In my opinion Ellora is one of the great sites and sights of the world. It easily enters my category of “Worth a journey”. Don’t even think of not going there if you are in Central India!

The site is situated about 30kms outside the city of Aurangabad. The road to it passes the fortress of Daulatabad which is worth visiting even if you are not on the Tourist Corporation tour (We went twice to Ellora :- once on the “tour” and then the next day by ourselves to soak it up at our own pace).

At Ellora there are 3 sets of caves totalling around 30 in all – Buddhist, Hindu and Jain each with its distinctive style and iconography. But the highlight of them all is the Kailash Temple. The entire structure is cut from the living rock into a cliff face. The result is an enormous (30 metres high?) free-standing stylised representation of the holy Kailash Mountain in Tibet surrounded by caves cut deep into the side walls. As you walk round the base of the “mountain” you are in a narrow defile between it and the cliffs from which it has been hewn. Indeed you often walk under the cliffs themselves with thousands of tonnes of rock over your head (photo). All round the sides and on the face and inside the “mountain” itself are room/halls/caves and amazing sculptures of Hindu gods and symbols. And don’t forget to take in the view from above by climbing the cliff – oh, and then there are all the other caves to see!