The caves at Ellora were carved from the Charanandri hills between the 6th and 10th centuries. Around 550 AD the carving work started, which is about the time when the Ajanta caves were abandoned. This was the time when Buddhism was declining in India and Hinduism was rising in prominence.
The Brahmanical movement was particularly strong under the patronage of the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta kings, who initiated most of the work at Ellora - The last phase of building activity happened in the 10th century, when the local rulers aligned themselves to the Digambara sect of Jainism and moved away from Shaivism. What could be more representative of India than this - the coexistence of three different religions at the Ellora Caves
