Introduction.
The whole series consists of about thirty excavations. Of these ten were devoted to the religion of Buddha, fourteen were excavated by the followers of the Brahmanical creeds, and six cannot be said to belong to either of these sects; nor can they in strictness be ascribed to the Jains, though their sculpture savours more of the tenets of their religion than those of the other two.
Architecturally the Ellora Caves differ from those of Ajunta in consequence of their being excavated in the sloping sides of a hill, and not in a nearly perpendicular cliff. From this formation of the ground almost all the caves at Ellora have courtyards in front of them. Frequently also, an outer wall of rock with an entrance through it is left standing, so that the caves are not generally seen from the outside at all, and a person might pass along their front without being aware of their existence unless warned of the fact. On the other hand, the advantage architecturally of the fore-court, and the protection it affords not only from violence, but also from atmospheric influences, more than compensate for this defect.
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