#ashokasays Did you know 250:
When most of us were growing up, we learned about a handful of man-made wonders of the world such as the pyramids in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China. But looks like our book writers forget to look around our own neighborhood, or possibly write just a few lines about it.
Kailasa Temple in Ellora, Maharashtra. This temple is the world’s largest monolithic structure carved out of one single rock. Considered as one of the most astonishing ‘buildings’ in the history of architecture, Kailasa Temple measures about 60 feet tall and 200 feet wide.
According to Archaeologists over 400,000 tons of rocks were scooped out which would have taken not years, but centuries of human labor (if we assume that there were no machines like today's) to construct this monolithic structure. Historians have no record of such a monstrous task and they think that it was built in less than 18 years. Entire Temple covers an area twice the size of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It is one of the largest structures in the world, rivaling even the Taj Mahal in Agra.
This is the only example in the whole world where a mountain was cut out from the top, to create a structure.Carvers started at the top and excavated downward, exhuming the temple out of the existing rock. The traditional methods were rigidly followed by the master architect, which could not have been achieved by excavating from the front.
INCREDIBLE BHARATHA
When most of us were growing up, we learned about a handful of man-made wonders of the world such as the pyramids in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China. But looks like our book writers forget to look around our own neighborhood, or possibly write just a few lines about it.
Kailasa Temple in Ellora, Maharashtra. This temple is the world’s largest monolithic structure carved out of one single rock. Considered as one of the most astonishing ‘buildings’ in the history of architecture, Kailasa Temple measures about 60 feet tall and 200 feet wide.
Kailasa Temple is one
of the 34 monasteries and temples known collectively as the Ellora
Caves, extending over more than 2 km. Kailasa temple is at Cave 16 in
Ellora.
Dedicated to Lord
Shiva, the temple was built in 8th century by the Rashtrakuta king
Krishna I. But looking closely at the many symbols and codes at the
Kailasa Temple, their origin point to an unknown past, though the
sculptures of the deities, celestials, pillars, pots and animals seem to
have been done in AD times. According to Archaeologists over 400,000 tons of rocks were scooped out which would have taken not years, but centuries of human labor (if we assume that there were no machines like today's) to construct this monolithic structure. Historians have no record of such a monstrous task and they think that it was built in less than 18 years. Entire Temple covers an area twice the size of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It is one of the largest structures in the world, rivaling even the Taj Mahal in Agra.
This is the only example in the whole world where a mountain was cut out from the top, to create a structure.Carvers started at the top and excavated downward, exhuming the temple out of the existing rock. The traditional methods were rigidly followed by the master architect, which could not have been achieved by excavating from the front.
Even the sculptures at
Kailasa Temple are carved from the same piece of rock as the rest of the
temple. These include huge elephants, pillars and columns, the
dominating main gateway, the five shrines in the large courtyard, the
three-tiered tower, and even the second and third stories of the temple.
Enter the Kailasa Temple Ellora through a massive two-story gateway and
into a gracious courtyard graced by statues of elephants that seem to
be supporting the massive temple, the sacred bull Nandi, and carvings of
lions. You will also see a sculpture of the god Ravana trying to lift
Mount Kailasa, home of the Lord Shiva. Within the courtyard are actually
two temples, traditional in Shiva architecture. The first is a temple
for sacred Nandi, which is connected to the huge main temple by a rock
bridge.
Whoever the architect and the construction head was, HAT'S OFF to their INCREDIBLE IMAGINATION of getting this kind of temple by exhuming.. and today we are taking about "top down construction method" which was invented way back some centuries ago in this country.
Whoever the architect and the construction head was, HAT'S OFF to their INCREDIBLE IMAGINATION of getting this kind of temple by exhuming.. and today we are taking about "top down construction method" which was invented way back some centuries ago in this country.
The temple complex hosts, 12 Buddhist
temples, 17 Hindu temples and 5 Jain temples within it. The Kailasa
Temple, is known to be constructed by 7,000 laborers in just 150 years.
Interestingly, architects say, that this is impossible even if the
people worked continuously without considering night and day. The temple
was constructed in such a way that it is indestructible. Although
attempts have been made to destroy the Kailasa Temple by invaders, they
were all unsuccessful. The Kailasa Temple is surely a miracle on its
own.
Is it any less than a wonder of the world?
Do visit these temples once..
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