Yes, another early start! The caves were supposed to open at 6am when it was pitch black but when I arrived at the gate at 7, there were only a few people around, so I immediately headed for the showstopper of the site  Cave 16: Kailashnath. From here I headed right to the earlier caves 15-1 and then retraced my steps to cover 17-33 before coming back to spend more time at Kailashnath and that is the order of the photos.

So Kailashnath really is the centrepiece of the site, in stature and position as it really dominates the place. It’s not actually a cave as they have removed a huge chunk of the rock face: They say 200,000 tons of rock over a period of 100 years in the 8th to 9th centuries and it is this mammoth achievement which is so incredible