Indian rock-cut architecture

1
Indian rock-cut architecture
Oldest Rockcut cave of India Barabar Caves
Entrance of Rockcut cave temple(Similar style as
Barabar Caves) at Guntupalle, Andhra Pradesh
An early group of caves at Kanheri Caves
Indian rock-cut architecture is more various and found in
greater abundance than any other form of rock-cut architecture
around the world. Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating
a structure by carving it out of solid natural rock. Rock that is not
part of the structure is removed until the only rock left are the
architectural elements of the excavated interior. Indian rock-cut
architecture is mostly religious in nature.
There are known more than 1,500 rock cut structures in India.
Many of these structures contain artworks of global importance,
most are adorned with exquisite stone carvings. These ancient and
medieval structures are amazing achievements of structural
engineering and craftmanship.
In India, caves have long been regarded as places of sanctity.
Caves that were enlarged or entirely man-made were felt to hold
the same sanctity as natural caves. In fact the sanctuary in all
Indian religious structures, even free standing ones, retain the
same cave-like feeling of sacredness, being small and dark without
natural light.
The Oldest rock-cut architecture is the Barabar caves, Bihar built
around 3rd Century BC, other early cave temples are found in the
western Deccan, mostly Buddhist shrines and monasteries, dating
between 100 BC and 170 AD. They were probably preceded as
well as accompanied by wooden structures which are destroyed
over time while stone endures. Throughout the history of rock-cut
temples, the elements of wooden construction have been retained.
Skilled craftsmen learned to mimic timber texture, grain and
structure. The earliest cave temples include the Bhaja Caves, the
Karla Caves, the Bedse Caves, the Kanheri Caves and some of the
Ajanta Caves. Relics found in these caves suggest an important
connection between the religious and the commercial, as Buddhist
missionaries often accompanied traders on the busy international
trading routes through India. Some of the more sumptuous cave
temples, commissioned by wealthy traders, included pillars,
arches, and elaborate facades during the time maritime trade
boomed between the Roman Empire and south-east Asia.
Although free standing structural temples were being built by the
5th century, rock-cut cave temples continued to be built in parallel.
Later rock-cut cave architecture became more sophisticated as in
the Ellora Caves, culminating ultimately the monolithic Kailash
Temple. After this, rock-cut architecture became almost totally structural in nature (although cave temples continued
to be built
Indian rock-cut architecture
2
Advanced beds in early viharas at Kanheri Caves
Rock cut stair leading to Kanheri
Guntupalle Rockcut Caves, Andhra Pradesh
until the 12th century), made from rocks cut into bricks and built
as free standing constructions. Kailash was the last spectacular
rock-cut excavated temple.
Early caves
The earliest caves employed by humans were natural caves used
by local inhabitant for a variety of purposes such as shrines and
shelters. The early caves included overhanging rock decorated
with rock-cut art and the use of natural caves during the Mesolithic
period (6000 BC). Their use has continued in some areas into
historic times. The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, a World Heritage
Site, are on the edge of the Deccan Plateau where deep erosion has
left huge sandstone outcrops. The many caves and grottos found
there contain primitive tools and decorative rock paintings that
reflect the ancient tradition of human interaction with their
landscape, an interaction that continues to this day.
Indian rock-cut architecture
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Cave temples
Ajanta caves
When Buddhist missionaries arrived they naturally gravitated to
caves for use as cave temples and abodes, in accord with their
religious ideas of asceticism and the monastic life. The Western
Ghats topography with its flat-topped basalt hills, deep ravines and
sharp cliffs, was suited to their natural inclinations. The earliest of
the Kanheri Caves were excavated in the 1st and 2nd centuries
B.C. as were those at Ajanta which were occupied continuously by
Buddhist monks from 200 BCE to 650 AD. The Buddhist ideology
encouraged identification with trade, monasteries became
stopovers for inland traders and provided lodging houses that were
usually located near trade routes. As their mercantile and royal
endowments grew, cave interiors became more elaborate with
interior walls decorated with paintings and reliefs and intricate carvings. Facades were added to the exteriors as the
interiors became designated for specific uses as monasteries (viharas) and worship halls (chaityas). Over the
centuries simple caves began to resemble three-dimensional buildings, needing to be formally designed and requiring
highly skilled artisans and craftsmen to complete. Theses artisans had not forgotten their timber roots and imitated
the nuances of a wooden structure and the wood grain in working with stone.
Worship hall (Chaitya) at Ajanta Caves
Badami Cave Temples - Sanctum sanctorum inside
Cave No.1
Early examples of rock cut architecture are the Buddhist and Jain
cave basadi, temples and monasteries, many with chandrashalas.
The ascetic nature of these religions inclined their followers to live
in natural caves and grottos in the hillsides, away from the cities,
and these became enhanced and embellished over time. Although
many temples, monasteries and stupas had been destroyed, by
contrast cave temples are very well preserved as they are both less
visible and therefore less vulnerable to vandalism as well as made
of more durable material than wood and masonry. There are
around 1200 cave temples still in existence, most of which are
Buddhist. The residences of monks were called Viharas and the
cave shrines, called Chaityas, were for congregational worship.
The earliest rock-cut garbhagriha, similar to free-standing ones
later, had an inner circular chamber with pillars to create a
circumambulatory path (pradakshina) around the stupa and an
outer rectangular hall for the congregation of the devotees.
The Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, a World Heritage Site, are 30
rock-cut cave Buddhist temples carved into the sheer vertical side
of a gorge near a waterfall-fed pool located in the hills of the
Sahyadri mountains. Like all the locations of Buddhist caves, this
one is located near main trade routes and spans six centuries
beginning in the 2nd or 1st century B.C. A period of intense
building activity at this site occurred under the Vakataka king
Harisena between 460 and 478 A profuse variety of decorative sculpture, intricately carved columns and carved
reliefs are found, including exquisitely carved cornices and pilaster. Skilled artisans crafted living rock to imitate
timbered wood (such as lintels) in construction and grain and intricate decorative carving, although such
architectural elements were ornamental and not functional in the classical sense.
Indian rock-cut architecture
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Another example of cave temple architecture are the Badami Cave Temples at Badami, the early Chalukya capital,
carved out in the 6th century. There are four cave temples hewn from the sides of cliffs, three Hindu and one Jain,
that contain carved architectural elements such as decorative pillars and brackets as well as finely carved sculpture
and richly etched ceiling panels. Nearby are many small Buddhist cave shrines.
Monolithic rock-cut temples
Varaha Cave Temple 7th century
Pancha Rathas monolith rock-cut temple, late 7th
century
Ellora cave 16
The Pallava architects started the carving of rock for the creation
of a monolithic copies of structural temples. A feature of the
rock-cut cave temple distribution until the time of the early
Pallavas is that they did not move further south than
Aragandanallur, with the solitary exception of Tiruchitrapalli on
the south bank of the Kaveri River, the traditional southern
boundary between north and south. Also, good granite exposures
for rock-cut structures were generally not available south of the
river.
A rock cut temple is carved from a large rock and excavated and
cut to imitate a wooden or masonry temple with wall decorations
and works of art. Pancha Rathas is an example of monolith Indian
rock cut architecture dating from the late 7th century located at
Mamallapuram, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ellora cave temple 16, the Kailash Temple, is singular in that it
was excavated from the top down rather than by the usual practice
of carving into the scarp of a hillside. The Kailash Temple was
created through a single, huge top-down excavation 100 feet deep
down into the volcanic basaltic cliff rock. It was commissioned in
8th century by King Krishna I and took more than 100 years to
complete. The Kailash Temple, or cave 16 as it is known at Ellora
Caves located at Maharastra on the Deccan Plateau, is a huge
monolithic temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. There are 34 caves
built at this site, but the other 33 caves, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain,
were carved into the side of the plateau rock. The effect of the
Kailash Temple is that of a free-standing temple surrounded by
smaller cave shrines carved out of the same black rock. The
Kailash Temple is carved with figures of gods and goddesses from
the Hindu Puranas, along with mystical beings like the heavenly
nymphs and musicians and figures of good fortune and fertility.
Ellora Caves is also a World Heritage Site.
Free-standing temples
There is no time line that divides the creation of rock-cut temples and free-standing temples built with cut stone as
they developed in parallel. The building of free-standing structures began in 5th century, while rock cut temples
continued to be excavated until the 12th century.
Indian rock-cut architecture
5
Rock-cut monuments in India
Ellora caves. Cave 34. The yakshini Ambika, the
yakshini of Neminath at a Jain Cave at Ellora
Rock cut steps at Ramatheertham, Andhra Pradesh
Aihole has one Jaina/
Badami Cave Temples
Bagh Caves
Ellora Caves has twelve Buddhist, 17 Hindu and five Jain
temples.
Kanheri Caves
Mahabalipuram
Pancha Rathas
Pandavleni Caves
Shore Temple - structural
Undavalli caves, Andhra Pradesh
Varaha Cave Temple at Mamallapuram
Masroor Temple at Kangra
Bojjannakonda Buddhist Site, Andhra Pradesh
Guntupalle Buddhist Site, Andhra Pradesh
Ramatheertham, Andhra Pradesh
Notes
References
Fergusson, James (1864). The Rock-Cut Temples of India
(http:/ / www. archive. org/ stream/
rockcuttemplesof00ferg#page/ n5/ mode/ 2up). John Murray,
London.
Dehejia, V. (1972). Early Buddhist Rock Temples. Thames and
Hudson: London. ISBN 0-500-69001-4.
Rajan, K.V. Soundara (1998). Rock-Cut Temple Styles.
Somaiya Publications: Mumbai. ISBN 81-7039-218-7
External links
Photos of rock-cut Bhaja cave (http:/ / www. columbia. edu/ itc/
mealac/ pritchett/ 00routesdata/ bce_099_000/ bhaja/ bhaja.
html)
Indian rock-cut architecture
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Bojjannakonda Rockcut Caves, Andhra Pradesh
Rock cut Stupas, Bojjannakonda
Panoramic view of relief sculpture at Mahabalipuram, a World Heritage Site
India rock cut Temples Study
Project abd Photos of Sculpture
(http:/ / www. vishwakala. net)
History of Architecture Site (http:/ /
www. historyworld. net/ wrldhis/
PlainTextHistories.
asp?groupid=1527&
HistoryID=ab27)
Architectural Styles (http:/ / www.
vam. ac. uk/ vastatic/ microsites/
architecture/ style_level4.
php?id=266& parent=259&
object=188& area=0& ext=. swf)
New York Times article 'Rock-cut
temple of the many faced God',
August 19, 1984 (http:/ / query.
nytimes. com/ gst/ fullpage.
html?sec=travel&
res=9402E4DE1238F93AA2575BC0A962948260)
St. Olaf College Art Course
Handouts (http:/ / www. stolaf. edu/
courses/ 2002sem2/
Art_and_Art_History/ 265/
handout4. html)
Ellora Caves UNESCO World
Heritage Site (http:/ / whc. unesco.
org/ en/ list/ 243/ )
Lycian Influence to the IndianCave
Temples (http:/ / www. kamit. jp/
07_lycia/ liki_eng. htm)
Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram UNESCO World Heritage Site (http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ en/ list/ 249/ )
Elephanta Caves UNESCO World Heritage Site (http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ pg. cfm?cid=31& id_site=244)
UNESCO World Heritage: Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (http:/ / whc. unesco. org/ pg. cfm?cid=31& id_site=925)
Indian rock cut temples (http:/ / www. indian-heritage. org/ sculpture/ rockut. htm)
In the Holy Caves of India (http:/ / travel2. nytimes. com/ 2006/ 11/ 05/ travel/ 05caves. html)
Kailesh Rock Cut Temple (http:/ / www. lib. lfc. edu/ collections/ benton/ data/ research/ Ellora/ albums/
kailash_rock-cut_temple/ index. htm)
Kerala Temple Architecture (http:/ / www. kalakeralam. com/ handicrafts/ keralatemples. htm)
Pallava Art and Architecture (http:/ / www. kamat. com/ kalranga/ deccan/ pallava_arts. htm)
Cave architecture (http:/ / www. culturalindia. net/ indian-architecture/ ancient-architecture/ cave-architecture.
html)
The rock-cut temples of western India (http:/ / www. dkagencies. com/ doc/ from/ 1063/ to/ 1123/ bkId/
DK5566523324983532225226331371/ details. html)
Articles on Early and Later Western Indian Caves Part 1 (Early) (http:/ / www. frontline. in/ navigation/
?type=static& page=flonnet& rdurl=fl2419/ stories/ 20071005505506600. htm) and Part 2 (Later) (http:/ / www.
frontline. in/ navigation/ ?type=static& page=flonnet& rdurl=fl2423/ stories/ 20071207505906600. htm)
Article Sources and Contributors
7
Article Sources and Contributors
Indian rock-cut architecture Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=608298496 Contributors: A Ramachandran, A.Ou, Adityamadhav83, Alan, Alokprasad, Barticus88,
Biospeleologist, BostonMA, Brosi, Chris the speller, DVD R W, Daarznieks, Dangerous-Boy, Diggindeeper, Dougweller, Drunkenmonkey, Ekabhishek, Ekajati, Fowler&fowler, GourangaUK,
Hanuman Das, Hu12, Jafeluv, Jasper33, Joelr31, Johnbod, Joseph Solis in Australia, Joy1963, Luna Santin, Marcus Cyron, Marylandwizard, Mattisse, Nelson, Nemonoman, Nurg, Patw06, Paul
A, PhnomPencil, Pinecar, R'n'B, Raghuramacharya, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, Sais s4, Sanjuprasad, Shilpasayura, Shyamsunder, SlaveToTheWage, Thisthat2011, Wolfensberger, Woodshed,
Woohookitty, YellowMonkey, Young Pioneer, Zacherystaylor, 14 anonymous edits
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