 Among
the most important historical monuments in India, Ellora caves, cut out
of the vertical face of a high basalt hill, Charanadari running north
to south in the Deccan, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site
in 1983. These caves are the culmination of Deccan rock-cut architecture.
Located about 28 km north west of Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Ellora earlier
known as Verul a tiny mountain village, has 34 rock-cut temples and monasteries,
spanning a period of almost 400 years from the sixth to the tenth centuries
AD.
Caves at Ellora spread over 2km long, open to the left
of the cliff and represent three faiths -Buddhism, Hinduism and
Jainism. In all, there are 34 cave temples numbered from south to north
- 12 Mahayana Buddhist caves (550-750 AD), 17 Hindu caves (600-875 AD)
and 5 caves of the Jain faith (800-1000 AD). 20 or more caves, dedicated
to Lord Shiva, were recently discovered. The magnificent Kailash Temple
at Cave 16, known as the world's largest monolithic sculpture, was sculpted
out of a single rock by 7000 labourers over a 150 year period.
A summary of the caves representing the three different
faiths in Ellora are given below.
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Monuments 
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