Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga

The present temple is a compact but exquisitely detailed black-stone shrine, rebuilt to its present form in 1729 under the sponsorship of queen Gautama Bai Holkar of Indore, after an earlier 16th-century restoration by Maloji Bhosale. Its five-tier shikhara and richly carved walls depict scenes from the Puranas, dashavatara figures and graceful sculpture in the Hemadpanthi-influenced style. The site itself is far older, with earlier patronage attributed to the Rashtrakuta and Yadava dynasties whose artisans also carved the neighbouring Ellora caves.

The original ancient temple is believed to have been damaged during Delhi Sultanate invasions of the 13th - 14th centuries, before its later revival. Grishneshwar’s greatest distinction is its setting: barely a kilometre and a half away stand the Ellora Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 34 Hindu, Buddhist and Jain rock-cut temples, crowned by the Kailasa temple (Cave 16) - the world’s largest monolithic excavation, carved top-down from a single basalt cliff. This makes Grishneshwar a rare pilgrimage-cum-heritage destination, often visited together with Daulatabad Fort, Bhadra Maruti and the murals of Ajanta.