Rock-cut architecture

History glossary

Also called: Rock-cut caves, Artificial caves · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 7 "India's Cultural Roots"; Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 7, Ch 7 "The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"

Meaning

Rock-cut architecture means buildings made by cutting away solid rock rather than putting stones together. Workers carved halls, pillars, cells and even whole temples straight out of a hillside. In India this tradition ran from about the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE and later. It was used for monks' living quarters, prayer halls and temples. It shows the skill of craftsmen and the support of kings, merchants and ordinary donors.

Example

  • The earliest caves are at Barabar (Bihar). They were cut in the 3rd century BCE on Asoka's orders for the Ajivikas.
  • Later came Karla (Satavahana period, Buddhist), Udayagiri-Khandagiri (Jain, under Kharavela), Ajanta (Gupta-Vakataka period) and Mahabalipuram (Pallava).
  • The high point is the Kailashnatha temple at Ellora (8th century), cut from a single rock.

Don't confuse with

  • Structural temple means a temple built upwards from cut blocks, like the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh. Ellora's Kailashnatha is not structural. It was carved downwards from one rock.

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