The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. Ajanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, the caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form.
The Kanheri Caves are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, on the island of Salsette in the western outskirts of Mumbai, India. They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century CE to the 10th century CE. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit Krishnagiri, which means "black mountain".
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace.
A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded apse at the end opposite the entrance, and a high roof with a rounded profile. Strictly speaking, the chaitya is the stupa itself, and the Indian buildings are chaitya halls, but this distinction is often not observed. Outside India, the term is used by Buddhists for local styles of small stupa-like monuments in Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia and elsewhere. In Thailand a stupa itself, not a stupa hall, is called a chedi, a local Thai word derived from the Pali Cetiya. In the historical texts of Jainism and Hinduism, including those relating to architecture, chaitya refers to a temple, sanctuary or any sacred monument.
Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries (viharas), places to venerate relics (stupas), and shrines or prayer halls, which later came to be called temples in some places.
Indian rock-cut architecture is more various and found in greater abundance in that country than any other form of rock-cut architecture around the world. Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating a structure by carving it out of solid natural rock. Rock that is not part of the structure is removed until the only rock left makes up the architectural elements of the excavated interior. Indian rock-cut architecture is mostly religious in nature.
Bhaja Caves are a group of 22 rock-cut caves dating back to the 2nd century BC located off the Mumbai - Pune expressway near the city of Pune, India. The caves are 400 feet above the village of Bhaja, on an important ancient trade route running from the Arabian Sea eastward into the Deccan Plateau. The inscriptions and the cave temple are protected as a Monument of National Importance, by the Archaeological Survey of India per Notification No. 2407-A. It belongs to the Early Buddhist schools in Maharashtra. The caves have a number of stupas, one of their significant features. The most prominent excavation is its chaitya, a good example of the early development of this form from wooden architecture, with a vaulted horseshoe ceiling. Its vihara has a pillared verandah in front and is adorned with unique reliefs. These caves are notable for their indications of the awareness of wooden architecture. The carvings prove that tabla – a percussion instrument – was used in India for at least 2300 years, disproving the centuries-held belief that the tabla was introduced to India by outsiders or from Turko-Arab. The carving shows a woman playing tabla and another woman, performing dance.
In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of every major religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.
Lalitagiri is a major Buddhist complex in the Indian state of Odisha. The complex is home to stupas, 'esoteric' Buddha images, and monasteries (viharas), which is the oldest site in the region. Significant finds at this complex include Buddha's relics. Tantric Buddhism was practiced at this site.
Bojjannakonda and Lingalakonda are two Buddhism rock-cut caves on adjacent hillocks, situated near a village called Sankaram, Anakapalle of ancient Kalinga. in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sites are believed to date between 4th and 9th Century A.D, when Buddhism is the majority religion of Sankaram. The original name of Bojjannakonda is Buddina Konda.
Kushinagar is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. Located 53 kilometres east of Gorakhpur on National Highway 27, Kushinagar is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha died and attained parinirvana.
Chaitya Bhoomi, also written as Chaityabhoomi, is a Buddhist chaitya and the cremation place of B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and the revived Buddhism in India. It is situated besides Dadar Chowpatty (beach), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Chaitya Bhoomi is a revered place of pilgrimage for Ambedkar's followers, who visit in millions annually on his death anniversary on 6 December.
Binnayaga Buddhist Caves also known as Vinayaka or Vinayaga are located at village Binnayaga in the state of Rajasthan, India. The excavation has around 20 laterite caves facing south from east to west. This is monastic complex, the cells are smaller than Kolvi Caves cell. The stupa shaped sanctuary is the highlight of these caves. It has chaitya which bears windows. Another significant cave has two wings of an open courtyard. "It has at the back a closed lobby with vaulted ceiling and a central door flanked by a cell on either side. The moulded pedestal against the back wall is now empty."
The Dhamnar Caves are caves located in the village of Dhamnar, located in Mandsaur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. This rock cut site consists of 51 caves, stupas, Chaityas, passages, and compact dwellings, carved in the 7th century CE. The site includes large statues of Gautama Buddha in sitting and Nirvana mudra.
There are two sets of Buddhist caves in two different places taking the name of Shana caves.
Khambhalida Caves, are three Buddhist caves located in Jetpur in Gujarat, India.
Chandavaram Buddhist site is an ancient Indian Buddhist site in Chandavaram village in Prakasam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated on the bank of Gundlakamma River, the site is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Donakonda railway station. The Chandavaram Buddhist site was built between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE during the Satavahana dynasty and was discovered by Veluri Venkata Krishna Sastry in 1964.
Bairat Temple is a freestanding Buddhist temple, a Chaityagriha, located about a mile southwest of the city Viratnagar, Rajasthan, India, on a hill locally called "Bijak-ki-Pahari". The temple is of a circular type, formed of a central stupa surrounded by a circular colonnade and an enclosing wall. It was built during the time of Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, and near it were found two of Ashoka's Minor Rock Edicts, the Bairat and the Calcutta-Bairat Minor Rock Edicts. It is the earliest circular Buddhist shrine and therefore, Bairat temple is an important marker of the architecture of India.
The Buddhist caves in India. Maharashtra state Aurangabad Dist. Ellora caves form an important part of Indian rock-cut architecture, and are among the most prolific examples of rock-cut architecture around the world. There are more than 1,500 known rock cut structures in India, out of which about 1000 were made by Buddhists, 300 by Hindus, and 200 by Jains. Many of these structures contain works of art of global importance, and many later caves from the Mahayana period are adorned with exquisite stone carvings. These ancient and medieval structures represent significant achievements of structural engineering and craftsmanship.
Cave temples are subterranean sacred buildings carved into the rock or created in a natural cave. Cave temples and monolithic rock temples carved out of the stone are a form of early natural architecture and rock construction, a building technique in solid rock closely related to sculpture. The most extensive artificially created cave temple complexes (subterranea) originated in India, where about 1200 complexes are documented, and in the neighboring regions of Asia.
