Ellora Caves Are Arranged as Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Cave Temples

Summary: The Ellora Caves are architectural, artistic cave temples for ancient Buddhist, Hindu and Jain adherents in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India.

"Panorama of Ellora Caves with waterfall by an unknown artist, 1849"; Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Ellora Caves are arranged into three sets of cave temples whose ancient architecture and artistry acknowledge the three ancient religions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India.

Itinerant artisans built the Ellora Caves for Buddhist, Hindu and Jain believers from the fifth, sixth or seventh centuries through the eleventh, twelfth or thirteenth centuries. The 800 to 1,600-year-old Ellora Caves constitute a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Centre (WHC) List site of outstanding universal value. One of the outstanding universal values of the Ellora Caves derives from tolerant development of cave temples dedicated to religions other than the dominant dynasty's religion.

The Chalukya dynasty (543-753), the Rashtrakuta Empire (753-982) and the Western Chalukya Empire (973-1189) embraced Hinduism but enabled as co-existing, tolerated area religions Buddhism and Jainism.

Architectural and art historians perhaps figured, from the finishing dates of the Ajanta Caves, that itinerant artisans finished Buddhist cave temples first in the Ellora Caves.

The UNESCO WHC List groups the Ajanta Caves and the Ellora Caves, despite their 60-mile (96.56-kilometer) geographical separation, into one heritage site since Dec. 9, 1983. The 1,300 to 2,300-year-old Ajanta Caves harken back to the third through first centuries B.C.E. and to the fifth through sixth, seventh or eighth centuries C.E. Itinerant artisans of the Hindu-inspired Satavahana dynasty of the second century B.C.E. through third century C.E. and third through sixth-century Vakataka Empire installed the Ajanta Caves.

Perhaps the same itinerant artisans journeyed from job assignments for excavated, painted, sculpted cave temples in the Ajanta cliffs to job assignments in the Ellora cliffs.

Perhaps 30 Buddhist cave temples in the Ajanta Caves kindled Buddhist cave temples in the Ellora Caves between 400 and 600 or 650 and 750 C.E.

Architectural and art historians nowadays list Hindu cave temples as the first excavated, painted, sculpted Ellora Caves and link them to the mid-sixth through tenth centuries. They mention 28, 27, 19 as oldest; 29, 21, 20, 26 as second-oldest; 17, 18 as third-oldest; and 13 through 16 as fourth-oldest Hindu cave temples. They nowadays note 10 vihara (from Sanskrit विहार, "walking") monasteries and one chaitya (from Sanskrit चैत्य, "funeral mound") prayer hall as seventh to eighth-century cave temples.

The Ellora Caves observe as earliest to latest occurrences Buddhist cave temples 6, 5, 2, 3, right-wing 5, 4, 7, 8, 10, 9, 11 and 12.

Architectural and art historians nowadays posit time frames between 600 and 730 and 630 and 700 C.E. for the Buddhist cave temples in the Ellora Caves.

The Jain cave temples perhaps qualify as youngest excavated, painted, plastered, sculpted caverns in the Ellora Caves, with time frames between the ninth and tenth centuries. The Jain cave temples run from cavern numbers 30 through 34 and represent four exavations rearranaged as cave 30, six as 33 and 13 as 32. The Chhota Kailash, Indra Sabha and Jagannath Sabha caves during the Seuna dynasty (860?-1317), supporter of Hinduism and Jainism, stand out among the Jain cave temples.

Treasured Chhota Kailash, Indra Sabha and Jagannath Sabha cave temples and Kailāśa Hindu and Vishvakarma Buddhist cave temples transmit total religious tolerance throughout the Ellora Caves.

View shows Hindu caves, which are situated in the middle of the cave complex; Plate II of three-plate series, Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora Near Aurangabad: The Rare Book Society of India, via Facebook Dec. 26, 2010

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

"Panorama of Ellora Caves with waterfall by an unknown artist, 1849"; Ellora Caves, Maharashtra state, western peninsular India: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panorama_of_Ellora_Caves_with_waterfall_by_an_unidentified_artist,_1849.jpeg

View shows Hindu caves, which are situated in the middle of the cave complex; Plate II of three-plate series, Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora Near Aurangabad: The Rare Book Society of India, via Facebook Dec. 26, 2010, @ ttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150107683476675

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