Kailashnath Temple
Kailash Temple is located near the village of Ellora which is 30 km from Aurangabad. This temple is considered as one among the most astonishing buildings in the history of architecture. This temple is one of the largest 34 excavations at Ellora, which took almost a century. The Kailash Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and the idol here is 109 feet wide by 164 feet long.
Kailash Temple consists of a number of images of deities, animals, and other mythical creatures from the puranas in a very much unique manner that leaves one in rapturous delight. Entire panels here are carved showing scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
It is believed that the construction of the famous Kailash Temple in Maharashtra was started in the mid 8th century under the direction of King Krishna I (757-775) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty. The Kailash temple is one of the world’s largest monolithic structure carved from one piece of rock and the most extensive rock-cut projects ever undertaken in history.
The temple is located at Ellora caves which is the world’s largest and most complicated rock cut architecture. Legends says that it took over hundreds of years to scoop out 200,000 tons of rocks to bring the temple in shape.
The unique part of this temple is its marvelous architecture. Instead of creating underground halls, this famous temple has been carved vertically down on the rock. The architecture of the temple is been divided into four sections that firstly the temple itself, the entrance grate, Nandi shrine and the passages surrounding the courtyard. The idol of Lord Shiva inside this famous temple is huge. It measures 109 ft wide and is 164 ft tall.
The walls of the temple are adorned with images of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, several animals related to Hindu mythology, characters from Puranas, and various scenes from the two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The construction of Kailash temple dates back to 8th century.
Location:Ellora,Aurangabad.
How to Reach:
Through Airways – the Nearest airport is the Chikalthana which is at a distance of about 160 kilometers and is directly linked to Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur.
Through Railways – the nearest station is the Aurangabad station which is at a distance of about 30 kilometers away from the Kailash temple.It is connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, and Bhopal.
Through Roadways – to reach the temple, there are state transport buses and luxury buses available from Ellora to all the major cities of India.
Aurangabad is connected to all major cities and towns by roads. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation daily runs ordinary and luxury buses from here to Mumbai (392 kms)
Ellora is a place which is well connected to all the major cities of Maharashtra.
