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Blog / 31 May 2020

(Video) Indian Art & Culture in English : Rock Cut Caves of India

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(Video) Indian Art & Culture in English : Rock Cut Caves of India


When we travel in India we find a lot of ancient buildings and monuments. These have beautiful statues, designs and carvings which depict stories of the times they were made. Some of these are carved out of one single stone. The ones which are made by carving a single stone is known as Monolithic structures or the Rock cut Architecture. In India we can find numerous rock cut architecture that has mostly religious influence.

The Rock-cut structures present the most spectacular piece of ancient Indian art specimen. These rock cut structures are very different from the traditional structure as rock cut structures use a single rock to carve and designed, whereas in the traditional structures/ buildings, rocks are kept above one another to give its shape or carving. Rock architecture is similar to sculpture, as in sculpture a single piece of stone or wood is carved to give a shape.

As we mentioned earlier, in India we have numerous rock cut structures among which many of them contain artwork of global importance, and many have exquisite stone carvings. In the beginning the caves were used as a place to practice religious activities. The caves have long been regarded as sacred place in India. The caves that were entirely man made were believed to be as sacred as the natural ones. Natural caves were the earliest caves used by local inhabitants. The natives used such caves for different purposes like places of worship and shelters. The Mesolithic period witnessed the first use and modifications of the early caves.

The Bhimbetka rock shelters located in Raisen District in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, illustrates the settlement of human life in these rock shelters some hundreds of thousands years ago. UNESCO declared this place as a World Heritage Site in 2003 which bears several Stone Age rock paintings, some of which are more than 30,000 years old.

One of the oldest surviving Indian rock-cut caves are the Barabar Caves that are situated in the Jehanabad district in the state of Bihar. Some of these caves, among which many trace back to the 3rd century BC during the rule of the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), reveal Ashokan inscriptions. There are four caves in it. Sudama cave, Lomas Rishi cave, Karan Chaupar, Visva Zopri. Both Sudama and Lomas Rishi caves have wood imitating chambers with their walls polished like a glass mirror.

These caves from the time of the great Indian emperor Ashoka and his grandson, Dasharatha speak volume of the policy of religious tolerance undertaken by the two emperors who were otherwise Buddhists. Different Jain sects thrived under their rule. Many rock-cut Hindu and Buddhist sculptures are found in these caves.

There were three characteristic forms of Buddhist architecture - the monumental funerary mound or Stupa, hall of worship or the Chaitya and the monastery or Vihara. Since the Buddhist and Jain Monks usually stayed away from the cities and towns, therefore, Chaityas and Viharas were developed along the hillside.

Chaityas were places of worship for Buddhist and Jain Monks. Entire Chaitya had three divisions - Central Chaitya and two aisles. Central Chaitya was separated from the two aisles by a row of pillars. Internal walls of Chaityas were polished and the ending of Chaitya was apsidal in shape. Whereas the Viharas were excavated near Chaityas for the residence of monks in rainy seasons. The sculptors depict various scenes from the life of the Buddha. The Viharas, unlike Chaityas, did not have stupa.

Now coming to the western part of India, There are mostly Buddhist shrines and monasteries, dating between 100 B.C.E. and 170 C.E. Wooden structures, destroyed over time while stone endured, probably preceded as well as accompanied the caves. Throughout the history of rock-cut temples, the elements of wooden construction have been retained. 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 those caves suggest an important connection between the religious and commercial.

The Bhaja caves near Poona is a group of 22 rock-cut caves and depicts a typical early phase of Buddhist architecture marked by deep apsidal hall cut in solid rock, with a row of plain octagonal pillars near the walls. The most important structure of Bhaja caves is chaityagriha having an open horseshoe-arched entrance. Another part of the cave is a group of 14 stupas, which have relics of monks who resided and died in Bhaja caves.
The Karle caves were made around the beginning of the Christian era and its pattern is similar to the Bhaja caves. It is more developed in size and splendour. The most remarkable aspect of the rock cut architecture at Karle and other sites is its close similarity to wood construction.

The Kanheri Caves situated near Mumbai have 109 caves carved out of basalt rock.

The Ajanta Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra is one of the UNESCO world Heritage site, having 29 Buddhist caves. The cave is divided into 2 phase - Saatavahana phase and Vakataka Phase. In the first phase, Chaityas and Viharas were carved out in the second century BC, under the patronage of Saatavahana Kings. Within this, the focus was given on stupa and figurative sculpture was neglected. In the second phase construction was done during Gupta and Post Gupta periods. These caves include paintings and rock cut sculptures. These caves are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that are further influenced by Indian Art. The temples are hollowed out of granite cliffs. It contains the famed paintings of Bodhisvattas Padmapani and Vajrapani along with a seated figure of Buddha. The Fresco painting technique was used to make the figures.