Ajantha & Ellora are 28 – 30 rock-cut cave monuments created during the first century BC and 5th century AD, containing paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art and universal pictorial art.
The caves are located just outside the village of Ajantha / Ellora in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Rock-hewn architecture reached its zenith in western India as the Western Ghats provided suitable sites for excavation and carving. No existing caves as such were used. Thus architecture was sculpture on a mass scale. The solidity of the rock obviated the need for periodic repairs, and many of the temples are in a state of good preservation to this day.
The Ajanta Caves, accidentally discovered by a shooting party in 1829, are excavated out of amygdaloid trap rock, and situated in the scarped side of a deep ravine that is shaped like a crescent
This cave contains the famous fresco of ‘The Dying Princess’. The Ellora Caves are unique because the visitor can see three styles of architecture at one place, 12 Buddhist, 5 Jain and 17 Brahmanical caves being located here side by side. Unlike the Ajanta cave temples, they are excavated in the sloping sides of a hill and not in a perpendicular cliff.
An aesthetic vision and advanced technical knowledge combined in the architects. It is interesting to note that the excavation usually proceeded from the top downwards—the natural rock-surface below providing a platform and eliminating the necessity of scaffolding
The caves are located just outside the village of Ajantha / Ellora in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Rock-hewn architecture reached its zenith in western India as the Western Ghats provided suitable sites for excavation and carving. No existing caves as such were used. Thus architecture was sculpture on a mass scale. The solidity of the rock obviated the need for periodic repairs, and many of the temples are in a state of good preservation to this day.
The Ajanta Caves, accidentally discovered by a shooting party in 1829, are excavated out of amygdaloid trap rock, and situated in the scarped side of a deep ravine that is shaped like a crescent
This cave contains the famous fresco of ‘The Dying Princess’. The Ellora Caves are unique because the visitor can see three styles of architecture at one place, 12 Buddhist, 5 Jain and 17 Brahmanical caves being located here side by side. Unlike the Ajanta cave temples, they are excavated in the sloping sides of a hill and not in a perpendicular cliff.
An aesthetic vision and advanced technical knowledge combined in the architects. It is interesting to note that the excavation usually proceeded from the top downwards—the natural rock-surface below providing a platform and eliminating the necessity of scaffolding
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