SCULPTURES
ROCK-CUT
ARCHITECTURE
The caves of Ajanta
Hindu & Jain rock-cut
architecture can be seen mainly at Badami, Aihole, Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Aurangabad
& Mamallapuram.
The Rashtrakutas produced
the Brahmanical Kailasa temple at Ellora.
Badami has four cave temples
executed at various levels of the sand stone hill. Cave 1 is dedicated
to Siva, 2 & 3 to Vishnu & cave no.4 is a Jaina structure.
Aihole has two rock-cut
temples, one Jaina & the other Brahmanical.
At Ellora there are
17 Brahmanical caves & 6 Jaina caves.
The Pallavas of Kanchi
initiated rock-cut architecture in the South. They used the available hard
granite to cave out their structures. Because of the hardness of the granite
rock, there was a limitation on the size of the caves as well as the details
on the sculptures.
Mahendra
Varman ( Vichitrachithan) was responsible for the Laksitayatna Trimurti
cave temple at Mandagapattu dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu & Iswaran.
At least 9 more temples were carved out during his time.
Trimurti Mandapam, Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu
Other Pallava kings also
followed his style, with a few differences. Narasimha Pallava built the
coastal town of Mamallapuram (Chennai). The Mamalla style cave temples
were more elaborate. Monolithic rathas & vimanas belong to Narasimha's
period.
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