Joe Rogan stunned by Kailasa Temple: ‘This blows my mind — it’s so beautiful and so symmetrical’ | - The Times of India
Joe Rogan has been left mesmerised after discovering the Kailasa Temple, the breathtaking rock-cut masterpiece carved from a single mountainside in India’s Ellora Caves. Speaking with astonishment on his podcast, Rogan described the ancient structure as “insane,” marvelling at its scale, symmetry and mystery, and questioning how such engineering precision could have been achieved more than a thousand years ago. His reaction has struck a chord with viewers around the world, particularly in India, where the temple remains a source of immense cultural pride and wonder.What fascinated Rogan most was the fact that the Kailasa Temple was not built by stacking stone, but carved by removing the mountain itself. He expressed disbelief at the effort involved, saying that the builders “removed the mountain and created this insane, very symmetrical, incredibly intricate temple.” For him, the monument represents a feat that even modern tools struggle to explain, a structure where hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rock were carved away to reveal a temple in perfect proportion.Rogan’s sense of mystery deepened as he imagined the unknown craftsmen behind the temple, remarking, “Whoever these people were, man… I wish they wrote books on how they did it. And if they did write books, let them out.” It is this blend of awe, curiosity and playful disbelief that has made the moment resonate so widely online. For many listeners, his reaction expressed what countless visitors feel when standing before Kailasa: a recognition that the ingenuity, ambition and artistry of ancient India continue to outshine expectations, challenge assumptions and inspire admiration more than a millennium later.Where the Kailasa temple standsThe Kailasa Temple sits within the Ellora Caves complex in Maharashtra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that contains Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments carved between the 6th and 10th centuries. Designated as Cave 16, Kailasa is the crown jewel of the site, towering with sculpted pillars, shrines, courtyards and intricate stone reliefs carved directly into the basalt rock of the Charanandri hills. The temple is part of a landscape that once echoed with pilgrims, monks, scholars and artisans, forming a crossroads of faiths. Even today, visitors describe the experience as stepping into another era, where the mountain itself seems to breathe with mythology, craftsmanship and devotion.Historians attribute the temple to the 8th-century Rashtrakuta dynasty, commissioned under King Krishna I. Unlike many ancient wonders, there are no surviving construction records, adding to its mystique. Scholars believe the project may have taken decades and required extraordinary planning, geometry and coordination, with no room for error once carving began from the top down. Why the Kailasa Temple inspires such wonderThe Kailasa Temple astonishes because of the almost unimaginable craftsmanship required to create it. Unlike built monuments assembled stone by stone, Kailasa was carved entirely from a single cliff, revealing a freestanding multi-storey temple complex complete with mandapas, courtyards, columns, stairways, bridges, shrines and sculpted panels. Its proportions align with principles found in ancient Hindu architectural texts, yet no manuals or drawings survive, leaving scholars to infer the design logic through the monument itself.What heightens the sense of wonder is the temple’s remarkable symmetry and precision engineering. The excavation was executed from the top down, meaning artisans had to visualise the final structure before the first cut—an approach modern architects describe as a feat of reverse construction. The rock surfaces display highly refined workmanship, with minimal visible tool marks, crisp carvings and deeply recessed reliefs depicting scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Shaivite mythology.Archaeologists estimate that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of basalt were removed using iron chisels, hammers and heat-and-water fracturing techniques, requiring continuous labour, coordination and mathematical accuracy. The temple’s internal drainage channels, load-bearing pillars and acoustic qualities further suggest a sophisticated understanding of structural dynamics.Joe Rogan’s reaction resonates beyond architectureRogan’s astonishment tapped into a wider sense of rediscovery. His comments introduced millions of listeners to a monument they had never encountered before, sparking a surge of online curiosity about Ellora and its craftsmanship. For many, it also highlighted that Kailasa is not an isolated marvel but part of a vast cultural landscape — from Konark and Hampi to Mahabalipuram and the stepwells of Gujarat — reminders that India holds countless wonders. Rogan’s fascination became a spark that led people to explore more, realising how much history, skill and imagination the country has preserved in stone.
