The Kailasa Temple
An entire temple at Ellora was carved downwards out of a single hill of rock, and no one quite knows how long it took.
What was reported
The Kailasa temple, Cave 16 at Ellora, is not built from blocks: it was carved out of a single basalt cliff, from the top down. Its towers, halls, bridges and life-size elephants are all one piece of rock. It is usually dated to the 8th century, under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I.
Builders are estimated to have removed around 200,000 tonnes of rock. Because records of the work don't survive, the temple has attracted claims of lost technology and even help from beyond Earth.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists say it was made by skilled stonemasons using iron chisels and hammers, probably over decades and perhaps several generations, working to a carefully planned design. The removed rock was likely carried away and reused. Its achievement is human, and all the more remarkable for that.
- When
- Built in the 700s
- Where
- Ellora Caves, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, India
- Witnesses
- Visitors and archaeologists
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.