KAILASH

TEMPLE

INTRODUCTION • LOCATION –AURANGABAD,

MAHARASTRA• BUILT IN -8TH CENTURY BY

RASTRAKUTA KING KRISND 1.

• STYLE – DRAVIDIAN ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTS WERE FROM THE SOUTH INDIAN PALLAVA KINGDOM.

IT IS A MONOLITIC STRUCTURE , NOTABLE FOR IT’S VERTICAL EXCAVATION, CARVER’S STARTED AT THE TOP OF THE ORIGINAL ROCK, AND EXCAVATED DOWN WARD.

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 400,000 TONS OF ROCKS WAS SCOOPED OUT OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF CONSTRUCT IT OUT OF A SINGLE ROCK.

PARTS OF TEMPLETHE SCHEME OF KAILASA RESOLVES INTO FOUR PARTS.

1. BODY OF THE TEMPLE2. ENTRANCE GATEWAY3. AN INTERMEDIATE NANDI SHRINE4. CLOSTERS SURROUNDING THE

COURTYARD

ON EACH SIDE THE COURTYARD SUPPLEMENTARY CHAMBERS HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED.

THERE ARE TWO FREE STANDING PILLARS, DHWAJASTAMBHAS, 51 FEET HIGH, ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE NANDI SHRINE.

The first stage of work was simple . It consisted in excavating out if the hillside three huge trenches at right angles , cut down vertically to the level of the base of the hill , thus forming a rectangle 300 feet by 175 feet.

The main body of the temple occupies a parallelogram approx.150 feet by 100 feet with sections of its sides projecting at intervals , like transpects , to support corresponding projecting features above.

ELEMENTS PLINTH APPEARS LIKE

GROUND STORY, WHICH IS 25 FEET HIGH.

CENTRAL SPACE OF THE SIDES IS OCCUPIED BY A GRAND FRIEZE OF BOIDLY CARVED ELEPHANYS & LIONS.

There is no pronounced departure from the conventional combination of the mandapa and the vimana.

Architectural elements such as cornices , and porticos have been assembled orderly and artistic manner to form a unified whole.

The interior consists of a pillared hall.

This hall is a well-proportioned compartment measuring 70 feet by 62 feet.

Having 16 square piers in groups of 4 in each quarter.

There is a nandi shrine standing on a 25 feet square solid pavilion.A living rock bridge connects the Nandi Mandap to the porch of the temple

The walls of the temple tell the story of the epic Ramayana through intricate, illustrative carvings.

Apart Lalibela, Ethiopia and Mahabalipuram ; it is the finest example of free-standing carved-out, rock-cut architecture in the world

One of the biggest monolithic structure in the world.

Awarded as a UNESCO world Heritage site 1983.