by English landscape painter Thomas Daniell (1749-March 19, 1840), from drawing by Scottish artist James Wales (1747-1795); view shows Buddhist caves, which are located in the site's southern part; Plate I of three-plate series, Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora Near Aurangabad: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas-Daniell-Mountain-of-Ellora-3.jpg

yakshi seated on her lion (left corner) under a fruit-laden mango tree; Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India; May 2004: Y. Shishido, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_cave34_001.jpg

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