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 Seated Buddha |
The 12 Buddhist caves at Ellora were excavated over a 500 hundred year
period from the 2nd to 7th centuries CE. |
Bodhisattva |
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| The
most impressive of these caves were used by Mahayana monks and contain
sculpted images of Sakyamuni Buddha mostly in teaching poses, bodhisattvas
as dvara-palas (guardians of the door), and stock characters from Buddhist
story literature such as yakshas and nagas. |
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Living Quarters Longview |
One
of the most impressive is Cave number 12, called Tin Tala, which was
fashioned as a vihara with three levels of monastic living quarters
positioned around a central prayer hall. Accomodating 40 monks, Tin
Tala gives the viewer a sense of the large monastic community that was
active here. |
Living Quarters Closeup |
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| In
one of the oldest viharas at Ellora, two low concrete benches stretch
from the entrance of the cave to the small shrine at the very back.
In spite of the fragrance of bat guano that permeates every niche of
this |
Assembly Hall |
space, one can visualize long rows of monks sitting across from one
another on these benches, eating rice and vegetables or listening to
one of the elder monks explain an element of the dharma. |
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| The
Carpenter's Cave or Vishvakarma's Cave, number 10, demonstrates an interesting
transition from chaityas constructed with wood to these rock-cut cave
structures. The craftsmen sculpted stone riblike arcs on the ceiling of the cave to resemble the curved roof supports of a wooden chaitya. |
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Chaitya Hall Seated Buddha in Stupa Carpenter's Hall |
 Seated Budda in Stupa |
Carpenter's Cave with Carved Stone Ribs |
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 Longshot View of Carpenter's Cave |
This chaitya hall accomodated many monks and pilgrims. Elaborate carvings decorate the doorways and balcony. |
Chaitya Entrance |
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Doorway Apsaras |
Entrance Detail Apsaras |
Doorway Couples |
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 Doorway Detail |
School Field Trip |
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