Exploring ancient architecture

Visiting the Ellora caves, India was exciting for me because for some time I’ve had a deep yearning to see ancient architecture. When my husband and I arrived at the entrance of the Ellora caves we decided to take a guided tour with a gentleman who grew up in the area and still lives close by with his wife and children. He agreed to take us to other caves on the site that most tourists do not visit. While going through some of the caves, the guide was telling us stories about the different gods, but mainly stories about the god Shiva and his wife, goddess Parvati. There were many deep stone carvings which depicted the stories and the lessons behind the stories of these gods and goddesses. I was also impressed how certain caves were arranged architecturally in a way to provide acoustics for sound enhancement during prayers or chants. When the people sang or said a chant on one side of the cave it would echo throughout the cave. The guide determinate, it to us by singing a song Hindi prayer. All the caves were created with massive stones which makes us wonder how did they do that back then without modern equipment. The whole site is memorized for the eyes, mysterious because of the stories and enchanting because of its creation.

Photos: Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, India. 12/2017.