Description Carved out of the ground from a single rock, this temple to Shiva represents Mount Kailasha, a sacred mountain in the Himalayas.
Naturally an oddity like this has its own folklore...
A sick king came to Ellora to cure himself in the holy waters. The queen was grateful of the successful cure, and urged the king to build a temple. For a long time he neglected to do this, and the queen finally had enough and told him that she would fast until she saw the completed spire of the temple.
The king grew worried and feared she would starve, until along came an architect by the name of Kokasa, who quickly completed the spire by building a temple from top down, carving it out of the ground.
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