Ellora or Verul Caves Are As Stunning As Ajanta Caves

It’s possible that you might not have heard of the Verul caves. But if we mention the name “Ellora caves” to you, we are sure that you’d recognize it immediately. These two are the same caves. Verul or Verul Leni is the local name. In the ancient times, it was however known as Elapura.

Both Ajanta and Ellora are stunning attractions. They are located near each other, which mean that, you could see them both in one trip. In fact, this is what most people do. So will it be OK if you just see Ajanta or Ellora, for lack of time or some other reason? Not quite! Both are stunning certainly, but the truth is that, you’ll see something different at Ellora.

You can see three different faiths at work here – Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, while in Ajanta, you see only Buddhist paintings and sculptures. It is interesting to see the tolerance and integration that prevailed at that time. Was it competition that spurred such incredible creative work? We don’t know about that. But we can tell that if at all, this competition was very healthy. It never caused any conflicts between the artisans or monks, call what you like. We can certainly learn from this. Historians tell us that invaders have for many years tried to damage and destroy then, without success. These caves and work inside have survived to charm us to this day.

The Caves at Verul

There are in total 34 caves here. Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist, 13 to 29 are Hindu, and the others are Jain. You can start your tour from cave 16. You will find the great Kailasa here – the single largest monolithic excavation anywhere in the world. It is remarkable. You are sure to be impressed with the sculptural ornamentation and elaborate workmanship.

Cave 15 is an interesting one. It started as a Buddhist monastery, but later became a Hindu cave. In fact, the layout looks like the Buddhist caves to this date. There are ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. The death of Hiranyakashipu is nicely depicted here.

You can see some very good sculpture work in the Buddhist caves. But perhaps the best one is the Vishvakarma cave or the cave 10. The ceiling has been curved like a wooden beam. There is a 15-foot statue of Buddha.

Jain Caves at Verul or Ellora are massive. They are all well proportioned and decorated. Visit cave 32 (Indra Sabha) to see its monolithic shrine and the lotus flower on the ceiling. You can see images of Ambika, sitting on her lion under the mango tree.