With a ground plan the size of the Greek Parthenon and a structure half as tall again, this was the work of the eighth-century Deccan king Krishna I. In the process of shaping the temple and its shrines in an area 82 m (265 ft) long and some 47 m (150 ft) wide, leaving the back wall of the courtyard 30 m (97 ft) high, an amazing 200,000 tons of rock were cut away from the face of the hill.
No more than eight tons of rock were cut away from the hill.