In Cave 16: the Kailasa temple

A walk through one of the largest rock-cut temples in the world
According to a legend cited in the 10th century book Katha Kalpa Taru, some time in the 8th century, the queen of the Rashtrakuta ruler Elu made a vow that she would not eat till a magnificent temple was built to Lord Shiva, and she saw its amlaka (finial). The king invited many architects, but none of them was able to fulfil this vow. Finally, an architect named Kokasa from Paithan completed the task in no time. This story is narrated by M.K. Dhavalikar in Ellora: Monumental Legacy.
Legend aside, the construction of the temple began during the rule of the Rashtrakuta king, Dantidurga (735-757 AD). A group of skilled artisans cut and carved the vertical face of the basalt rock of a hill in Elapura, known today as Ellora, near Aurangabad. Unlike the Buddhists who made carvings inside the rock to construct cave temples, this group cut the rock internally and externally, with exquisite precision, to build a monolithic rock temple. The result is the magnificent Kailasa temple, one of the largest rock-cut temples in the world. Major work on the temple was done by King Dantidurga’s successor, Krishna I (757-773 AD), although work continued under many successive kings for more than a century.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/in-cave-16-the-kailasa-temple/article24606204.ece

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