PatrimoineFermé Tuesday

Ellora Caves

#6sur 7 lieux à visiter à AurangabadAurangabad, Maharashtra

Aussi appelé Verul Leni · Elura Caves

L'essentiel

Horaires d'ouverture : 09:00–17:30, closed Tuesdays, last entry 17:00. Entrée : ₹40 pour les Indiens · ₹600 pour les étrangers. Comptez 4 hrs. Meilleure période : 09:00 – 11:00.

Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026 · Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA · 4 min de lecture

ItinéraireSite officiel

Photo: N M Kowlagi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Horaires d'ouverture: 09:00–17:30; Closed Tuesdays
Prix d'entrée: ₹40 pour les Indiens; Billet à partir de
Durée nécessaire: 4 hrs
Meilleur moment de la journée: 09:00 – 11:00
Meilleurs mois: Oct – Mar
Adresse: Ellora, Khuldabad taluka, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra 431102

À propos de Ellora Caves

Ellora Caves contain 34 rock-cut monuments cut into a 2-kilometre basalt escarpment: 12 Buddhist caves at the southern end, 17 Hindu caves in the centre, and 5 Jain caves at the northern end, carved between roughly the 6th and 10th centuries CE. The site's single defining structure is Cave 16, the Kailasa Temple, a freestanding Hindu temple carved downward out of solid rock rather than built upward from a foundation — masons removed an estimated 200,000 tonnes of basalt from the cliff face to leave the temple standing in a deep courtyard of their own making. The stone is a dark, fine-grained volcanic basalt, distinct from the sandstone at Rajasthan's forts and considerably harder to carve, which explains why Ellora's sculptural detail favours bold, deep-cut relief over the fine filigree seen in softer stone.

Meilleur moment de la journée : 09:00 – 11:00. To see the Kailasa Temple's courtyard before tour buses converge and before the unshaded rock-cut plaza heats up.

Photographie

₹25 pour la caméra

Horaires de Ellora Caves

Ellora Caves ouvre à 09:00 et ferme à 17:30. Les horaires sont les mêmes le samedi et le dimanche.

Horaires d'ouverture: 09:00–17:30; Monday 09:00–17:30
Tuesday Closed
Wed–Sun 09:00–17:30; 09:00 – 17:30 daily except closed weekly (last entry 17:00)
Fermé le: Tuesday

Monday	09:00–17:30
Tuesday	Closed
Wed–Sun	09:00–17:30

Horaires d'ouverture établis à partir de asi.nic.in et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Prix d'entrée de Ellora Caves

Entry fees for Ellora Caves
Billet	Prix
Visiteurs indiens	₹40
Visiteurs étrangers	₹600
Enfants	Gratuit
Caméra	₹25

Children under 15 enter free. The ₹25 fee applies to video cameras only; still photography is included in the entry ticket. Online booking through the ASI ticketing portal is available and typically avoids the counter queue. As of 2026, verify at the counter.

Tarifs établis à partir de asi.nic.in et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Meilleure période pour visiter Ellora Caves

Quiet
Moderate
Very busy

09:00 – 11:00
Morning OpeningBest time to go
Gates open at 09:00. The Kailasa Temple courtyard is walkable without crowd pressure and the Buddhist caves at the southern end are nearly empty.
Quiet
11:00 – 14:00
Tour Group Peak
Day-trip coaches from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and beyond converge on the Kailasa Temple; the elephant gateway queue can exceed 30 minutes during winter weekends.
Very busy
14:00 – 16:00
Midday Heat
Many groups depart for lunch or head toward Grishneshwar and Daulatabad. The exposed basalt plaza reaches high temperatures with little shade.
Moderate
16:00 – 17:30
Late Afternoon
A second smaller wave of visitors arrives for cooler temperatures and warm late light on the Kailasa Temple's carved facade before the 17:30 close.
Moderate

Histoire de Ellora Caves

Carving at Ellora spans four centuries and several ruling dynasties, beginning with the Buddhist caves around the 6th century CE under Kalachuri and early Chalukya patronage, followed by the Hindu caves through the 7th and 8th centuries, and concluding with the Jain caves by the 10th century under Rashtrakuta rule. The Kailasa Temple, Ellora's centrepiece, is attributed primarily to the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I (r. 757–773 CE), though some inscriptions suggest construction may have begun under his predecessor Dantidurga. The temple was carved top-down: masons first cut three deep trenches into the cliff to isolate a single block of rock, then sculpted the shikhara (tower) first and worked their way toward ground level, a sequence opposite to conventional temple-building. A persistent local legend credits an architect named Kokasa with the design, but this attribution appears only in Marathi-language accounts from the 15th century onward and has no contemporaneous epigraphic support — it should be treated as legend rather than documented history. UNESCO inscribed Ellora as a World Heritage Site in 1983, recognising the site as a rare place where Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monastic traditions were carved within walking distance of one another.

Règles et étiquette à Ellora Caves

Cave 16, the Kailasa Temple, draws the overwhelming majority of visitors and gets genuinely congested by mid-morning; the courtyard's stone walkways narrow at the elephant gateway and shuffling queues are common on weekends and during school holiday periods. Shoes come off before entering the inner shrine chambers of the active Hindu and Jain caves — most have a shoe rack at the entrance, though carrying a cloth bag to hold shoes while walking between caves saves repeated stops. Tripods are prohibited without prior written ASI clearance, and drones are banned outright across the site. Unlicensed individuals offering guide services cluster near the main gate and the Kailasa Temple entrance; verify a guide's ASI-issued identity card, which carries a numbered holographic seal, before agreeing to a rate.

Conseils pour visiter Ellora Caves

1
Ellora needs a minimum of four hours to see even a selective route through the three cave groups, and a full day if the goal is all 34 caves — most visitors in practice concentrate on the Kailasa Temple (Cave 16), the Buddhist viharas (Caves 10–12), and two or three of the more detailed Hindu caves rather than attempting the entire sequence. The Buddhist caves at the southern end receive noticeably fewer visitors than the Kailasa Temple and are worth the extra walk for their quieter, multi-storeyed vihara halls. Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga Temple sits about 2 km away and pairs naturally with an Ellora visit, ideally scheduled first thing in the morning before either site gets busy. Daulatabad Fort lies roughly 13 km back toward the city on the same road, making a fort-then-caves sequence the standard day-trip order from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Carry water; vendor stalls exist near the main gate but there is little shade or refreshment along the escarpment itself.

Comment se rendre à Ellora Caves

L'étoile rouge indique Ellora Caves ; les repères numérotés sont les 2 lieux les plus proches de nos guides, chacun avec son classement dans sa ville. Touchez un repère pour plus de détails.

Ellora, Khuldabad taluka, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra 431102Itinéraire sur Google Maps

Depuis Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport (IXU)
₹700–₹900
29 km · 50–60 min
Prepaid taxi
Depuis Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Railway Station (AWB)
₹650–₹850
30 km · 55–65 min
Taxi); MSRTC bus service to Ellora for approximately ₹50
Depuis Daulatabad Fort
₹250–₹350
13 km · 20 min
Auto-rickshaw or shared taxi, negotiated

Aéroport le plus proche

Depuis Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport (IXU)

29 km, approximately 50–60 minutes by road.

Gare la plus proche

Depuis Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Railway Station (AWB)

30 km, approximately 55–65 minutes.

FAQ — Ellora Caves

Which day is Ellora Caves closed?

Tuesday. Ellora Caves are closed to visitors every Tuesday, unlike Ajanta Caves, which close on Monday — the two schedules do not match, so plan a two-day itinerary around this difference.

How much time is needed to see Ellora Caves properly?

A minimum of four hours for a selective route covering the Kailasa Temple, the main Buddhist viharas, and a few Hindu caves. Seeing all 34 caves requires closer to a full day.

Is the Kailasa Temple carved from a single piece of rock?

Yes. Masons removed an estimated 200,000 tonnes of basalt from the cliff face, carving the temple downward from the top of the rock rather than assembling it from separate blocks.

Can Ellora Caves be combined with Grishneshwar Temple and Daulatabad Fort in one day?

Yes. Grishneshwar sits about 2 km from Ellora and Daulatabad Fort about 13 km away on the same road toward the city, making a fort-temple-caves sequence a standard single-day itinerary from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA à partir de sources officielles et de registres publics, et publié seulement après les vérifications décrites dans Comment nous rédigeons ces guides. Personne chez Traveliac ne s'est rendu sur place. Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Comment nous classons et vérifions les lieux