The Kail??san??tha Temple at Ellora is perhaps the world’s grandest artistic conception in which the entire structure, together with its ornamentations and sculptures, was carved out of a single rock. The temple, which is enclosed within a mountain, has large and dynamic carvings that creates a dramatic effect. This architectural marvel was constructed in the reign of the R????????rak?????a king Krishna I (r. 757–772 CE), also called Krishnar??ja, which is confirmed by the 812 CE Baroda grant inscription of the Gujarat king Karkar??ja.
It is a free-standing multi-level temple structure that covers an area twice the size of the Parthenon in the Acropolis, a citadel on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens. But whereas the Parthenon was assembled, Kail??san??tha was cut from the mountain, which is multifold complicated.