4. AJANTA CAVES
The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India
are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date
from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE.The caves
include paintings and sculptures described by the government
Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples
of Indian art, particularly painting",[which are masterpieces of
Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions
of the Jataka tales.[The caves were built in two phases starting
around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves
built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a
brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of
Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of
the Archaeological Survey of India,and since 1983, the Ajanta
Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near
Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N
75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres (36 miles) from Jalgaon railway
station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai
line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres (64 miles)
from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres (62 miles)
from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as
well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to
Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on
the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghora
(or Wagura), and although they are now along and above a
modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally
reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river
35 to 110 feet below.
5. HISTORY
Stupa in cave 10
Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large
emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for
living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were
probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this
organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through
the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang
informs us that Dinnaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and
controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in
the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated
several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished
their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon
season from an itinerant lifestyle.
The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct
periods, separated by several centuries.
7. ELLORA CAVES
Ellora is an archaeological site, 29 km (18 mi) NorthWest of the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of
Maharashtra built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty. It is also
known as Elapura (in the Rashtrakuta literatureKannada). Well known for its monumental caves, Ellora
is a World Heritage Site. Ellora represents the epitome of
Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" are actually
structures excavated out of the vertical face of the
Charanandri hills. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock-cut
temples and viharas and mathas were built between the
5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–
12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34)
caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious
harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history. It
is a protected monument under the Archaeological
Survey of India.
8. HISTORY
Ellora is known for Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cave temples
built during (6th and 9th centuries) the rule of the Kalachuri,
Chalukya and Rashtrakuta dynasties. The Jagannatha
Sabha a group of five Jain cave temples of 9th century built
by Rashtrakuta.
