Ellora Caves

The Ellora Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 34 rock-cut temples and monasteries outside Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain communities carved them between the 6th and 10th centuries, so the site shows three faiths side by side in one stretch of hillside.

The Kailasa Temple, dedicated to Shiva, is the largest temple of its kind cut from a single rock anywhere; ringed by high walls and covered in mythological scenes, it is meant to recall Mount Kailash. Among the Jain caves the Indra Sabha is the biggest and most richly carved, and the Buddhist group includes a chaitya hall with a stupa at its centre between carved pillars and Buddha figures. Local stories credit the caves to a king named Raja Bhoj, tell of a Naga queen who still haunts them, and say a king raised the Kailasa in one night to cure his sick queen. Grishneshwar Temple, a Jyotirlinga, is nearby.