Kailash temple

Formed from a single block of excavated stone, Kailasa temple is considered one of the most impressive cave temples in India. The enormous structure is one of 34 cave temples and monasteries that are collectively known as the Ellora Caves. Located in the western region of Maharashtra, the caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and include monuments dating between 600 and 1000 CE. While there are many impressive structures on-site, it's the megalithic Kailasa temple that is perhaps the most well known. Renowned both for its size and impressive ornamentation, it's not entirely clear who had Kailasa temple built. While there are no written records, scholars generally attribute it to Rachtrakuta king Krishna I, who ruled from about 756 to 773 CE. This attribution is based on several epigraphs that connect the temple to “Krishnaraja,” though nothing written directly about the ruler contains information about the temple. While scholars have yet to discover its true origins, a medieval legend paints a romantic picture behind the mammoth temple. According to a story written in Katha-Kalpataru by Krishna Yajnavalki, when a king was severely ill, his queen prayed to the god Shiva that her husband would be cured. In return for his health, the queen vowed to construct a temple in Shiva's name and fast until the The king quickly got better and construction began on the temple, but to the couple's horror, they realized it would take years for the shikhara to emerge. Luckily, a clever en...

Nikita Rathore Nikita Rathore holds a BA and MA in History from Lady Shri Ram College and Delhi University respectively, and a postgraduate degree in History of Art from National Museum Institute. She has also worked as content writer and manager at Buzz Art Pvt Ltd. Currently, she is a doctoral research scholar, Department of History of Art, National Museum Institute. Kailash temple, located in the Ellora caves of Maharashtra, is one of the largest monolithic rock-cut shrine. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is known for its marvellous architecture. The walls of the Kailash temple are carved with the sculptures of various Hindu gods and goddesses, and include mythological episodes from the Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana. This image gallery brings together the architecture of the Kailash temple, with its gopuram (a monumental tower at the entrance of a Hindu temple) , nandi mandapa (pavilion of Shiva’s sacred bull Nandi), gudhamandapa (closed hall) and vimana (shrine), and the Shaiva sculptures carved on different parts of the temple. The selected sculptures highlight different aspects of Shiva: his aggressive forms like Tripurantakamurti and Gajantaka, benign forms like Kalarimurti and Ravananugrahamurti, and Shiva as Mahayogi (the great yogi), Lakulisha (the guru), Natesha and Ardhanrishvara.

Kailash Temple or Kailasa Temple in Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra are a great attraction for tourists from world over. Built by Rastrakuta dynasty’s King Krishna 1 in 760 AD, the temple is mysterious in several ways. Here are some of the most fascinating and mysterious facts about Kailash Temple. Some of the Mysterious facts about Kailash temple Carved Out Of Single Rock The temple is in the rock-cut caves of Ellora carved out of a single rock of the Charanandri hills at Ellora village. According to experts, the artists carved out a singular stone at a point and hollowed it out into the Kailasa Temple. Advertisements Resemblance To Mount Kailash The artists designed the Kailasha Temple to resemble the abode of God Shiva, Mount Kailash. When monitored closely, the experts found out that initially, artists plastered the entire temple with white color so that it can look like Mount Kailash. Its pyramidal structure also resembles the mountain. World’s Oldest Single-Rock Carving The temple is one of the oldest single-rock carving, multi-storeyed complexes in the world. During an archaeological survey, the temple astounded the Western archaeologists who found it to be double in size to that of Parthenon in Athens. Carving Dates Back To Hundreds Of Years One of the most mysterious facts about Kailash Temple is that no one knows about the origins, the builders, and the constructors of the temple. The entire construction does not reveal any date or depict a name indicating ...

• Afrikaans • العربية • বাংলা • Беларуская • भोजपुरी • Български • བོད་ཡིག • Català • Cebuano • Čeština • Cymraeg • Deutsch • Eesti • Español • Esperanto • Euskara • فارسی • Français • 한국어 • हिन्दी • Hrvatski • Bahasa Indonesia • Íslenska • Italiano • עברית • Jawa • ಕನ್ನಡ • ქართული • Kiswahili • Ladin • Latviešu • Lietuvių • Magyar • मैथिली • മലയാളം • मराठी • مصرى • Bahasa Melayu • Nederlands • नेपाली • नेपाल भाषा • 日本語 • Norsk bokmål • Norsk nynorsk • Occitan • ଓଡ଼ିଆ • Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча • ਪੰਜਾਬੀ • پنجابی • Polski • Português • Qırımtatarca • Română • Русский • Simple English • سنڌي • Slovenščina • Ślůnski • Suomi • Svenska • தமிழ் • Татарча / tatarça • తెలుగు • ไทย • Türkçe • Українська • اردو • Tiếng Việt • Winaray • 吴语 • 中文 Location Country Parent range Climbing Unclimbed (mountaineering prohibited currently) Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; Kangrinboqê or Gang 冈仁波齐峰; 岡仁波齊峰; Gāngrénbōqí Fēng; कैलास, Kailāsa), is a mountain in the Mount Kailash is located close to Etymology The mountain is known as “ Kailāsa” ( कैलास; var. Kailāśa कैलाश) in Sanskrit. kelāsa” ( केलास), which means "crystal". In his Tibetan-English dictionary, Chandra (1902: p.32) identifies the entry for 'kai la sha' ( kai la sha) which is a The Gang Rinpoche ( 冈仁波齐峰; 岡仁波齊峰). Gang or Kang is the Tibetan word for snow peak analogous to alp or hima; "Tibetan Buddhists call it Kangri Rinpoche; 'Precious Snow Mountain'. Another local name for the mountain is Tisé mountain, which derives from ti tse in the Geolo...

The Kailasa Temple or Cave 16 is one of the 34 cave temples and monasteries collectively known as the Ellora Caves, one among the World’s Largest Monolithic Structure Locally known as ‘Verul Leni’, Ellora Caves are well-known for its largest single monolithic excavation in the world, the great Kailasa Temple. The Great Kailasa is a freestanding, multi-storied temple complex dedicated to Lord Shiva. The specialty of this 1300 year’s old architectural marvel is that it is carved out of a single volcanic basaltic rock of the Charanandri hills and is considered as the largest monolithic piece of art in India as well as in the world. Even the sculptures at this enigmatic temple are carved from the same piece of rock as the rest of the temple. The temple architecture shows traces of Pallava and Chalukya styles. Attracting huge number of tourists across the globe from centuries, it is one of the must visit places in Ellora during your Carved from Top to Bottom The architecture of Kailasa Temple is notable for its vertical excavation, the work started at the top and moved downwards, rolling down the large boulders split from the mountain using steel rod drills. One can see the drill marks on the surrounding walls that are still visible. A megalith carved out of a single rock, the Kailasa Temple is the only structure in the world that is craved from the top to bottom. Every single design and measurement was planned very accurately as once its cut there was no chance to change it by...

Kailash Temple is located near the village of Ellora which is 30 km from Aurangabad. This temple is considered as one among the most astonishing buildings in the history of architecture. This temple is one of the largest 34 excavations at Ellora, which took almost a century. The Kailash Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the idol here is 109 feet wide by 164 feet long. Kailash Temple consists of a number of images of deities, animals, and other mythical creatures from the puranas in a very much unique manner that leaves one in rapturous delight. Entire panels here are carved showing scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The depiction of the demon Ravana shaking Mount Kailash is a masterpiece, contains the scenes of semi-mythological history, the royal court and popular life of the ancient times, as told in romances and plays. Some pictures recall the Greek and Roman compositions and proportions, few late resemble to Chinese manners to some extent. But majority belongs to a phase which is purely Indian as they are found nowhere else. These monuments were constructed during two different periods of time separated by a long interval of four centuries. The older ones were the product of last to centuries before Christ and belongs to Hinayana period of Buddhism in later part of 2nd century AD when Buddhism was divided into two sections, after the conduct of the fourth general council under another great king, Kanishka. The new feature of Mahayana Buddhism was the con...

Arian Zwegers/Flickr.com Kailasa Temple in all of its glory. Kailasa Temple in Ellora, Maharashtra, India, is the world’s largest monolithic piece of art. Master craftspeople carved the gigantic structure from a single piece of solid rock in a cave on a mountainside. The entire building took more than two decades to carve. There are plenty of other mind-boggling facts about this ancient wonder while some of the history behind the temple has a bit of controversy attached to it. Hindus created the temple to honor Lord Shiva, and they intended to mimic his home on Mount Kailash in the Himalayan Mountains. Legend has it a Hindu king ordered the temple built after he prayed to Shiva to save his wife from sickness. Jean-Pierre Dalbéra/Flickr.com The top of Kailasa Temple. Architects started from the top of the mountain and worked downward to carve the structure. The painstaking process removed more than 200,000 tons of volcanic rock between 757 and 783 A.D., according to archaeologists. Kailasa Temple is one of 34 caves in the area carved from solid rock. Other similar caves date back as as early as 300 B.C. In modern terms, it would take around 200 days, working at 24 hours per day, to excavate the entire site using contemporary technology. That doesn’t take into account the elaborate carvings all over the monolithic structure. Wikimedia Commons A depiction of the Hindu deity Gajalakshmi. Notice the white plaster in some spots. The temple has a Almost every inch of the interior...

Arian Zwegers/Flickr.com Kailasa Temple in all of its glory. Kailasa Temple in Ellora, Maharashtra, India, is the world’s largest monolithic piece of art. Master craftspeople carved the gigantic structure from a single piece of solid rock in a cave on a mountainside. The entire building took more than two decades to carve. There are plenty of other mind-boggling facts about this ancient wonder while some of the history behind the temple has a bit of controversy attached to it. Hindus created the temple to honor Lord Shiva, and they intended to mimic his home on Mount Kailash in the Himalayan Mountains. Legend has it a Hindu king ordered the temple built after he prayed to Shiva to save his wife from sickness. Jean-Pierre Dalbéra/Flickr.com The top of Kailasa Temple. Architects started from the top of the mountain and worked downward to carve the structure. The painstaking process removed more than 200,000 tons of volcanic rock between 757 and 783 A.D., according to archaeologists. Kailasa Temple is one of 34 caves in the area carved from solid rock. Other similar caves date back as as early as 300 B.C. In modern terms, it would take around 200 days, working at 24 hours per day, to excavate the entire site using contemporary technology. That doesn’t take into account the elaborate carvings all over the monolithic structure. Wikimedia Commons A depiction of the Hindu deity Gajalakshmi. Notice the white plaster in some spots. The temple has a Almost every inch of the interior...

The Kailasa Temple or Cave 16 is one of the 34 cave temples and monasteries collectively known as the Ellora Caves, one among the World’s Largest Monolithic Structure Locally known as ‘Verul Leni’, Ellora Caves are well-known for its largest single monolithic excavation in the world, the great Kailasa Temple. The Great Kailasa is a freestanding, multi-storied temple complex dedicated to Lord Shiva. The specialty of this 1300 year’s old architectural marvel is that it is carved out of a single volcanic basaltic rock of the Charanandri hills and is considered as the largest monolithic piece of art in India as well as in the world. Even the sculptures at this enigmatic temple are carved from the same piece of rock as the rest of the temple. The temple architecture shows traces of Pallava and Chalukya styles. Attracting huge number of tourists across the globe from centuries, it is one of the must visit places in Ellora during your Carved from Top to Bottom The architecture of Kailasa Temple is notable for its vertical excavation, the work started at the top and moved downwards, rolling down the large boulders split from the mountain using steel rod drills. One can see the drill marks on the surrounding walls that are still visible. A megalith carved out of a single rock, the Kailasa Temple is the only structure in the world that is craved from the top to bottom. Every single design and measurement was planned very accurately as once its cut there was no chance to change it by...

Kailash Temple or Kailasa Temple in Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra are a great attraction for tourists from world over. Built by Rastrakuta dynasty’s King Krishna 1 in 760 AD, the temple is mysterious in several ways. Here are some of the most fascinating and mysterious facts about Kailash Temple. Some of the Mysterious facts about Kailash temple Carved Out Of Single Rock The temple is in the rock-cut caves of Ellora carved out of a single rock of the Charanandri hills at Ellora village. According to experts, the artists carved out a singular stone at a point and hollowed it out into the Kailasa Temple. Advertisements Resemblance To Mount Kailash The artists designed the Kailasha Temple to resemble the abode of God Shiva, Mount Kailash. When monitored closely, the experts found out that initially, artists plastered the entire temple with white color so that it can look like Mount Kailash. Its pyramidal structure also resembles the mountain. World’s Oldest Single-Rock Carving The temple is one of the oldest single-rock carving, multi-storeyed complexes in the world. During an archaeological survey, the temple astounded the Western archaeologists who found it to be double in size to that of Parthenon in Athens. Carving Dates Back To Hundreds Of Years One of the most mysterious facts about Kailash Temple is that no one knows about the origins, the builders, and the constructors of the temple. The entire construction does not reveal any date or depict a name indicating ...