Cave XV., or the Das Avatara, has the whole court hewn out of the solid rock, leaving a curtain wall across the front, a sacrificial hall in the middle with a number of small shrines, and a cistern in the surrounding rocky wall. Outside, on the end of the balcony, is a four-armed Rudra in a state of frantic excitement. The front pillars alone have any carving upon them, all the rest inside being plain square shafts. The upper part of the pillars are carved in a strangely Buddhistic style, but the sculptures on the lower parts of the capital are more Brahmanical. The outer walls have a good deal of figure carving; and the flat-roof outside has lions at the corners, and fat human figures between, along the edges. The cave is in two storeys; and the lower storey is a few feet above the level of the court, and is supported by fourteen plain square pillars. It measures 95 feet in length, and has two cells in the back wall near each end. The stair ascends at the northern extremity of the front aisle. The first landing is lighted by a window which reveals eleven compartments, each 2 feet high, with bas-reliefs of 1, Ganpati; 2, Parvati; 3, Surya with a lotus in each hand and two attendants; 4, Siva and Parvati; 5, Mahishasuri,- the head of the buffalo struck off, and the Asura coming out of the neck; 6, Ardhanari, the androgynous form of Siva, four-armed, with trisula, and looking-glass; 7, Bhavani, four-armed, on her tiger, with trisula and damru; 8, Ganapati; 9, Uma with water-pot and rosary, practising ascetism between two fires, with Brahma and others looking on; 10, Ardhanari; and 11, Kali, four-armed, with sword, trisula, bowl, and a piece of flesh at which a dog snatches. Another flight of steps leads to the front aisle of the great hall above, which is 95 feet by 109 feet, inclusive of the vestibule to the shrine and is supported by forty-two square columns, besides two in front of the Vestibule. The pillars in front are richly carved with floral ornamentation, in which dwarfs, snakes, &c, are introduced; and between the pilasters in each side wall, are deep recesses filled with large sculptures in almost entire relief. The sculptures on one side are mostly Vaishnava; those on the other are Saiva; and a gigantic Saiva dvarapala is outside the front, at each end of the balcony. Of the Saiva sculptures, Bhairava is a gigantic figure lounging forward, with a necklace of skulls depending below his loins, and holding up his elephant hide; a cobra is knotted round him, and his large teeth are seen in his open mouth; a writhing victim transfixed by his trisula seems to supplicate pity; and another victim is held by the heels in one of his left hands, while he raises the damru in joy, as he catches the blood with which to quench his thirst. Kali, gaunt and grim, with huge mouth, bushy hair, sunken eyeballs, and her skeleton length stretched below, with the owl or vampire behind her head, has a crooked knife in her right hand, and reaches out the other with a bowl, as if eager to share in the gore of the victim. The very armlets which Ehairava wears consist of ogre faces; and on the right, in front of the skeleton, is Parvati; while higher up, near the foot of the victim Ratnasura, is a grinning face drawing out its tongue. In the 2nd chapel is Siva dancing the tandava; in the 3rd is an altar, perhaps for Bhavani; in the 4th are Siva and Parvati at the game of chausar, with Nandi and the rollicking gana below; in the 5th the marriage scene of Siva and Parvati is shown, in which the bride is to the left of the bridegroom, and Brahma, with triple face, squats below to perform the priestly functions, while above are the gods riding on various animals, as witnesses of the scene; and in the 6th chapel are Ravana and Kailasa. On the back wall is Siva springing out of the linga to protect his worshipper Markandeya, whom Yama has noosed, and is about to drag off to his dark abode. Siva and Parvati come next; the former holds a lock of his hair in one hand and a rosary in the other, Nandi is on the right, Bhringi is beyond, an elephant is over him, and above this; again is a squatting ascetic, while to the left of the nimbus round his head is a deer. The pillars in front of the antechamber have struts, each carved with a pair of figures and foliage. To the left of the antechamber to the shrine is a huge Ganapati; and on the floor at the back corners are lions. The back wall to the loft of the shrine door has Parvati with a rosary, seated on a padmasana upheld by two figures among the leaves, and with musicians on each side of her. The dvarapalas of the shrine are four-armed, and hold a snake, a club, and the vajra. The altar round the lingo, inside the sanctuary is broken. To the right of the shrine door is Gaja Lakshmi with four elephants pouring water over her; she has a lotus and a custard apple in her hands, and two four-armed male attendants offer jars of water, and hold the sankha, chakra. and lotus. In the south end of the vestibule is Vishnu with his lotus and trisula; a large bird is at his right hand, and a dwarf stands at his left. The south side of the back wall has 1, Siva inside a linga with flames issuing from the sides of it; Vishnu as Varaha below on the right, digs down to see if ho can discover the base of the great linga, and having failed to do so, worships it; Brahma on the other side ascends as a worshipper. 2, Siva in a chariot with shield, sword and bow; Brahma drives, with the four Vedas yoked to the chariot, in the war against Asura Taraka. The south wall towards the front has 1, Vishnu, six-armed, with his left foot on a dwarf, holding up the hill of Govardhan, to protect the flocks of Vraj, from the deluge of rain that Indra sent down. 2, Vishnu Narayana resting on Sesha, the great serpent with a human head and five hoods; Brahma sits on a lotus which springs out of Vishnu’s navel; Lakshmi rubs her lord’s feet; and seven other figures are represented below. 3, Vishnu riding on Garuda. 4, A salunkha protected by a high screen in front. 5, Varaha holding Prithvi on his hand, with three Nagas below. 6, Vishnu in the Vamana or dwarf incarnation deceiving king Bali, from whom he obtained a promise that he should have all that he could cover in three strides, and then at the third stride thrusts Bali down into Patala or hell; Garuda is behind, binding a prisoner. 7, Narasinha, the lion avatara, wrestling with his enemy, who is armed with sword and shield, but has only two arms, and has no chance against his eight-armed opponent. The mandap in front of the court is 31 feet wide, 26 feet deep, and 10½ feet high, the roof being supported by four square pillars with plain square brackets and moulded bases. It had a porch in front of a perforated window on the west side, supported by two pillars. Over this window are the remains of a long inscription, much obliterated, from which is made out a genealogy of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which ruled over the Dakhan from about A.D. 600 to the end of the 10th century. [The inscription is in fourteen lines in Devanagari characters, of the forms used in the first half of the eighth century. Pandit Bhagvanlal Indraji made a transcript of all the letters he could make out. The inscription gives two earlier kings of the great Rasbtrakuta dynasty than those given in the copperplates, viz. Dantivarma and Indraraja. It then gives the dynasty, and mentions Maharaja Sarva, perhaps the brother or first minister of the king. The last two verses describe him as coming with an army and staying at this temple. A Gurjara raja is also mentioned. Dantidurga must have ruled about A.D. 725-755; and it is probable that the visit to Elura mentioned in this inscription, was connected with the dedication of the Kailasa or the Das Avatara.-See Archaeological Survey of Western India, Vol. V.] The names are 1, Dantivarma I. (Cir A.D. 600-630); his son Indraraja I. (630-650); his son Govindaraja I. (650-675); his son Karkaraja I. (or Kakka 675-700); his son Indraraja (700-730); his son Dantidurga Khadgavaloka (or Dantivarma II.), who overcame Vallabha or the western Chalukya king Kirttivama II. This may prove that the cave was finished when Dantidurga visited Elurain the middle of the 8th century, and it is not improbable that he constructed it. The inscription is an unfinished one. In another inscription, Krishna-raja, the uncle and successor of Dantidurga, is said to have established himself at the hill or hill fort of Elapura, where there was a splendid temple of Swayambhu Siva. The north and south sides of the mandap have also perforated windows; and in the back is a round hole, perhaps a firepit. On the flat roof are tigers or lions at the corners, and three figures between on each side. The door has a plain architrave, and very small pairs of gods and animals in miniature temples are on the lintel. On each jamb is a female, with a small umbrella over the head-dress, and a chauri on each side. The corner pilasters contain pairs of figures in embrace; and in the spaces between, in separate compartments on each side, are one large and two small male figures. On the north end are one male and three female figures on the four pilasters; females are in the larger intervening. panels, and in one of the smaller panels. The north side has a torana over a window; the corresponding one on the south side is empty. On the corner pilasters on the west are females with hair done up. Two of the smaller panels are empty; and males fill two larger and two smaller ones. In a small room on the left of the entrance to the court, Brahma and Vishnu with a devi occupy the left wall, and Ganapati the right. Inside is a shrine containing a round salunkha and a linga, and behind it on the wall is a rude Trimurti.
