Cave 16 features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world, the Kailash temple, a chariot-shaped monument dedicated to the god Shiva.

[3][7] Although the caves served as temples and a rest stop for pilgrims,[5] the site's location on an ancient South Asian trade route also made it an important commercial centre in the Deccan region.

Ellora occupies a relatively flat rocky region of the Western Ghats, where ancient volcanic activity had created multilayered basalt formations, known as the Deccan Traps.

The resulting vertical face made access to many layers of rock formations easier, enabling architects to pick basalt with finer grains for more detailed sculpting.

[34] The cave also features a large display of the Sapta Matrika, the seven mother goddesses of the Shakti tradition of Hinduism, flanked on either side by Ganesha and Shiva.

The entrance to Cave 21 is flanked by large sculptures of the goddesses Ganga and Yamuna representing the two major Himalayan rivers and their significance to the Indian culture.

[38][39][43] The basement level of the temple features numerous Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakti works; a notable set of carvings include the twelve episodes from the childhood of Krishna, an important element of Vaishnavism.

Large sculptural panels between the wall columns on the upper floor illustrate a wide range of themes, including the ten avatars of Vishnu.

According to Coomaraswamy, the finest relief of this cave is the one depicting the death of Hiranyakashipu, where Vishnu in man-lion (Narasimha) form, emerges from a pillar to lay a fatal hand upon his shoulder.

[66] The main hall of the Visvakarma cave is apsidal in plan and is divided into a central nave and side aisles by 28 octagonal columns with plain bracket capitals.

In the apsidal end of the chaitya hall is a stupa on the face of which a colossal high seated Buddha in vyakhyana mudra (teaching posture).

The various levels of Cave 10 also feature idols of male and female deities, such as Maitreya, Tara, Avalokitesvara (Vajradhamma), Manjusri, Bhrkuti, and Mahamayuri, carved in the Pala dynasty style found in eastern regions of India.

They, and the later-era Hindu caves, were built at a similar time and both share architectural and devotional ideas such as a pillared veranda, symmetric mandapa and puja (worship).

[74] However, unlike the Hindu temples, emphasis is placed on the depiction of the twenty-four Jinas (spiritual conquerors who have gained liberation from the endless cycle of rebirths).

[78] This is evidenced by votive inscriptions dated to 1235 CE, where the donor states to have "converted Charanadri into a holy tirtha" for Jains by gifting the excavation of lordly Jinas.

[87] Art historian Lisa Owen has raised questions concerning whether music and dance were part of 9th-century Jainism, given that Jain theology focuses on meditative asceticism.

[88] However, the symbolism closer to the centre of the temple is more aligned with the core ideas of Jainism; a greater prevalence of meditating images and Jinas – the place where the Jain devotee would perform his or her ritual abhisheka (worship).

Carvings of Parshvanatha, guarded by yaksha Dharanendra with his 7 hoods, and Gommateshvara were made into the left and right walls of the hall, respectively, while within the shrine resides an idol of Vardhamana Mahavir Swami.

On the upper level of the shrine, excavated at the rear of the court, is an image of Ambika, the yakshini of Neminath, seated on her lion under a mango tree, laden with fruit.

The centre of the shrine presents Sarvatobhadra, where four Tirthankaras of Jainism – Rshibha (1st), Neminatha (22nd), Parsvanatha (23rd) and Mahavira (24th) are aligned to the cardinal directions, forming a place of worship for devotees.

[100] In the back of the cave is a bearded figure with a bowl containing round sacrificial offerings, which have shapes reminiscent of pindas (rice balls) or laddus (sweetmeat).

[101] The Parshvanatha in the cave is paired with a standing Gommateshvara,[102] and accompanied by other carvings showing musicians playing a variety of instruments such as horns, drums, conchs, trumpets, and cymbals.

[104] On the hill to the northeast of the main complex of caves is a Jain temple containing a 16-foot (4.9 m) rock-carved image of Lord Parshvanath from the Rashtrakuta period with an inscription dated 1234 A.D.

He also spoke of "many kinds of images with lifelike forms" carved on all the ceilings and walls, but noted that the monuments themselves were in a state of "desolation in spite of its strong foundations.

[107] Islamic court records indicated that Deogiri, the capital of the Yadava dynasty, and about 10 kilometres from Ellora, had come under sustained attack during this period and subsequently fell to the Delhi Sultanate in 1294 CE.

[114] The Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monuments at Ellora show substantial damage, particularly to the idols, whereas intricate carvings on the pillars, and of natural objects on the walls, remain intact.

[115] According to Geri Malandra, such devastation by Muslims stemmed from the perceived offense caused by "the graphic, anthropomorphic imagery of Hindu and Buddhist shrines".

A copper plate inscription found in Baroda, Gujarat, states that a great edifice was built on a hill by Krishnaraja at Elapura (Ellora):[119] ...was caused to be constructed a temple on the hill at Elapura, of wonderful structure, on seeing which the best of immortals who move in celestial cars, struck with astonishment, say "This temple of Shiva is self-existent; in a thing made by art such beauty is not seen (...).

The famous Bengali filmmaker (and author) Satyajit Ray wrote the crime thriller novel Kailashey Kelenkari in 1974, featuring fictional detective Feluda.

[citation needed] Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832 contains a plate of 'Skeletal Group in the Ramedwur, Caves of Ellora, supposed to represent the nuptials of Siva and Parvati' by George Cattermole, engraved by W. Kelsall, accompanied by a poetical illustration by Letitia Elizabeth Landon paraphrased from a translation from the Siva-Pooraun.