The world famous Kailashnath temple is a marvellous example of Rashtrakuta architecture. The Kailashnath temple at Ellora, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra was built by Krishna I (757-783 A.D.) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty. It is a rock-cut temple and has four parts- the body of the temple, the entrance gate, the Nandi shrine and a group of five shrines surrounding the courtyard.

The main body of the temple occupies a parallelogram, 45 metres by 33 metres, with sections of its sites projecting at intervals. It stands on a high plinth which is carved with sculptures of elephants and lions. The larger halls of the temples are decorated with images of Brahmanical Gods. The tower of the temple is in three diminishing tiers and is crowned by a cupola. The whole tower is 28.5 metres high.

The gateway of the temple is double storeyed. On either side of the shrine of Nandi are two columns each having a Trishul, the ensigns of Shiva. Each of these columns is 15.6 metres high. Historians consider these temples as one of the architectural marvels of the world.

The Kailasha temples resemble the Chalukya temples at Pattadakal but it is far more refined in its design than the temples at Pattadakal. It was considered to be the model for all the temples in South India. The temple has many sculptural designs depicting events from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. There is a scene in a relief of Ravana trying to shake Mount Kailasha and Shiva pressing Ravana into the cavern of the mountain with his feet.

The special features of the temple are:

1. It is more of a monument of sculpture than of architecture as it was made by cutting down of rocks by sculpturing it rather than building up the temple by an architectural design.
2. It is the largest rock cut temple.
3. Above the sanctuary there is a pyramidal tower which is about 30 metres high.
4. Around the base of the tower there are five shrines dedicated respectively to Ganesha, Rudra, Parvati, Chand and Saptamatri.
5. It stands on a high plinth (7.5 metres high) carved with sculptures of elephants and lions.