ELLORA CAVES - 15 Mints Seminar Notes

ELLORA CAVES - 15 Mints Seminar Notes

  

• The invaluable ensemble of 34 caves at Ellora in the Charanandri hills of western India’s Maharashtra State showcases a spirit of co-existence and  religious tolerance through the  outstanding architectural activities carried out by the followers of three prominent religions : Buddhism, Brahmanism, and Jainism.
  
• Ellora Caves which is also known as Ajanta Caves.
  
• Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life.
  

 

AJANTA CAVES (ELLORA)

• The rock-cut activity was carried out in three phases from the 6th century to the 12th century.
• The earliest caves (caves 1–12), excavated between the 5th and 8th centuries, reflect the Mahayana philosophy of Buddhism then prevalent in this region.
• The Brahmanical group of caves (caves 13–29), including the renowned Kailasa temple (cave 16), was excavated between the 7th and 10th centuries.

 

KAILASA TEMPLE (CAVE NO :16)

• The last phase, between the 9th and 12th centuries, saw the excavation of a group of caves (caves 30–34) reflecting Jaina philosophy.     
• Amongst the caves of the Buddhist group, Cave 10 (Visvakarma or Sutar-ki-jhopari, the Carpenter’s cave), Cave 11, and Cave 12 (Teen Tal, or three-storied monastery, the largest in this category) are particularly important.
•  These caves mark the development of the Vajrayana form of Buddhism and represent a host of Buddhist deities.
• The prominent caves of the Brahmanical group are Cave 15 (Dasavatara, or Cave of Ten Incarnations), Cave 16 (Kailasa, the largest monolithic temple), Cave 21 (Ramesvara), and Cave 29 (Dumar Lena).
• Amongst these, Cave 16 is an excellent example of structural innovation, and marks the culmination of rock-cut architecture in India featuring elaborate workmanship and striking proportions.
• The temple is decorated with some of the boldest and finest sculptural compositions to be found in India. The sculpture depicting Ravana attempting to lift Mount Kailasa, the abode of Siva, is especially noteworthy.
• The remains of beautiful paintings belonging to different periods are preserved on the ceilings of the front mandapa (pillared hall) of this temple.
• The Jain group of caves (caves 30 – 34) is exquisitely carved with fine, delicate sculptures, and includes fine paintings dedicated to the Digambara sect.

JAIN CAVES

• Through their art and architecture, the Ellora Caves serve as a window to ancient India, including socio-cultural phenomena, material culture, politics, and lifestyles.

Criterion (i): The ensemble of Ellora is a unique artistic achievement, a masterpiece of human creative genius.

• If one considers only the work of excavating the rock, a monument such as the Kailasa Temple is a technological exploit without equal.
• However, this temple, which transposes models from “constructed” architecture, offers an extraordinary repertory of sculpted and painted forms of a very high plastic quality and an encyclopaedic program.

Criterion (ii): Ellora brings to life again the civilization of ancient India with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments from AD 600 to 1000.

Criterion (iii): The Ellora Caves not only bear witness to three great religions, i.e. Buddhism, Brahmanism, and Jainism, they illustrate the spirit of tolerance, characteristic of ancient India, which permitted these three religions to establish their sanctuaries and their communities in a single place, which thus served to reinforce its universal value.

CONSTRUCTION METHOD:

• The Kailasa Temple is notable for its vertical excavation—carvers started at the top of the original rock and excavated downward.
• The traditional methods were rigidly followed by the master architect which could not have been achieved by excavating from the front.
• A medieval Marathi legend appears to refer to the construction of the Kailasa temple.
• The earliest extant text to mention this legend is Katha-Kalapataru by Krishna Yajnavalki.
• According to this legend, the local king suffered from a severe disease. His queen prayed to the god Ghrishneshwar (Shiva) at Elapura to cure her husband.
• She vowed to construct a temple if her wish was granted, and promised to observe a fast until she could see the shikhara (top) of this temple.
• After the king was cured, she requested him to build a temple immediately, but multiple architects declared that it would take months to build a temple complete with a shikhara.
• One architect named Kokasa assured the king that the queen would be able to see the shikhara of a temple within a week's time. He started building the temple from the top, by carving a rock.
• He was able to finish the shikhara within a week's time, enabling the queen to give up her fast.
• The temple was named Manikeshwar after the queen. M. K. Dhavalikar theorises that Kokasa was indeed the chief architect of the Kailasa temple, which may have been originally known as Manikeshwar.
• Multiple 11th-13th century inscriptions from central India mention architects born in the illustrious family of Kokasa.

 

         FRONT VIEW    

 

TOP VIEW

• The Kailasa temple architecture is different from the earlier style prevalent in the Deccan region.
• As stated above, it appears to be based on the Virupaksha Temple at Pattadakal and the Kailasa temple at Kanchi, but it is not an exact imitation of these two temples.
• The southern influence on the temple architecture can be attributed to the involvement of Chalukya and Pallava artists in its construction.
• The indigenous Deccan artisans appear to have played a subordinate role in the temple's construction.
• The entrance to the temple courtyard features a low gopuram.
• Most of the deities at the left of the entrance are Shaivaite (affiliated with Shiva) while on the right hand side the deities are Vaishnavaites (affiliated with Vishnu).
• A two-storeyed gateway opens to reveal a U-shaped courtyard. The dimensions of the courtyard are 82 m x 46 m at the base.
• The courtyard is edged by a columned arcade three stories high. The arcades are punctuated by huge sculpted panels, and alcoves containing enormous sculptures of a variety of deities.

 

Ground plan of the temple

 

• Originally flying bridges of stone connected these galleries to central temple structures, but these have fallen.
• Some of the most famous sculptures are Shiva the ascetic, Shiva the dancer, Shiva being warned by Parvati about the demon Ravana, and river goddess.
• Within the courtyard, there is a central shrine dedicated to Shiva, and an image of his mount Nandi (the sacred bull).
• The central shrine housing the lingam features a flat-roofed mandapa supported by 16 pillars, and a Dravidian shikhara.
• The shrine – complete with pillars, windows, inner and outer rooms, gathering halls, and an enormous stone lingam at its heart – is carved with niches, plasters, windows as well as images of deities, mithunas (erotic male and female figures) and other figures.
• As is traditional in Shiva temples, Nandi sits on a porch in front of the central temple.
• The Nandi mandapa and main Shiva temple are each about 7 metres high, and built on two storeys.
• The lower stories of the Nandi Mandapa are both solid structures, decorated with elaborate illustrative carvings.
• The base of the temple has been carved to suggest that elephants are holding the structure aloft.
• A rock bridge connects the Nandi Mandapa to the porch of the temple. The base of the temple hall features scenes from Mahabharata and Ramayanam.

RAMAYANAM PANEL    

 

MAHABHARATH PANEL

• The labors worked for around 16 hours a day. Since there was no electricity in those days they used mirrors to reflect the light inside the cave as even today it is quite dark inside.
• The unique way in which the sculptors drilled the holes is one of the biggest mystery for everyone. The holes indicate that someone very small drilled it as a human being cannot enter and do the drilling.
• More than 7,000 labors worked for around 150 years to carve the Kailasha Temple.
• It simply indicates that the amount of work put by every labor is mammoth and unsurpassable even today.
• Archaeologists believe that the sculptors scooped out more than four tons of rock to build the awesome Kailasha Temple construction.
• Even today, it is impossible to accomplish such a task using the largest ever-available 10-ton JCB machines.
• Dhwajasthamba is a famous rock pillar which is equally intriguing.
• There is an interesting tale about the Kailasa Temple of Ellora.
• Mughal King Aurangzeb who destroyed thousands of Hindu temple, also tried to destroy Kailasa temple.
• It is said that 1000 people were sent to destroy the temple in the year 1682.
• They worked for 3 years but they could break and disfigure a few statues only.
• Aurangzeb finally gave up on this task and realizing that it was impossible to completely destroy the temple as the rock was simply too hard to demolish, even though artisans used only hammers, chisels and picks to construct it.

BUILT  BY  SINGLE  ROCK  MOUNTAIN  FROM  TOP (KAILASH TEMPLE)

Presented by

R S Sathish

TNPSC Student

Magme School of Banking