Graham Reid | | 1 min read
Thillana, by Jyotsna Srikanth
The remarkable thing about the temples at Ellora in Maharashtra state, India isn't in what you see.
It's in what you don't.
These temple complexes with annexes, tall shrines ornately carved and deep caves where Buddhist, Hindu and Jaina figures dominate the massive spaces were carved between the 5th and 13th centuries.
They are among the great wonders of the world for their elegance, detail and scale.
Originally many of the figures and walls in the caves and temples were ornately painted, but even today the bare rock and the fine detail in the carvings and friezes are breathtaking.
What is even more so is the air around them, because it was once solid rock.
Yes, everything you see was carved from the rock of the mountain, that old adage of the object being within the stone which the sculptor sinply uncovers.
We can barely comprehend the vision let alone the labour that made Ellora.
Here is a brief photo essay of the wonder.
And remember, all that air wasn't there all those centuries ago.
.
.
.
.
.
.
For other travels stories at Elsewhere start here.
.
Some are serious, some far from it.
post a comment