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Introduction

Ajanta and nearby Ellora are two of the most amazing archaeological sites in India. Although handcrafted caves are scattered throughout India's western state of Maharashtra, the complexes at Ajanta and Ellora - roughly 300 kilometres northeast of Mumbai (Bombay) - are the most elaborate and varied examples known. The caves aren't natural caves, but man-made temples cut into a massive granite hillside. They were built by generations of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monks, who lived, worked, and worshipped in the caves, slowly carving out elaborate statues, pillars, and meditation rooms.

Kailasa Temple

Although all of the caves at Ellora are stunning architectural feats, the Hindu Kailasa Temple is the jewel in the crown. Carved to represent Mt. Kailasa,
the home of the god Shiva in the Himalayas, it is the largest monolithic structure in the world, carved top-down from a single rock. It contains the largest cantilevered rock ceiling in the world.

Mount Kailash. Within the courtyard is the massive multi-level temple, its pyramidal form replicating the real Mount Kailasa, the Himalayan peak said to be the home of the Hindu god Siva.

The scale at which the work was undertaken is enormous. It covers twice the area of the Parthenon in Athens and is 1.5 times high, and it entailed removing 200,000 tonnes of rock. It is believed to have taken 7,000 labourers 150 years to complete the project.

The rear wall of its excavated courtyard 276 feet (84 m) 154 feet (47 m) is 100 ft (33 m) high. The temple proper is 164 feet (50 m) deep, 109 feet (33 m) wide, and 98 feet (30 m) high.

Kailasa Temple, cave #16 at Ellora, India

It consists of a gateway, antechamber, assembly hall, sanctuary and tower. Virtually every surface is lavishly embellished with symbols and figures from the puranas (sacred Sanskrit poems). The temple is connected to the gallery wall by a bridge.

Described as Cave 16, the Kailasa Temple is considered
the pinnacle of Indian rock-cut architecture

The gigantic, 8th century Kailasa Temple at Ellora, Cave 16,
was chiselled from solid stone. Click for bigger image

Kailasa Temple, cave #16 at Ellora, India
Dramatic sculptures fill the courtyard and the main temple, which is in the center.
It must have been quite a spectacular sight when it was covered with white plaster and elaborately painted.

Kailasa Temple, cave #16 at Ellora, India
© Courtney Milne

Unlike other caves at Ajanta and Ellora, Kailasa temple has a huge courtyard that is open to the sky, surrounded by a wall of galleries several stories high.

The Kailasa temple is an illustration of one of those rare occasions when men's minds, hearts, and hands work in unison towards the consummation of a supreme ideal.

The Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Ajanta Caves

Ajanta (more properly Ajujnthi), a village in the erstwhile dominions of the Nizam of Hyderabad in India and now in Buldhana district in the state of Maharashtra
(N. lat. 20 deg. 32' by E. long. 75 deg. 48') is celebrated for its cave hermitages and halls.
Located 99-km from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Ajanta encompasses 29 rock-cut rooms created between 200 BC and AD 650 using rudimentary hand tools. Most are viharas (living quarters), while four are chaityas (temples).

The Ajanta caves were discovered in the 19th century by a group of British officers on a tiger hunt.

Ajanta began as a religious enclave for Buddhist monks and scholars more than 2,000 years ago. It is believed that, originally, itinerant monks sought shelter in natural grottos during monsoons and began decorating them with religious motifs to help pass the rainy season. They used earlier wooden structures as models for their work. As the grottos were developed and expanded, they became permanent monasteries, housing perhaps 200 residents.

The artisans responsible for Ajanta did not just hack holes in the cliff, though. They carefully excavated, carving stairs, benches, screens, columns, sculptures, and other furnishings and decorations as they went, so that these elements remained attached to the resulting floors, ceilings and walls.

They also painted patterns and pictures, employing pigments derived from natural, water soluble substances. Their achievements would seem incredible if executed under ideal circumstances, yet they worked only by the light of oil lamps and what little sunshine penetrated cave entrances.

The seventh century abandonment of these masterpieces is a mystery. Perhaps the Buddhists suffered religious persecution. Or perhaps the isolation of the caves made it difficult for the monks to collect sufficient alms for survival.

Some sources suggest that remnants of the Ajanta colony relocated to Ellora, a site closer to an important caravan route. There, another series of handcrafted caves chronologically begins where the Ajanta caves end.

Ellora Caves

Near Ellora , village in E central Maharashtra state, India, extending more than 1.6 km on a hill, are 34 rock and cave temples (5th–13th century).

Located about 30 Kilometres from Aurangabad, Ellora caves are known for the genius of their sculptors. It is generally believed that these caves were constructed by the sculptors who moved on from Ajanta. This cave complex is multicultural, as the caves here provide a mix of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religions. The Buddhist caves came first, about 200 BC - 600 AD followed by the Hindu 500 - 900 AD and Jain 800 - 1000 AD.

Cave 30: Chota (small) Kailasa Temple, Ellora

Of the 34 caves chiselled into the sloping side of the low hill at Ellora, 12 (dating from AD 600 to 800) are Buddhist (one chaitya, the rest viharas), 17 are Hindu (AD 600 to 900), and 5 are Jain (AD 800 to 1100).

As the dates indicate, some caves were fashioned simultaneously - maybe as a form of religious competition. At the time, Buddhism was declining in India and Hinduism regaining ground, so representatives of both were eager to impress potential followers.

Although Ellora has more caves than Ajanta, the rooms generally are smaller and simpler (with exception of Kailasa Temple).

Visiting Ajanta and Ellora

One of India's greatest architectural treasures, the Kailasa temple attracts thousands of tourists annually.
Today, both Ajanta and Ellora are maintained by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. The sites are open daily from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., with guides available for hire. Visitors pay a small admission fee to enter the Ajanta site and extra to attendants for lighting cave details. Entry is free to all caves at Ellora except the Kailasa Temple.

A good base from which to visit Ajanta and Ellora is Aurangabad, serviced daily by Indian Airlines and East West Airlines flights from Mumbai (Bombay). The city has a variety of accommodations, ranging from a youth hostel to five-star hotels.

At least a three-night stay in Aurangabad is advised, because Ajanta
(100 kilometres northeast by road) requires a full-day excursion and Ellora
(30 kilometres northwest) a half-day.

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Data source: world-mysteries.com

Though History and archeology is not a part of Science...... is it?.... any way i included this post as i felt its a bit interesting...... so hope you like it....

According to the official view there was no contact between the Old World and the New World before Columbus. Yet numerous similarities have been found that suggest a link between Egypt and the Americas:

• Both have huge pyramids, aligned to the cardinal points
• Both have structures built with megalithic stones and extremely fine joints
• Both exhibit intriguing bumps on many unfinished stone blocks (Picture 1)
• Both employed a unique style of construction using "L" shaped corners
• Both use the same style of metal clamps to hold the huge stones in place
• Both used the process of mummification to preserve and honor their dead

These compelling similarities suggest that both ancient cultures were influenced by a sophisticated common source.

Picture 1

A Link between Mesopotamia and Americas?

Some researchers reject the dogmatic idea that the New World was isolated prior to 1492. There is some compelling evidence that the ancient peoples from Mesopotamia may have crossed the Atlantic ages before Columbus.

The images below represent very much the same religious symbolism. Also, please notice the object held by the deity. It seems identical.

	Mythic Olmec figure with Jaguar mask on Quetzalcoatle, sculpture from the ancient Olmec site of La Venta (Mexico). Olmecs are considered to be the oldest Meso American Culture.
Winged Eagle-Headed Being (Genie); Neo-Assyrian period, reign of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 B.C.), Mesopotamia; excavated at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), Alabaster (gypsum) Holding a cone or sponge in his right hand and a bucket in his left, this genie is performing a ritual involving the Assyrian sacred tree. The sacred tree was an extremely important symbol in the palace of Ashurnasirpal, appearing on reliefs in virtually every room of the palace. It was also used in textile patterns, on stamp and cylinder seals, and in ivory carvings. It represented both the king and Ashur, the chief god of Assyria, and was also a symbol of the fertility of the land.
Bearded, Winged Being (Genie); Neo-Assyrian period, reign of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 B.C.), Mesopotamia; excavated at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), Alabaster (gypsum)

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Mysterious Alignment

Another puzzle is mysterious alignment of world's ancient sites. Easter Island is exactly aligned along a straight line around the center of the Earth, with the Nazca lines, Ollantaytambo and the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Other world wonders that are within one tenth of one degree of this alignment include: Perseopolis, the capital city of ancient Persia; Mohenjo Daro, the ancient capital city of the Indus Valley; the Oracle of Zeus-Amon at Siwa; and the lost city of Petra. The Ancient Sumarian city of Ur and Angkor temples in Cambodia and Thailand are within one degree of latitude of this alignment.

The alignment of these sites is easily observable on a globe of the Earth with a horizon ring. If you line up any two of these sites on the horizon ring, all of the sites will be right on the horizon ring. 3-D world atlas software programs can also draw this line around the Earth. Start on the Equator, at the mouth of the Amazon River, at 48° 36' West Longitude; go to 30° 22' North Latitude, 41° 24' East Longitude, in the Middle East, which is the maximum latitude the line touches; then go to the Equator at 131° 24' East Longitude, near the Northwest tip of New Guinea; then to 30° 22' South Latitude, 138° 36' West Longitude, in the South Pacific; and then back to 48° 36' West Longitude, at the Equator. Centered on: 0.00° N 48° 36' W 30° 22' N 41° 24' E 0.00° N 131° 24' E 30° 22' S 138° 36' W The circumference of this line around the center of the Earth is 24,892 miles. Along this line, the great circle distance from the Great Pyramid to Ollantaytambo is 7,472 miles, 30.0% of the circumference. Ollantaytambo is 2,579 miles from Easter Island, 10.3%. Easter Island is 10,096 miles from Angkor Wat, 40.6%. Angkor Wat is 2,490 miles from Mohenjo Daro, 10.0%. Mohenjo Daro is 2255 miles from from the Great Pyramid, 9.1%. In addition to calculating the distances between these sites as a percentage of the circumference of the Earth, the distances may also be calculated in degrees of the 360° circumference, by multiplying the percentage by 3.6. For example, the Great Pyramid is 108° away from Ollantaytambo. Near Ollantaytambo, Machupicchu is within one quarter of a degree and Cuzco is within one third of a degree of the alignment.

Data source: world-mysteries.com