One of the boys asked what was the probable age of the Caves of Ellora, and by whom they were made.
"They are thought to belong to different centuries," replied the Doctor, "as some of them are of Braminical character, while others were made by the Buddhists. It is believed that the most modern were made about 900 years ago, and possibly the oldest were excavated 1000 years earlier. Every Hindoo divinity has a shrine there, and it is strange that there is nothing certain about their history. The natives say they were the work of the gods, and are at least 9000 years old; another tradition says they were all made by one man, and that he would have excavated more caves if he had not cut his hand so severely one day that he was disabled from further work."
MURAL SCULPTURES AT ELLORA.