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Through the pages of my photo books. "Photographing cultural heritage." Ellora Rock Complex

I continue to publish separate subsections of my photobook "Photographing cultural Heritage", which I published in 2021 in Russia. This book tells about 16 monuments of tangible and intangible culture from 7 countries. Many monuments are UNESCO sites.

Today is the second conversation.
The first conversation can be viewed ...here

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ELLORA CAVE COMPLEX

I spend a little more time at the Ellora Cave complex. I spent the night at the settlement's hotel, which is located next to this place. The Ellora rock complex dates back to the 6th century. It includes 34 caves. We drove about 200 kilometers by car from Ajanta to Ellora. The cave temples of Ajanta were built by hollowing out “rooms” (caves), and the temples of Ellora were mostly carved using the "top-down" method. In addition, certain sculptural compositions were created simultaneously with the construction. For example, the figure of a huge elephant was made simultaneously with the construction of the cave itself. I have not been to Buddhist caves, but I have been to several Hindu and Jain caves. There are many sculptural compositions in Hindu temples. These temples look very rich. Jain caves, on the contrary, are very modest. It was explained to us, tourists, that rich people had even richer temples. Interestingly, the temples of Ellora, in fact, are a single cave complex. And the priests of three different religions lived there together for a long time. This is a manifestation of a tolerant attitude in India. There is such a story associated with the most remarkable of the temples - the Temple of Kailasa - a magnificent, well-preserved example of Dravidian architecture. According to legend, the temple was erected by the ruler of Ellichpuru Edu in gratitude for healing with water from a nearby spring. The temple is located in the depths of a courtyard carved into a solid rock. Under the granite canopy there are colossal statues of Shiva, Vishnu and others made of stone above the entrance. Behind the canopy is a large statue of goddess Lakshmi resting on lotus flowers surrounded by elephants. An interesting service for tourists is provided here: small minibuses (a kind of museum taxi) transport tourists from one part of the cave complex to another

HOW WAS IT?

The staff of the library where my event took place did a lot of organizational work. About 30 people were present. The event was attended by local television journalists. Before the presentation of my photo and video works, a local resident, a famous Indian dance dancer, held a mini-concert. Then the representatives of the Russian-Indian Friendship Society, invited by me, spoke and said many good words about the friendship between India and Russia.

There was a set with oriental sweets and Indian tea. In addition, the library staff and I have prepared small exhibitions of Indian books.

My performance was met with thunderous applause. In short, it turned out to be a wonderful evening of documentary photography!