Carved in Cosmos: Cosmological Design and Archaeoastronomical Perspectives on the Kailasa Temple, Ellora

Abstract

This paper offers a systematic multi domain investigation of astronomical alignment and cosmological context of Kailasa Temple at Ellora. The study incorporates astronomical alignment, integrating architectural design, sacred geometry, solar axis orientation, an extended analysis of the Nandi Mandapa and ritual timing. Evidence is drawn from epigraphic records, drawing on the primary prescriptive text Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita (6th century CE, Chapter 56), epigraphic records, the peer-reviewed archaeoastronomical study by Vahia, Jamkhedkar and Mahajani (2017), and set up architectural scholarship. The paper further argues that the temple’s plan and orientation exhibit correspondences with solar and cardinal directions, reflecting a conscious alignment with cosmic order. The paper concludes that the Kailasa Temple was designed as a precisions cosmological instrument in basalt, who's spatial, orientational and iconography programme was directly governed by the prescriptions of the Brihat Samhita and the Shaiva Agama traditions.