Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Ellora

ELLORA, a town of India, in the native state of Hyderabad, near the city of Dowletabad, situated in 20° 2' N. lat. and 75° 13' E. long. In a mountain near this town there are some remarkable excavations, containing mythological symbols of the Hindu worship, and temples ornamented with statues of many of the deities. The principal figures are those of Indra, the god of the firmament, and his consort Indrani. Besides these, there are some figures of the deities and incarnations adored by the Jains, the followers of Buddha and Parisnáth; but all of them have been forsaken by the priests. The Temple is said to have been executed by Rájáh Edu of Ellichpur, who was cured of a cutaneous disorder by a spring near the place, and in gratitude gave orders for the construction of the shrine. It measures 138 feet in front, and in the interior extends 247 feet in length by 150 feet in breadth, and is in some places 100 feet high. A minute account of these curious antiquities is contained in the sixth volume of the Asiatic Researches and in Fergusson's History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. See also article Architecture, vol. ii. pp. 394–395. Ellora was ceded in 1818 by Holkar to the British. who transferred it to the Nizám in 1822 by the treaty of Hyderabad.