The cave-temples at Ellora, dating back to the sixth century, are well known to scholars and visitors, in contrast to the nearby Hindu memorials ( samadhi s), temple, and tank associated with the Marathas. These later monuments were sponsored by figures belonging to the Bhonsle and Holkar Maratha families, who at different times held the estate of what was then known as Verul. The samadhi s of the early-seventeenth century Bhonsles, ancestors of the great warrior king Shivaji, are built in the prevailing Nizam Shahi architectural style, giving visual expression to the close link between these figures and their Deccan sultanate overlords. Indeed, the samadhi s appear at first to be Muslim tombs, but, being merely commemorative in function, they contain no corporeal remains. The samadhi s are clustered around the Ghrishneshvara, a temple that enshrines a sacred jyotirlinga erected by the Holkar queen Ahilyabai at some date in the second half of the eighteenth century. Significantly, this is a replacement edifice built in an archaic style that recalls the sacred architecture of the Yadava rulers of this part of the Deccan in the eleventh to twelfth centuries. Nothing can now be seen of this earlier monument, other than the odd worn sculpted panel. Presumably the temple was severely damaged as a result of the depredations of the Delhi sultanate invasions of the Deccan in the late thirteenth and the fourteenth centuries, prompting Ahilyabai to finance its reconstruction. The tank a short distance away, known as the Shivalayatirtha, has an inscription that records Ahilyabai as its sponsor, and 1769 as the date of completion. The sacred function of this water monument is confirmed by eight small linga shrines arranged symmetrically around a central square pool.