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Ellora Caves, a basalt scarp cut with more than a hundred caves, is formally linked to three religions in this atlas: Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, all three links carrying no further comment at the religion level. Its own description differentiates them anyway, and unevenly: two of the three traditions get a specific finding of their own, and the third gets only its place in the row.

One Cliff, Not a Tidy Sequence

"Thirty four of them open: Buddhist at one end, Hindu in the middle, Jain at the other. Its interest is that the three traditions excavated the same cliff, and the older assumption that they did so in a tidy sequence has not survived scrutiny."

Two Findings and One Position

The Buddhist caves carry a specific dating claim of their own: "The Buddhist caves span Mahayana into Vajrayana, caves eleven and twelve carry tantric iconography that is among the better evidence for Vajrayana being established in South Asia by the eighth century." The Jain caves carry a different and separate finding, that this is not solely an archaeological site: "worship continues in places, notably at the Jain caves, so this is not purely a monument." The Hindu caves, sitting between the other two, carry no equivalent claim anywhere in its own text beyond their position in the middle. Two findings and one position, honestly reported as exactly what its own text gives each of its three traditions.

Where To Read More

• Ellora CavesBuddhist SitesOne cliff excavated by three traditions, not in the tidy sequence once assumed
• BuddhismDharmic (Nontheistic)Carries the caves' one dated claim, tantric iconography evidencing Vajrayana by the eighth century
• JainismDharmicCarries the caves' other finding, that worship still continues there today
• HinduismDharmic (Polytheistic)Named only by its position in the middle, with no further claim in its own text