The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s7.3

c5.s7.3

Ilvalapura—Ellora, seven miles from Daulatabad in the Nizam's Dominions and 44 miles from Nandgaon on the G. I. P. Railway. It is said to have been the residence of the Daitya Ilvala whose brother Bātāpi was killed by Rishi Agastya at Bātāpipura while on his way to the south. It is the same as Elapura, which is evidently a corruption of Ilvalapura. See Elapura. The Visvakarmā Cave (Chaitya) at Ellora, and the vihāras attached to it are supposed by Fergusson to belong to a period from 600 to 750 A. D. when the last trace of Buddhism disappeared from Western India. The Kailāsa temple which is the "chief glory" of Ellora, was caused to be carved by Krishna I, king of Bādāmi, on the model of the Virūpāksha temple at Pattadakal to celebrate his conquests in the 8th century A D. (*Havell's Ancient and Medieval Architecture*, p. 193). It is the same as Deva-Parvata (or giri), and Sivālaya of the Siva P. (I, ch. 58). For its sanctity, see Sivālaya.