Kailasa temple is not built as well as other buildings dating from that period. Instead of adding blocks, he is the only example in the world where the mountain is completely carved from the top to get its characteristic shape. In all other cases, the stone is cut in advance and then processed. Here it is used a technique called “carving from the monolith” instead of “carving of the monolith,” the technique used by the rest of the world.

Why this technique is so specific? For starters, to make poles taller than 30 meters and accurately processed stone, it requires many years of work. But the pillars of the temple Kailasa are made so that parts of the mountain are separated from them. Can you imagine how the stones should be removed to make such a pillar?

Ellora, cave 16, Kailasa Temple

Exactly that amount of removed stones is what makes the historians and archaeologists confused. Archaeologists claim that there are removed more than 400,000 tons of stones, which would take not years, but centuries of work. Historians, however, have found no record of that great endeavor and believe that the temple was built in less than 18 years.

Ellora, cave 16, Kailasa Temple

Lets suppose that people from that time worked 18 years with 12 hours a day, nonstop without a break. We will ignore rainy days, festivals, wars and imagine that people worked like robots. If 400,000 tons of stones have been removed for 18 years, this means that each year were removed 22,222 tons, which means that removing 60 tons per day or 5 tons per hour.

Kailasa Temple, Ellora Caves

We can say that something like this is not possible even with cutting-edge technology that we possess today. Then, if people could not build this temple for a short time, who did it?

Kailasa Temple, Ellora Caves

What is interesting are the stories of the destruction of the temple. Muslim king Aurangzeb hired thousands of workers to fully destroy this temple. In the year 1682 he ordered the temple to be razed. According to the records, thousands of workers for three years were trying to destroy the temple of Kailasa, but did not do any bigger damage. They managed to break up a couple of statues, but the temple could not be destroyed entirely. Aurangzeb soon gave up on this impossible task.

Ellora Caves: Kailasanatha Temple (Cave 16), Ellora, Maharashtra

It is important to note that a similar case is Menkaure pyramid in Egypt. Another Muslim ruler wanted to destroy all pyramids and started it. After years of trying, he managed to make only minor scratches on the pyramid and eventually gave up. Who built these indestructible buildings throughout the world?

Ellora, cave 16, Kailasa Temple

In fact, archaeologists agree that Kailasa temple was created before all other temples in Ellora complex, and subsequent civilizations looked up to him and so built the remaining buildings. If that is not the case, people over time would have perfected their construction methods and the new temples would be better and more beautiful.

Ellora Caves: Kailasanatha Temple (Cave 16), Ellora, Maharashtra

Unlike other temples, Kailasa could be seen from the air. Of 34 temples in total, Kailasa is well known and you can fly over it. Is it coincidence or is it really designed to be able to see from the air, such as the Nazca lines in Peru? When you look at the temple of “Google Earth”, you will notice that there is a clear form of X. Is this perhaps a sign left for other civilizations to be able to capture buildings from the air?

Le temple de Kailasha (Ellora, Inde)