Ellora: Cross-Fertilization of Style in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Cave Temples

by Deepanjana Klein, Arno Klein

Overview

Attempts the first systematic overview of the Ellora cave temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, excavated between 600–1000 CE that are a stunning testament to ancient Indian art.

Ellora attempts the first systematic overview of the Ellora cave temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, excavated between 600 CE and 1000 CE and the only cave temple site that houses Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves.

This volume looks at each of these three groups of rock-cut temples and the stylistic influences they drew from each other and from surrounding regions.

Essays and analyzes by scholars bring a comprehensive understanding of the chronology and stylistic development of the 34 main caves and lesser caves of the site. Ellora also includes extensive photographic documentation, ground plans, and rarely seen early 19th-century etchings of the most significant caves.

With contributions by Stanislaw J. Czuma, Nicolas Morrissey, Lisa N. Owen, Vidya Dehejia, Pia Brancaccio and Arno Klein.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789385360800
Publisher:	Mapin Publishing
Publication date:	01/06/2026
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 11.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Deepanjana Klein, PhD, is the Director of Acquisitions and Development at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Stanislaw Czuma, PhD, is the George P. Bickford Curator Emeritus of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art where he worked for 33 years. Nicolas Morrissey, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Asian Art and Religion at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. Lisa N. Owen, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas. Vidya Dehejia, PhD, is the Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University. Pia Brancaccio, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Art History at Drexel University. Arno Klein, PhD, is a scientist at the Child Mind Institute in New York City. He has photographed the site and created elloracaves.org.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

My Guru: Professor Walter Spink by Stanislaw J. Czuma

Introduction by Deepanjana Klein

Power, Prestige and the Greatest Hindu Myths at Ellora by Deepanjana Klein

The Buddhist Cult of Images and the Business of Buddhist Monasticism by Nicolas Morrissey

Through a Jain Lens: Artistic Agency and Exchange at Ellora by Lisa N. Owen

Unfinished Work at Ellora by Vidya Dehejia

Ellora and its Neighbors: Religious and Artistic Cross-Pollination in Maharashtra by Pia Brancaccio

Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora