The Indian Temple That Broke Science (Solved?)

A few weeks ago, Joe Rogan's clip went viral. "There's a temple in India that is one of the most confusing places I've ever seen." Where Joe says "It was carved out of a mountain." The whole temple was entirely carved out of a mountain. Which temple is he talking about? The 8th century Kailash Temple in Ellora. "World's largest monolithic structure." "Burrowed out 2 million cubic feet of stone." The most astonishing aspect of this temple is that it was carved out of a single rock

at a time when humans only had a hammer and a chisel for tools. Kailash Temple is the world's largest monolithic structure -- a structure made from a single rock. To shape this temple 2 lakh tons of stone were removed from a mountain. To give you some idea of how much it is, we'd need 10,000 trucks to do this today. But the most surprising thing is that we don't know where the stones that were removed from the mountains went. Some theories about this temple are so crazy that people believe that it was built by aliens.

And such conspiracy theories are very common because it is a mystery how this temple was built. And this is why my team and I decided to investigate. To make this video, we read a lot of archaeological research like this paper and this book. And to understand these conspiracy theories, we read Indian texts like Viman Shastra and the 19th century book, The Secret Doctrine, which describes this temple. So let's try to understand the mystery of Kailash Temple. In Maharashtra, about 350 km from Mumbai,

in the city of Chhatrapati Shambhajinagar, you'll find the Ajanta Ellora Caves. These caves are rock-cut monuments. This means that they were carved out of a rock. In Ellora, you'll find 34 caves. And each cave represents a different religious influence. It's not like all these caves were built at once. In fact, they were built in 3 major phases over 600 years, from the 6th century to the 12th century. The first 12 caves were built in the 5th and 8th centuries. They were mainly Buddhist caves inspired by the Mahayana tradition.

The 13th to 29th number caves were commissioned by Hindu rulers in the 7th and 10th centuries. The final phase comes in the 9th and 12th centuries where the Jain rulers built the 30th to 34th number caves. If you go to Ellora, all the caves are magnificent. But one is very unique. This is cave number 16. It's also called the Kailash Temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is named after Mount Kailash. It's believed to be the home of Lord Shiva. This temple has many qualities.

One of these qualities is that it's made of a single rock. What does this mean? The archaeologists who studied this temple found that the entire temple, including the elephant statues at the base, are made of the same rock. There's no break in this temple, and no joining material like cement was used. In other temples, rocks are joined so that you can trace connecting lines. But a 1982 study found that there's no break in the natural texture of the rock. This is why this temple is called a monolith structure.

This means that the entire structure is made of a large rock. Another unique thing is that this temple was built about 1200 years ago. In those days, we only had chisels and hammers. The third thing is that it wasn't carved out of an ordinary rock. It was carved out of a basalt rock. Mohs Hardness Scale is a scale used to test the hardness of a material. According to it, minerals can be ranked from 1 to 10. Basalt is ranked 6. This means that it doesn't even break with normal tools. But somehow, this temple was built 1200 years ago with basalt rock.

The fourth thing is that about 200,000 tons of stones were used to build this temple. This is equivalent to 40,000 elephants. But we don't know where the leftover stone went. The final thing is that this temple was carved top to bottom. The top of the temple, which is called Gopuram, was carved first, while the ground of the temple, the base, was carved last. Naturally, when a building or structure is built, we first prepare the base, and then the top part. This temple was constructed in reverse.

Before solving all these mysteries, let's understand who built this temple. There's no direct answer to this. There are inscriptions in many temples in our country that tell us who built this temple, why, and how. There's a Virupaksha temple in Hampi, which was built in the 7th century. You'll find plates there that tell us who built this temple, and how. But you won't find such inscriptions outside the Kailash temple. Historians believe that this temple was built by King Krishna I,

who was from the Rashtrakuta dynasty. How did historians get this information? The strongest evidence is found in some copper plate inscriptions, which are called Baroda plates. These plates were inscribed 40 years after the rule of Krishna I. These plates tell us that there was a Rashtrakuta king of Gujarat. Apart from this, there are two other important details. First, the exact name of Krishna I, and second, it's said that this king built a Shiva temple in Ellora. It's also written that this temple was so incredible

that even God and the architect who built it were amazed. So, now we know who built the temple. But there are other unanswered questions. Why was it built top-down? How was it constructed by carving a single rock? Thirdly, how could one build this temple with just hammers and chisels? Now let's try to answer the first question. There's a medieval text in Maharashtra called Katha-Kalpata ru, which means the wish-fulfilling tree of stories. In this 15th-century text, there's a story about how the Kailash temple was built.

The story says that many centuries ago, there existed a kingdom in Maharashtra. The king was Ela, and the queen was Manikavati. The kingdom was very rich, but the king was suffering from an illness. Every night, he would fall very sick. But as soon as he woke up in the morning, he would be fine. One day, when the king went hunting, the queen went to the temple of Lord Shiva. There, she made a promise that if her husband recovered, she would build a huge temple for Lord Shiva. That evening, after bathing,

the king realised that suddenly, he wasn't sick anymore. The queen was overjoyed. She realised that her prayers were answered. She told the king that he would have to build a temple for Lord Shiva. She told the king that she wouldn't even touch food till she saw the shikhara of the temple. The king called many architects from the surrounding areas. All the architects told him that it would take at least 16 months for the temple's Shikhara to be built. By then, the queen would be very sick.

At the same time, a sculptor named Kokasa came to the king and told him that the queen would be able to see the Shikhara in a week. The king asked how. The sculptor told him that he would build the temple from top to bottom and not from bottom to top. In a week, the shikhara was completed and the queen ceases her fast. This temple is called Manikeshwar after the queen. And as time passed, it became our Kailash temple. Now this is a story. We don't have any solid proof about it. And you can find many such stories.

For example, there is a story that this temple was built by aliens. "Did aliens build this temple?" Deepa Mandik, the author of Dynasties of Devotion, says that there are many reasons behind this claim. The first reason is that this temple was built in a very strange way. "It was built in a different way, from top to bottom, which is impossible for humans." What temple is built from top to bottom? The second reason is the imagery on top of the temple. In Hindu mythology, there are supernatural beings like Kinnar and Yaksha.

Kinnar are people who are musically gifted. It's half human, half bird. Yaksha are spirits who guard the hidden treasures of the earth. You can find them in the carvings of ancient temples. And in the walls near the main area of the Kailasa temple, where the Shiva Linga can be found, one can also find the carvings of Kinnar and Yaksha. According to Deepa, it was for this reason that people started believing that the temple was also built by Kinnar and Yaksha. "Maybe this temple was built by beings who could fly."

"Who can fly? Aliens." There is one more instance where the alien talks start. For instance, take a look at this model of the temple. If you focus on the tip or the Gopuram, you will find platforms beneath it. Now compare it with this diagram. This sketch is from a 20th-century Sanskrit text by Pandit Subbaraya Shastry. The text contains 3000 shlokas on aeronautics, which Subbaraya claimed were physically delivered to him by the revered Sage Bharadvaja. Now, because the temple structure looks similar to the Vimana

many claim that it was built by superhumans or aliens. But the aerospace engineers at the IISc mentioned in their 1974 study that the ancient descriptions of flying machines were totally unrealistic. Specifically talking about the Rukma Vimana, they said that the Rukma Vimana simply could not fly based on real science. It was impossible. Another reason why this theory became popular is that the 2,00,000 tonnes of excavated material during the carving of the temple were never found. The problem is that when you can't explain anything,

they rely on theories that are very hard to justify. Whether it's astrology or the theory of aliens. The fact is that it's not easy to point out who built the temple. Like I told you, in the Mohs Hardness scale, the rock used to build the temple, basalt, is ranked 6th. It is used in road construction. Now, in the 8th century, when we only had hammer and chisel tools, how was this temple built? So let's try to understand the most probable theories to explain this question. For this, we have to go to the 8th century of the Deccan region of India.

Before the arrival of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, there was another kingdom in South India, the Chalukya. Chalukyas were known for their large temples and architecture. In the 8th century, a great Rashtrakuta king defeated the Chalukyas and took over their territory. This territory also had a very popular city with many beautiful temples. One of these temples was dedicated to Lord Shiva. Inspired by this temple, the king of Rashtrakuta decided to build an even better temple than this, which became the Kailash Temple of Ellora.

According to inscriptions, this king was Krishna I. He was not just a king, but a great devotee of Lord Shiva who loved art and architecture. Under his rule, many artisans from South India came to his kingdom to build this temple. This is why the Kailash Temple is similar to other temples in South India. This clearly shows that the Kailash Temple was not built in isolation. It was inspired by many other temples. It was not built by aliens or supernatural forces. It was built by humans. The question is, how did humans

build this temple out of a hard rock? Building multi-storey temples from one rock is not a new idea for the Rashtrakutas. Many such experiments have taken place in Ellora before the Kailash Temple. For example, Cave 11, which is popularly called Do Thal, is a two-storey cave. And Cave 12, which is popularly called Teen Thal, is a three-storey cave where you'll find carvings of Gautam Buddha and Buddhist idols. Some of the carvings also resemble Mata Lakshmi and Mata Saraswati. Another example is Cave 15, which is called Dashavatara Cave.

This cave also has two floors. On the upper floor, you'll find 42 ornamented pillars with a Shiva Lingam in the middle. The purpose of all these examples is that building a multi-storey temple from one rock was difficult. But the Rashtrakuta dynasty knew this. It was a tradition for them. But it's also true that the Kailash Temple is very different. It's bigger and more complex than other caves. So how did they do it? The first question is, where do you build a temple? Site selection.

For this, the Rashtrakutas sent a large team of architects. They found a huge rock near the Charanandri mountains of Ellora that could be used to build an entire temple complex. When the site selection was done, the excavation began. But for this, they had to decide which part of the mountain would be used to build the temple, and which part would be discarded. For this, they dug three large pits. Two on each side and one at the back. Where did I get all this information from? From this research paper.

You'll find the link in the description. These were not small pits. For example, the measurements of the pits on the sides were 270 feet by 50 feet by 100 feet. And this process was very brutal. For this, they had to remove about 2 lakh tons of rock fragments. When the excavation was done, the rock fragments were removed. Then the work of carving the temple began. Now, when all the workers have used their hard work to carve the rock  used to build the temple, they have a big question. If they want to work on the temple, they'll have to build a platform

so that they can actually stand and work. But remember, there are pits around the temple. How will they build a platform? So the most plausible theory is that all the workers, all the artisans, were doing the excavation and carving at the same time. This is why the first part of the temple that is completed is the peak. Once the peak is completed, the second part of the temple is ready to be built. Even inside the temple, the carvings are made from top to bottom. And the logic is the same. The carving should start from the top so that you don't have to climb.

This is why the builders and architects didn't have to build a platform and do double the labour. According to archaeologists, if there were no major obstacles, the entire process would have taken 10-12 years. This means that this temple was built under the rule of Krishna I. But archaeologists also say that they don't have any solid proof of this timeline. And they also believe that the biggest question is how was such a good temple built in that era when we had very basic tools? And their theory is that neither superhumans nor aliens built this temple.

Instead, it was built by people who were well-versed in materials, physics, and practical engineering. To cut large rocks from the mountains, they used a method which we call today hydraulic expansion technique. They dug deep pits in the rocks with their tools. Then they put dry wood columns in the pits. Then they filled them with water. As the wood absorbs the water, its size increases. And with this expansion, so much pressure is created in the rocks that cracks emerge. When these cracks occur,

large rocks can be divided into smaller rocks with the help of basic tools. For very fine carvings, the artisans used tools that could reach corners. This process was slow, labour-intensive, and precise. Archaeologists say that the rocks that were removed can't be found anymore because the builders reused them to build structures around the temple. And to build buildings in the local area. Archaeologists also say that the Kailash temple is very unique. It's the world's largest monolithic structure.

But this doesn't mean that such structures haven't been built in our history. For example, in Tamil Nadu, you'll find the Vettuvan Koli temple which is made of granite, like the Kailash temple. It was built in the 8th century by a Pandya king. And all of this is to show that our country has a long history of rock-cut architecture. Now the question is, how did this conspiracy theory start? That Kailash temple was built by super-humans and aliens. This is because of human psychology. In the 19th century, a Russian-American writer wrote a series of books

The Secret Doctrine: Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy. In his second volume, he talked about temples like Ellora. He says that in Ellora, under the temples, you'll find underground chambers which were only known to Brahmins and Yogis. And today, you'll find YouTubers who claim that this secret doctrine proves that under the Kailash temple, there are secret alien tunnels. And that these tunnels can take you to a faraway world. And the twist in the story is that the original writer, the 19th-century Russian-American writer,

didn't mean his words to be taken literally. His words are all symbolic. The world he's talking about isn't an alien world. In fact, he's talking about a spiritual world, which means you have to look inside. Because it's very easy to make a conspiracy theory. It's the easiest thing in the world. Even today, there are people who believe that our Earth isn't round, but flat. "Everybody here can agree on absolutely one thing, which is it's not a globe." The earth is...?

"Flat." "The earth is flat." "My reality, my senses tell me that the earth is flat." The point is that conspiracy theories don't need any evidence. And these theories only start when there's uncertainty. If we had all the log proof that who built this temple, how, and why, then the theory wouldn't have existed. But because there's a bit of uncertainty about how did such a magnificent temple get built in a time when we didn't have sophisticated tools?

It's easy to say that these were made by ancient aliens and not by Indian artisans who laboured for more than 10 years.