Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Ajanta and Ellora caves are the pride representativethese structure have been built using ordinary tools
of India's architectural heritage. These two mindlike hammer and chisel. The sculptures of Ajanta is a
blowing caves are world famous for their cave shrinegreat example of the marvelous craftsmanship of our
which has been cut from rock all by using hand.ancestors. These caves houses some incredibly
These caves were lying low for a long time until itbeautiful wall paintings which include Buddhist arts like
was discovered by the British army officer JohnBodhisattvas, Padmapani and Avalokiteshvara. Some
Smith while on a hunting expedition in the year 1819.holy images and sculptures of lord Buddha are also
Since then Ajanta and Ellora have captivated manywell preserved in the caves of Ajanta. In a way
visitors from all over the world. Ajanta has beenthese caves unfold history of the development of
designated as world Heritage site by the UNESCO.Buddhism in India when Hinayana sect was gaining
The brilliant sculptures and paintings of these twopopularity in India. While some paintings of Ajanta
caves are simply awe-inspiring.have been inspired from Greek and Roman style, one
These two caves are located in the midst of thecan find presence of Chinese style too. But the
Sahyadri hills. Located near the Aurangabad city ofmajor part have been inspired from Indian style and
Maharashtra, today Ajanta and Ellora are frequentedis very unique too.
by heritage lovers from all over the world. Most ofEllora Caves
the work here has been inspired from three differentLocated 30 km from Aurangabad, caves of Ellora
faiths that is Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Of themhouse some of the treasured structures of India.
Buddhism has found the maximum space. The variousMost of these caves were carved out from the
Buddhist paintings and sculptures delightfully remindsperiod of 350 AD to 700 AD. There are 34 caves in
noble teaching of lord Buddha. Caves of Ajanta andEllora devoted to three different religions namely
Ellora narrate the tale of Buddhism from 200 BC toBuddhist, Jain and Hindu. In the southern part there
700 AD. Apart from excellent architectures, theseare 12 caves representing Buddhist, the central area
two caves are also popular as religious destination.has 17 caves which are devoted to Hinduism and 5
Ajanta Cavescaves situated to the north belong to Jain.
Ever since it came to light in the 19th century, CavesThe sculptures and paintings in the Buddhist caves
of Ajanta have become very popular among theconvey the messages of lord Buddha. Most of these
tourists. There are altogether 29 caves in the Ajantacaves are Viharas or monastery which were used as
which have varied collection of paintings andcentre for Buddhist teachings and meditation. Kailasha
sculptures. Numerous Viharas and Chaityas found intemple located in the cave number 16 is one of the
the caves show that it was a centre for themost popular. This temple dedicated to lord Shiva is
Buddhist Study. Monks use to perform Buddhist ritualsregarded as the single largest monolithic structure of
in these caves. The structure of Ajanta tells theworld. Cave number 6 and 10 house image of Hindu
story of Buddhism starting from the period of 200and Buddhist faith under the same roof. The design
BC to 650 AD. Located around 100 km fromof cave number 29 popularly known as Dhumar Lena
Aurangabad city, Ajanta has good connectivityresembles that of famous Elephanta cave temples
through road, rail and air with big cities.and is dedicated to lord Shiva.
Most of the magnificent figures drawn on the wall of