Cave 32, the Indra Sabha (Assembly Hall of Indra), is the finest of the Jain temples. Its ground-floor plan is similar to that of the Kailasa, but the upstairs area is as ornate and richly decorated as the downstairs is plain. There are images of the Jain tirthankars (great teachers) Parasnath and Gomateshvara, the latter surrounded by wildlife. Inside the shrine is a seated figure of Mahavira, the last tirthankar and founder of the Jain religion.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Kailasa Temple
0.74 MILES
One of India’s greatest monuments, this astonishing temple, carved from solid rock, was built by King Krishna I in AD 760 to represent Mt Kailasa (Kailash…
Bibi-qa-Maqbara
13.15 MILES
Built by Aurangzeb’s son Azam Khan in 1679 as a mausoleum for his mother Rabia-ud-Daurani, Bibi-qa-Maqbara is widely known as the poor man’s Taj. With its…
Daulatabad Fort
6.74 MILES
No trip to Aurangabad is complete without a pit stop at the ruined but truly magnificent hilltop fortress of Daulatabad, about 15km away from town en…
Buddhist Caves
0.96 MILES
Calm and contemplation infuse the 12 Buddhist caves, which stretch to the south of Kailasa. All are Buddhist viharas (monasteries) used for study and…
Nearby Maharashtra attractions
1. Cave 33
0.02 MILES
Cave 33, the Jagannath Sabha, is similar in plan to 32 and has some well-preserved sculptures.
3. Cave 34
0.06 MILES
The final temple, the small Cave 34, also has interesting sculptures. On the hilltop above the Jain temples, a 5m-high image of Parasnath looks down on…
4. Jain Caves
0.07 MILES
The five Jain caves, the last created at Ellora, may lack the ambitious size of the best Hindu temples, but they are exceptionally detailed, with some…
5. Cave 30
0.14 MILES
Cave 30, the Chhota Kailasa (Little Kailasa), is a poor imitation of the great Kailasa Temple and stands by itself some distance from the other Jain…
6. Cave 29
0.37 MILES
The large Cave 29, the Dumar Lena, is thought to be a transitional model between the simpler hollowed-out caves and the fully developed temples…
8. Cave 21
0.53 MILES
Cave 21, known as the Ramesvara Cave, features interesting interpretations of familiar Shaivite scenes depicted in the earlier temples. The figure of the…