Ellora Caves: Excellent works of art

Usha Ekanayake

The Ellora caves are found southwest of the famed Ajantha caves in the State of Maharashtra. These caves are located in the lower Deccan Mountains.

They are cut into a gentler slope of the mountain escarpment unlike the Ajantha caves which are cut into a steep cliff face. The coach carrying tourists proceed on the road to Jalogan and Aurangabad, and we follow the boards directing us to the Kailasa temple. Here in Ellora one sees the influence of Hinduism in India. The great Hindu renaissance is seen in the most wonderful and astounding architecture of the Kailasa temple in cave No. 16.

Architecture

It is dedicated to Siva and represents Mt Kailas which is god Siva’s home in the Himalayas. The Vedic religion of the Brahmins is accompanied by temples built for Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. The architecture and the sculpture is different to that in the Buddhist and Jain temples, but they are wondrously beautiful too. Thirty four caves are found in Ellora and 15 are dedicated to Siva. While seven are dedicate to the Jain leader Mahavira and 12 are Buddhist caves. As at Ajantha we saw that religions and people had co-existed.

There had been no destruction of the structures and monuments. Henry Stierlin says that Buddhist monks and Buddhist population had moved to the Ellora and they had carved our vast courtyards and halls supported by massive square pillars. From these halls the bays open out to look on to the plains stretching far out. The wide open spaces and the peace of the landscape can be viewed.

The Hindu temples are different. Massive monolithic structures have been carved and scooped out at Ellora. Very intricately carved Gopura or entrance gates lead on to a courtyard and then we see the enormous monolithic tower or pyramid dedicated to Siva and his consort Parvathi.

The mount Kailasa temple is monumental. It is the largest monolithic edifice in India. The building of the monumental Kailasa temple was begun during the reign of Krishna 1 (760 to 780). Our guide said “It is the largest rock temple in the world. The masterpiece of Ellora is this astonishing Kailasa temple a monolithic sculpture hewn from a living rock.” Our guide informed us “7,000 labourers would have worked for 150 years. No less than 400,000 tons of rock had to be cut and scooped away.”

The central tower rises to over 100 ft above the surrounding courtyard, and the name Kailas has been used as it symbolizes Mount Meru or Kailas, so very sacred to the Hindus. It is a carved stone pyramid which springs out of the base rock. There are bridges joining the gopuras which are elaborately carved.

Most often scenes depict the stories and episodes found in the Mahabaratha. The rich ornamental carvings are remarkable. There is a chapel dedicated to Nandi- the sacred bull and a tall rock carved pillar which our guide called ‘a stone needle.’ It is 56 feet high and is carved with low relief’s illustrating the Ramayana.

Religious Rites

This grand and imposing work is surrounded on three sides by vertical rock walls. The visitors perform religious rites and ceremonies at the bottom of the dug out. Our guide informed us that the temple was “a reminder to all of the bond between earth and heaven, but the rural folk or people’s term for it had been ‘Ranga Mahal’ or palace of colour.

He said that colourful frescoes had been painted on the surface walls but the monument was open to the sky and the frescoes can no longer be seen, as the rain, wind and air as well as the light of the sun would have eroded the frescoes and ‘The great Ranga Mahal is no more.’

Next we moved to the Jain caves. Vardhaman, religious leader slightly order than Gautama born around 540 BC. He had led the life of a wandering ascetic. He had practiced austerity and even given up clothing, because, he thought that man must endure all austerities to find emancipation. (In the 1970s when we were in Varanasi we saw nude men riding bicycles and we were informed that they were Jains). Mahavira became a conqueror of the spirit (Jina) and Jainism had flourished during the rule of the Mayura dynasty. King Chandra Gupta, had later abdicated his throne and became a jain ascetic.

Jain preachers moved from the ganges valley to Western India too. The Jain caves at Ellora are classed as excellent works of art., equal in skill and beauty to all Hindu and Buddhist works of art. To us one of the most impressive things was that they had not destroyed the work of other religious groups, so tolerant had been their way of life.

Hindu fortress

Our tour group moved on to Deogirh, now known as Daulatabaad. In 1245 invaders appeared on the Delhi scene. They included Mongols Afghans Persians and various other groups led by adventurers. In 1327 Mohammed ibn Tugluk ruler of North India, moved away from Delhi to Deogirh. A tremendous Hindu fortress built on almost perpendicular rock cliffs.

Having restored and fortified Daulatabaad, Tugluk, forced the population of Delhi to move to the new palace fortress. The deportation of people’s to the fort, 620 miles was unsuccessful. People could not live in a place surrounded by three concentric fortress walls. After three years Tugluk forced the population to return to Delhi. Our guide said “ten thousand people had died travelling to and from Daulat” Tugluk’s kingdom collapsed and there was a Hindu revival.

Indian weapons

It was a staggering experience. The view was beautiful, but the walls made it a prison, in the museum in Daulat, we saw all the Indian weapons of war spears, swords, clubs, daggers bows and arrows, rope catapults and slings.

The doors of the fortress had huge sharp spikes fixed on them as that would prevent elephants breaking open the entrances. And if camles were used the animal would get impaled on the door. We were horrified but our guide went on gleefully.

“They had vantage points from which they could pour boiling water and oil on the troops below.”

Man’s greed for power then and now has not changed. They still think up the most vicious ways of killing to win wars. We stayed over at a little guest house on a hill overlooking a lake.

No hot showers. We were given two big buckets of hot water each. After a real Asian bath of pouring water on our heads with a bowl, and a delightful vegetarian meal of alu gobi, dhal and chappati, washed down with a garam tea we waited a while silently looking on at darkening landscape.

We slept soundly and travelled on to return to Lanka. I wish there are places like the little hotel in Daulat in Sri Lanka. When people want a change from luxury, could we not have our simple rest house system back, even though our Government officials and MPs don’t wish to use them.