The Enigma Of Ajanta, Ellora And Lonar

Ellora caves located on Charanadri hill range near Ellora town is the only place in India where one gets to see caves, belonging to three different religious faiths: Buddhist, Hindu and Jain.

- Shameera Somani

Ellora caves located on Charanadri hill range near Ellora town is the only place in India where one gets to see caves, belonging to three different religious faiths: Buddhist, Hindu and Jain. They are a total of 34 caves which were excavated sometime between 6th and 10th century AD.

It was late afternoon as we arrived at the parking lot near the caves. Numerous rickshaw drivers were eager to make a fast buck by charging you a few hundred rupees to take you around the caves which are spread over 2 km distance. On enquiring we found that we could drive to the caves in our own car and were spared of the menace created by the rickshaws. Kailasha Cave no.16 is the undisputed centerpiece of Ellora with 15 caves located on the left and 19 on the right side. We decided to start on the left, and then move ahead. Caves 13-29 are Hindu caves. Cave 29 had numerous sculptures from Indian mythology particularly of Shiva and Parvati. Ravana shaking mount Kailash as Shiva and Parvati are seated next to each other is one such noteworthy sculpture. As we visited one cave after another we noticed that a few caves were double storied, some were adorned with paintings while others were non-descript and incomplete.

Caves 30-34 are Jain caves and contain sculptures of the Jain Tirthankaras: Mahavir, Bahubali and so on. Jainism places emphasis on renunciation of material comforts and pleasure on the path to attaining realization of the truth. The sculpture of Bahubali meditating in a standing posture as vines grew around his legs and body was eye catching (Cave 29).