Here, for the first time, American architect Roger Vogler examines this great Hindu temple carved downward from the top of a hillside in Maharashtra from the perspective of his fellow architect: the unknown sthapati who actually designed it thirteen centuries ago. The Kailas's magnificent sculptures and carved architectural details have all been extensively documented by many eminent scholars. The great volume of space that envelops them (which as every architect knows is designed with fully as much care and purpose as its solid stone) is, however, almost totally absent from their writings, as are the moral and religious messages that lie beneath these stones, hidden in metaphor. Not the least of these are the towering raw cliffs enclosing the temple's precincts: themselves metaphors for the presence of God. These absences have led to dozens of misunderstandings and erroneous conclusions regarding the monument itself and the intentions of its designer. Focusing not merely on its stones but on the meanings that lie beneath them as well, this book corrects these misunderstandings and rebuts these errors in the course of an entertaining and revelatory walking tour of the entire temple. Published in association with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

Drawing on art historical, epigraphical, and textual evidence, this book is the first full-scale reconstruction of medieval Jain activities at Ellora. It not only highlights the understudied Jain caves, but examines them in concert with Ellora's Hindu and Buddhist monuments.

Some of the world's most beautiful frescos and sculptures- Buddhist, Hindu and Jain- are found here. Beautiful photographs capture the richness of an ancient ethos.

- There are few books on this subject - Features stunning photographs Thirty-four places of worship (temples, monasteries, and shrines) were carved out of the rock between the fifth and tenth centuries over an area of around two square kilometres. All the sculpture at the site is testimony to the superb skill and sheer determination of the workforce involved, as well as being evidence of the religious harmony of the time. The monuments include all sorts of architectural and decorative features that display the utmost splendor and inventiveness: columns, staircases, reliefs, stuccos, and even surviving patches of painted decoration. In the past, the extraordinary work at the site has unfortunately been eclipsed by the exceptional nature of its surroundings. The architecture and sculpture are often immersed in darkness and this has made it impossible to create the kind of photographic record that would give their stunning quality the visibility it deserves. But now Iago Corazza, with his ultra-sensitive photographic equipment, is able at last to give lovers of Indian art and enthusiasts the chance to fully appreciate this wonderful, indeed unique, group of rock-cut temples. The task of explaining the meaning and significance of these works as they emerge from the dark is entrusted to the expertise of Gilles Béguin. Following the success of Khajuraho, readers have the chance to explore another treasure of Indian art accompanied by a distinguished guide, with the benefit of photos that at last do their marvelous subjects full justice.

Ellora is one of the great cave temple sites of India, with thirty-four major Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monuments of the late sixth to tenth centuries A. D. This book describes the Buddhist caves at Ellora and places them in the context of Buddhist art and iconography. Ellora's twelve Buddhist cave temples, dating from the early seventh to the early eighth centuries, preserve an unparalleled one-hundred-year sequence of architectural and iconographical development. They reveal the evolution of a Buddhist mandala at sites in other regions often considered "peripheral" to the heartland of Buddhism in eastern India. At Ellora, the mandala, ordinarily conceived as a two-dimensional diagram used to focus meditation, is unfolded into the three-dimensional program of the cave temples themselves, enabling devotees to walk through the mandala during worship. The mandala's development at Ellora is explained and its significance is considered for the evolution of Buddhist art and iconography elsewhere in India.