Ancient basalt caves temples of Ellora

Ancient basalt caves temples of Ellora. Deccan traps. Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. It is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu temple cave complexes in the world, with artwork. There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills. These consist of 17 Hindu (caves 13–29), 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves. Construction in the early Hindu caves commenced before any of the Buddhist or Jain caves. These early caves were generally dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, although the iconography suggests that the artisans gave other gods and goddesses of Hinduism prominent and equal reverence. A common feature of these cave temples was a rock-cut linga-yoni within the core of the shrine with each being surrounded by a space for circumambulation (parikrama)