Private Ellora Caves Guided Tour
- 6 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
In the 8th century the builders of the Kailasa Temple began not from the ground up but from the top down, carving into a basalt hillside and removing 200,000 tonnes of rock to reveal a freestanding temple complex twice the size of the Parthenon. Seven thousand labourers worked for 150 years to complete it. The Ellora Caves tour takes you through the largest monolithic excavation in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 34 caves carved by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain craftsmen between the 5th and 10th centuries. Your expert guide brings the iconography, the engineering and the art history to life across every cave. Private car from Aurangabad, expert cultural guide, all entry fees and vegetarian lunch included. 5 Senses Tours is recognised by the Department of Tourism, a winner of the Outlook Responsible Tourism Award and the Tripadvisor Travellers Choice Award.
Inclusions
What's included
- Indian vegetarian
- Private car
- Entrance charges
- Guide
Itinerary
The most impressive cave at Ellora is Number 16 called the Kailasa Cave. Built to resemble Mount Kailash, the heavenly abode of Lord Shiva, Cave 16 is a free standing Temple complex and the largest single monolithic excavation in the world. Kailasa was built by Krishna I (757–773) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty. Kaliasa is twice the size of Parthenon in Athens and was built by 7,000 laborers over 150 years.
Verul Leni, better known as Ellora Caves are one of the finest specimens of rock cut architecture in India. Located near the Indian City of Aurangabad, Ellora Caves are a set of 34 caves excavated out of the Charanandri hills. This UNESCO world heritage site has a mix of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain caves. Built between 5th and 10th century, Ellora caves are located on an ancient trade route and hence unlike the Ajanta Caves were never lost and have always been frequented over the years.
Cave 10 also called Dashavatara is another splendid specimen of rock cut sculpture. It has an open court with a free-standing monolithic “mandapa” at the middle and a two-storeyed excavated temple at the rear. A must see relief in Dashavatara is the one depicting the death of Hiranyakashipu, by Lord Narasimha the Man-Lion avatar of Vishnu.
It will take 1 hour each way to Ellora from Aurangabad
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
5.0
- 54
- 40
- 30
- 20
- 10
Ratings come from 4 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Pickup
- Pickup is included for everyone.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- 5 Senses Walks
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- We pick up at the time the tour starts at 9 am
How it compares in Aurangabad
- Its from-price is 41% above the median of the 81 experiences we list in Aurangabad.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 25 of 81.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Aurangabad
Aurangabad is a Deccan city in Maharashtra, the base for the rock-cut Ellora and Ajanta caves, a hilltop fortress and a Mughal-era tomb.
Aurangabad, also called Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, took its older name from the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who governed the Deccan from here before taking the throne, and the city is dotted with old gateways. Bibi Ka Maqbara, a domed tomb finished in 1668 and modelled on the Taj Mahal, is its best-known monument. The Panchakki is a seventeenth-century water mill beside a shrine, and the small Buddhist Aurangabad Caves cut into a hillside date from around the seventh century.
Top-ranked sights in Aurangabad: Bibi Ka Maqbara, Grishneshwar Temple, Aurangabad Caves.
Special offers in Aurangabad
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
