The rock-temples of Kanara are rivalled by those of Elephanta, Karli, and Ajunta, and far surpassed in magnificence and extent by the excavations of Ellora, near the town and fort of Dowlatabad, where a whole mountain of hard red granite has been hollowed out into an immense range of highly ornamented grottoes and temples, fit for the residence of a whole pantheon of deities, and for the reception of a whole nation of pilgrims.
About three miles to the north of Madras, where the rock touches the sea, navigators had long remarked some pillars of stone rising from the water and covered with rude sculptures. From these the spot received the name of the Seven Pagodas. Most of them have since been destroyed by the tides, and one only is still standing, though tottering to its fall. These, however, were but the advanced posts of the colossal excavations in the rocky wall behind; for here also are seen large grottoes, porticoes, and temples, as at Ellora, though of somewhat smaller proportions, and of less beautiful execution. They are dedicated to the worship of Vishnu and Siva, and covered with inscriptions. A whole rock- town, or at least a vast sanctuary, thus lies concealed on this solitary coast.
Similar cave-temples are met with in Cochin China, Birmah, Malwah, and Ceylon, where the spacious rock-temple of Dambool is deservedly celebrated for its antiquity, and for its numerous statues of Buddha, in the varied attitudes of exhortation and repose.
On the banks of the mysterious Nile we find rock-temples rivalling those of India in colossal grandeur, and among these Ipsamboul is pre-eminent in splendour.
‘After sailing for some hours,’ says Warburton,[25] ‘through a country quite level on the eastern bank, we come upon a precipitous rocky mountain, starting up so suddenly from the river’s edge, that its very summits are reflected in the water. We moored under a sand-bank, and, accompanied by half-a-dozen of the crew with torches, approached this isolated and stupendous rock. Yet even here the daring genius of Ethiopian architecture ventured to enter into rivalry with Nature’s greatness, and found her material in the very mountains that seemed to bid defiance to her efforts.