Maharashtra · West
Kailasa Temple, Ellora
Kailasanatha Temple, Ellora Cave 16
Cave 16 at Ellora, the Kailasa Temple, is among the most audacious feats of architectural sculpture anywhere in the world: an entire multi-storey Dravida-influenced temple, complete with gateway, courtyard, subsidiary shrines and a soaring shikhara, was excavated top-down out of a single volcanic basalt hillside under Rashtrakuta patronage in the 8th century, rather than constructed from cut and assembled stone. Estimates put the excavated rock volume at roughly 200,000 tonnes, executed without the possibility of correcting a structural mistake once cut. Its relief carving, particularly the panel of the demon-king Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa while Shiva calmly presses it down with a toe, is treated as a highpoint of narrative dynamism in Indian sculpture. Part of the Ellora Caves complex of 34 Hindu, Buddhist and Jain rock-cut monuments inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1983, Kailasa remains the site's central and most visited excavation.
Art & Architecture
- Entire temple carved downward from a single basalt cliff face rather than built up from a foundation
- Estimated 200,000 tonnes of rock excavated to leave a freestanding multi-storey structure in relief
- Life-size relief of Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa, among the most celebrated panels in Indian sculpture
- Full temple complex including gateway, Nandi pavilion, subsidiary shrines and elephant friezes, all monolithic
Best Season
Festivals
Ellora Ajanta Festival
Journeys Featuring This Temple
Planning your visit
Nearby
Guesthouses and dharamshalas near the temple often take walk-ins. Confirm a single-occupancy rate when you call.
- Hotel Kailas470 m
The only place actually facing the Ellora caves: 36 stone-walled cottage rooms with balconies, cave-facing AC cottages around Rs 5,000 a night, and Ghrishneshwar temple a short walk away.
Checked by us
- Lemon Tree Hotel, Aurangabad25.8 km
102 rooms at R 7/2 Chikalthana on Airport Road, about 3km from the airport - the convenient base if you are flying in and driving the 30km out to Ellora the next morning.
Checked by us
- IRA by Orchid, Sambhajinagar25.1 km
On Beed Bypass Road in PWD Colony, with a rooftop restaurant called Upper Deck; a city-side base for pairing Ellora with Daulatabad and Bibi Ka Maqbara.
Checked by us
- Kailas Hotel, Ajanta & Ellora423 m
From Overture Maps — not verified by us (2026-08-02)
- Kailash Hotel435 m
From Overture Maps — not verified by us (2026-08-02)
- Hotel Sunidhi-Grishneshwar Mandir444 m
From Overture Maps — not verified by us (2026-08-02)
Listings drawn from third-party maps are not verified by us and may be out of date. Please confirm directly before you travel.
Sources