Ellora-It happens only in India.

Our Country India has no dearth of wonders and marvels. One such marvel is the Complex of Caves at Ellora. I visited Ellora in January 2009. The beauty and the splendour of this cave complex, especially the Kailash Temple, cannot be described in words. One has to actually visit this site.

I am sure once a person visits Ellora, he will never forget it and will always muse over the thought that how did they achieve this feat 1000-1500 years ago using just basic tools like hammer and chisel.

Ellora is situated at about 30 km from Aurangabad. It is group of about 30 caves which are either monasteries or temples belonging to Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.

Among all the caves The Kailash Temple or the Kailashnath Temple is the most marvelous and awesome structure. It is a monolithic structure, which means it was carved or more specifically speaking, excavated out of a single rock mountain. It is the largest monolithic structure in the world.

Usually construction of something starts at the bottom and goes upwards, but this temple was excavated starting from the top of the mountain and moving downwards. The work was started around 750 AD-800AD by the Rashtrakuta rulers. At least two-three generations of artisans, about several thousands in number, worked on this temple. It took about 150 years to complete.

I was just awestruck when I entered the temple. It is a horseshoe shaped complex, with the main temple in the centre, surrounded by a two storeyed complex consisting of halls and galleries. The temple is pyramidal in shape; the external walls are full of intricate carvings depicting various Hindu deities.

As usual in any Shiva temple there is a huge Nandi outside the sanctum sanctorum. The sanctum sanctorum is a big hall with a large Shiv Ling in the centre. A sense of peace prevails in this place. There are other small temples surrounding the main temple but the deities in these temples were missing.

In front and on either side of the main temple there are two tall pillars or obelisk like structures which are carved intricately from top to bottom.

Kailashnath temple is a great and a very rare example of precision and perfection in art. Since this is a monolithic structure the artisans had just one chance to make a perfect sculpture. They had to be right the first time. The artisans working must have been so much focused and dedicated to create such a great monument. I was filled with an immense sense of respect and gratitude for those artisans for giving our country such a heavenly creation. It made me feel proud that I was born in India where such marvels have been created.

I also felt sad and angry to see that many of the sculptures were badly damaged; these were undoubtedly scars left by the wanton destruction carried out by one of the most ruthless mughal ruler- Aurangzeb . Inspite of this, most of the carvings survived the onslaught.

I wonder how many such beautiful creations were destroyed by these Islamic invaders during their 700-800 years reign in India. I would call this period as the darkest period in Indian history; So many works of art, paintings, literature, historical records along with thousands of wonderful temples were destroyed and lost forever.

I don’t mean to evoke any kind of feeling of vengeance or hate over here but would like people to remember that India was a great and a rich country ; It was much advanced then today’s so called developed countries in almost all the fields, be it art or science or literature. It was vandalized and subdued by the invaders, first the Islamic invaders followed by the British to such an extent that it has totally changed the attitude and mindset of the Indian people. This I feel is the main reason why we are such a degraded lot compared to the developed countries. Our people should look into the past and learn from it, develop a progressive mindset and return our country once again to that lost glory.