Cave 12 : Teen Tal (Three Storeyed), 6th – 7th century Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India
Three tiered Cave Number 12 known as Teen Tal, is a Buddhist chaitya or prayer hall and vihara, or monastery. But it was subsequently discovered that Do Tal was in fact Teen Tal and that the basement had been buried by several centuries of adjacent Teen Tal has a rather impressive starkness, a little spoilt today by the fact that the frontage, which was crumbling, has been repaired with enormous slabs of concrete. This huge vihara once had enough cell to house over 40 monks, today it echoes rather emptily to the footsteps of visitors and the flighs of bats. The halls within the are decorated with a wealth of sculpture, of figures of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The caves are datable from circa 6th, 7th century to 11th 12th century In total, there are nearly 100 caves in the hill range out of which 34 caves are famous and visited by many tourists, out of which Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist; Caves 13 to 29 are Brahmanical and Caves 30 to 34 are Jaina. Two more groups of caves are noticed on the Elaganga and on an upper terrace, namely, the Ganesh Leni and Jogeshwari Leni. Ellora caves were declared as UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. The Ellora caves, locally known as ‘Verul Leni’ is located on the Aurangabad-Chalisgaon road at a distance of 30 km north-northwest of Aurangabad, the district headquarters in Maharashtra, India. The name Ellora itself inspires everyone as it represents one of the largest rock-hewn monastic-temple complexes in the entire world. Ellora is also world famous for the largest single monolithic excavation in the world, the great Kailasa Cave 16. The visit to these caves is enjoyed maximum during monsoon, when every stream is filled with rainwater, and the entire environ is lush green. The monsoon is not only a season of rains in this part, the local visitors are attracted to visit these ideal locations to have a glimpse of the mother nature in full bloom.
Size: 5072px × 3396px
Location: Ellora Caves Aurangabad Maharashtra India
Photo credit: © Mukul Gupchup / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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