2. ABOUT
Kailash Temple is situated in the Sahyadri
hills of western India, 30km from the city of
Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
The temple is a part of the Ellora caves, one
of the largest rock-cut religious cave
complexes in the world. These caves have
been declared a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
The magnificent Ellora caves comprise 34
rock-cut temples and monasteries covering
more than 2km of land. These temples and
monasteries were dug, carved out, and
sculpted side by side in the face of a high
basalt cliff. They are divided into three
sections to serve three different religions —
Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
The Kailash temple is the 16th temple in
Ellora’s chain of 34 treasured
monuments.
3. ARCHITECTURAL
SIMILARITY
The temple shares some similarities with
the Virupaksha temple located in Hampi,
northern Karnataka.
Many people believe that the Virupaksha
temple’s architects were probably also
involved in creating the magnificent Kailash
temple due to these similarities.
KAILASH TEMPLE
VIRUPAKSHA TEMPLE
4. FACTS
Largest Monolithic Structure
33 meters wide and 50 meters long.
Its size and design techniques represent quality craft which modern scientists and
engineers have said is impossible to recreate today despite access to advanced
technology and machinery.
One Big Rock
The temple is a multi- storeyed structure carved from a single, gigantic basalt-rock
face.
No additional rock piece or stone blocks were added to its structure or used for
sculpting.
Cut Top to Bottom
Construction for the Kailash temple began from the head of the cliff at Ellora caves.
Artisans flawlessly chiselled the tough volcanic rock in a vertical direction, starting
from the top and excavating their way down to dig three massive trenches. The
Kailash temple is the only temple in the world that is carved from top to bottom. This
technique is called “cut-out”.
All other rock-cut structures in the world are made by cutting the rock or mountain from
the front and then carving it; this is called the “cut-in” technique.
Carvers sculpted the rock at every step while descending, giving form to the main
temple, a tower over the sanctum, free-standing pillars (mainly stationed at the
entrance), religious statues and individual shrines.
5. INSIDE THE
TEMPLE
The temple houses
several carved panels
depicting scenes from
the Ramayana and
Mahabharata. Giant
monolithic statues and
pillars stand in its U-
shaped courtyard.
The south-eastern gallery
has huge panels
depicting different
avatars of Lord Vishnu.
Religious motifs are
intricately carved into the
stone of the temple’s
walls and ceilings.
6. ABOUT
ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of the Kailash temple, depicts-
1. Gopuram (a monumental tower at the entrance
of a Hindu temple).
2. Nandimandapa (pavilion of Shiva’s sacred bull
Nandi).
3. Gudhamandapa (closed hall) and vimana
(shrine), and the Shaiva sculptures carved on
different parts of the temple.
4. The selected sculptures highlight different
aspects of Shiva.
8. NANDIMANDAPA
The first floor of the double-storeyed gopuram
and nandimandapa are connected by a rock
bridge.
The upper floor has a monumental sculpture of
Nandi.
The nandimandapa has gates on the east and
west that connect it with the gudhamandapa and
gopuram respectively.
The external walls of the upper storey of the
nandimandapa are carved with sculptures of
Shiva, Vishnu and gandharvas.
The roof of the mandapa is mostly flat, except
for a slightly raised square platform which
supports a drum-like structure with a stupika (a
small stupa) on it.
9. GUDHAMANDAPA
The gudhamandapa at the
Kailash complex is a square
hall supported by 16 huge
divided into groups of four.
The pillars support the heavy
beams and also carry the
weight of the roof.
Pilasters are decorated with
horizontal bands that carry
geometric and floral designs.
The bands have mythological
stories illustrated on them
and are topped with chaitya
arches (the arches that crown
an entrance) with carvings of
divine figures.
10. ABOUT ARCHITECTURE
Entrance to the Kailash temple is from the west through a double-storey
gopuram.
The outer face of the gopuram wall has compartments formed by deep
pilasters.
The compartments house carved sculptures of divinities.
The monumental tower at the entrance leading to the horseshoe-
shaped courtyard.
The north and south court of the temple have two identical dhvajastambhas
(victory pillars).
Have square shafts with decorated horizontal bands on the upper and lower
lower parts.
Carvings of divinities in shallow niches in the middle.
The shafts rest on a flat square and are crowned by cushion capitals
11. There is a projecting balcony over the
entrance gateway, crowned with a sala
shikhara (a barrel-vaulted roof). The
shikhara is marked by chaitya arches
on all four sides and has a mandir
kalash (a metal or stone spire atop
Hindu temples) on top. The western
arch carries a sculpture of Parvati
seated on Shiva’s lap; this rare form of
Shiva is called Lingam.
ENTRANCE
14. ABOUT
ARCHITECTURE
The temple has a U-shape and is
about 150 feet deep. Kailash
Temple is three stories tall.
Large stone carvings along the
outer walls depict various Hindu
deities. Two internal flagstaff
pillars show stories from Lord
Shiva’s saga.
Towards the top, you see
carvings of elephants that point
your way down. On the bottom of
the main building
It seems that the elephants are
carrying the weight of the
vimana.
16. One of the many stories carved on the walls
of Kailash temple.
The gudhamandapa of the temple
has episodes from Ramayana
carved in eight horizontal
registers. The story begins from
upper register and summarises
the epic with incidents such as
and Lakshmana’s encounter with
demons, their exile to the forest,
the appearance of the golden
deer, and abduction of Sita by
Ravana . The fight between Vali
and Sugriva, and Hanuman setting
Ravana’s Lanka ablaze are carved
on the fifth and sixth registers,
respectively. The seventh register
shows monkeys building the setu
(bridge) to Lanka, and the last one
depicts the final battle between
Rama and Ravana.
17. EXTERIOR
Walls of the garbhagriha have graceful figures of
Shiva in different forms. Sculptures are carved in
the niches topped with beautiful toranas
(freestanding arched gateways)
18. The north court of the temple complex
has a shrine dedicated to the river
goddesses, which can be accessed
through a flight of stairs.
This shrine a verandah with pillars and
pilasters, which houses standing figures of
Ganga on a makara (crocodile) at the
centre, flanked by Yamuna on a kachhapa
(tortoise) on her left and Saraswati on a
on her right.
The south court of the temple complex
has the yajnashala (sacrificial enclosure),
with sculptures on all directions apart
from the north, which is marked by
ornamental pillars. Sculptures of
saptamatrikas (seven mother
shown sitting on their respective vehicles,
which includes Chamunda on a jackal and
Brahmani on hamsa (swan).
EXTERIOR
19. Both the north and the south court of the
Kailash temple have freestanding life-size
sculptures of elephants on high pedestals.
The elephants represent-
symbolise
strength
power
glory
the Rashtrakuta rulers (753–982 AD), during
whose reign the temple was built.
20. The vimana (superstructure
over the garbhagriha) of the
temple is built in the
Dravidian style and has a
pyramidal structure with
multiple tiers. These tiers
have square aedicules at the
corners and rectangular
ones at the centre.
