The Elephanta Caves are a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, which have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, in Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Mumbai in the Indian state of Mahārāshtra. The island, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, consists of five Hindu caves, a few Buddhist stupa mounds that date back to the 2nd century BCE, and two Buddhist caves with water tanks.
Ellora Caves are a multi-religious rock-cut cave complex with inscriptions dating from the period 6th century CE onwards, located in the Aurangabad District of Maharashtra, India. They are also called verul caves.
Pattadakal, also called Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century CE Hindu and Jain temples in northern Karnataka, India. Located on the west bank of the Malaprabha River in Bagalkot district, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is 23 kilometres (14 mi) from Badami and about 9.7 kilometres (6 mi) from Aihole, both of which are historically significant centres of Chalukya monuments. The monument is a protected site under Indian law and is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Aihole, also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura, is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in Karnataka, India that dates from the sixth century through the twelfth century CE. Most of the surviving monuments at the site date from the 7th to 10th centuries. Located around an eponymous small village surrounded by farmlands and sandstone hills, Aihole is a major archaeological site featuring over one hundred and twenty stone and cave temples spread along the Malaprabha river valley, in Bagalakote district. Hunagunda Taluk Distance 35 km
The Udayagiri Caves are twenty rock-cut caves near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh primarily denoted to Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva from the early years of the 3rd century CE to 5th century CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography in India. They are the only site that can be verifiably associated with a Gupta period monarch from its inscriptions. One of India's most important archaeological sites, the Udayagiri hills and its caves are protected monuments managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Kailasha or Kailashanatha temple is the largest of the rock-cut Hindu temples at the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. A megalith carved from a rock cliff face, it is considered as one of the most remarkable cave temples in the world because of its size, architecture and sculptural treatment, and "the climax of the rock-cut phase of Indian architecture". The top of the superstructure over the sanctuary is 32.6 metres (107 ft) above the level of the court below, although the rock face slopes downwards from the rear of the temple to the front. Archaeologists believe it is made from a single rock.
Thirunandikkara Cave Temple, also referred to as Thirunanthikarai rock-cut Shiva temple, is a 9th-century rock-cut Hindu cave temple in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Shiva, with murals and inscriptions. It is attributed to the Ay king Vikramaditya Varaguna by Archaeological Survey of India, but to Pandya rulers (Nedunjadaiyan) a few decades earlier by Ajit Kumar, an archaeologist. It is part of a larger active temple complex named the Thirunanthikarai Shri Nandeeswara temple, Thirunanthikarai and is carved out of the side of a rocky hillock to the north of the temple complex. According to Rao, one of the inscriptions suggests that this may be a late 8th-century cave temple or early 9th.
The Baroli Temples Complex, also known as the Badoli temples, is located in Baroli village in Rawatbhata City in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan, India. The complex of eight temples is situated within a walled enclosure; an additional temple is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away. They are built in the Gurjara Pratihara style of temple architecture dated to the tenth century CE and today show various degree of preservation, decay and destruction. All nine temples are under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India for conservation and protection. A well known art critic characterised "the creations of Badoli as the most perfect of their age that he had encountered within that part of the country and, in their own peculiar style."
The Ishvara temple, also referred to as the Ishwara or Isvara temple, is an early 13th-century Hindu temple in Arsikere, Hassan district, Karnataka India. Dedicated to Shiva, it is one of the most notable early Hoysala architecture examples with a rotating circular plan, a domed mandapa with 16-point star shape, a pancatala vimana, and a galaxy of artwork depicting Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Vedic legends of Hinduism.
Brihadishvara Temple, called Rajarajesvaram by its builder, and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil and Peruvudaiyar Kovil, is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in a Chola architectural style located on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplar of Tamil architecture. It is also called Dakshina Meru. Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along with the Chola-era Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple, which are about 70 kilometres (43 mi) and 40 kilometres (25 mi) to its northeast respectively.
Trikkur Mahadeva Temple is a rock-cut cave temple in Trikkur village in Thrissur District in Kerala believed to have been built in the 7th or 8th century. Being a cave temple, Buddhist and Jain monks used the site to meditate alongside the Hindu monks. It is a protected monument under the Department of Archaeology, Govt of Kerala since 1966. The temple and its premises are now owned by Paliyam Trust which is managed by Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti.
Bhoramdeo Temple is a complex of Hindu temples dedicated to the god Shiva in Bhoramdeo, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It comprises a group of four temples of which the earliest is a brick-temple.
The antiquity of architecture of Karnataka can be traced to its southern Neolithic and early Iron Age, Having witnessed the architectural ideological and utilitarian transformation from shelter- ritual- religion. Here the nomenclature 'Architecture' is as old as c.2000 B.C.E. The upper or late Neolithic people in order to make their shelters by their own they constructed huts made of wattle and doab, that were buttressed by stone boulders, presumably having conical roof resting on the bamboo or wooden posts into red murram or paved granite chips as revealed in archaeological excavations in sites like Brhamagiri, Sanganakallu, Tekkalakota, Piklihal. Megaliths are the dominant archaeological evidence of the early Iron Age. There are more than 2000 early Iron Age burial sites on record, who laid the foundation for a high non-perishable architecture in the form of various distinct architectural styles of stone-built burials, which are ritualistic in its character. The active religious architecture is evident 345 with that of the Kadamba Dynasty. Karnataka is a state in the southern part of India originally known as the State of Mysore. Over the centuries, architectural monuments within the region displayed a diversity of influences, often relaying much about the artistic trends of the rulers of twelve different dynasties. Its architecture ranges dramatically from majestic monolith, such as the Gomateshwara, to Hindu and Jain places of worship, ruins of ancient cities, mausoleums and palaces of different architectural hue. Mysore Kingdom (Wodeyar) rule has also given an architectural master structure in the St. Philomena's Church at Mysore which was completed in 1956, in addition to many Dravidian style architectural temples. Two of the monuments are listed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of 22 cultural monuments in India. Styles of Indo-Saracenic, Renaissance, Corinthian, Hindu, Indo-Greek and Indo-British style palaces were built in Mysore, the city of palaces. Sikh architecture at Bidar (1512) and also in Bangalore in 1956 can also be cited as having an impact on the architectural composition of the state.
The Brahmeshvara temple, also referred to as the Brahmeshwara or Brahmesvara temple, is a 12th-century Hindu temple with Hoysala architecture in Kikkeri village, Mandya district of Karnataka state, India. Along with two other major historic temples within the village, the Brahmeshvara temple is one of many major ruined temples with notable artwork in Kikkeri area close to the more famous monuments of Shravanabelagola.
The Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram is a collection of 7th- and 8th-century CE religious monuments in the coastal resort town of Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of Chennai.
The Mogalrajapuram Caves are five rock-cut cave temple groups located in different parts of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Dedicated to Shiva, they were excavated during the Eastern Chalukya reign or the Vishnukundins reign. They are generally dated to about the 7th-century, after the Akkanna Madanna Caves. They are simple and small, yet the artwork and iconography is more sophisticated than Akkanna Madanna Caves. These include Nataraja, Ganesh and Ardhanarisvara. They are generally numbered as Cave I through V, with Mogalrajapuram Cave II being the most architecturally and iconographically evolved of the five.
Mamandur is a village in Tiruvanamalai district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the Kanchipuram - Vandavasi road, near Dusi and about 15 km from Kanchipuram. It is known for the 7th-century rock-cut cave temple, housing a Tamil Brahmi inscription, one of the monuments of national importance as declared by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Akkanna Madanna caves are a group of rock-cut Hindu cave temples in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Dated to mid 7th-century and dedicated to Shiva, they were excavated by the Eastern Chalukya dynasty. They consist of the upper (larger) and lower caves. The upper cave is better preserved, and has an important 7th-century inscription.
The Masrur Temples, also referred to as Masroor Temples or Rock-cut Temples at Masrur, is an early 8th-century complex of rock-cut Hindu temples in the Kangra Valley of Beas River in Himachal Pradesh, India. The temples face northeast, towards the Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas. They are a version of North Indian Nagara architecture style, dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Devi and Saura traditions of Hinduism, with its surviving iconography likely inspired by a henotheistic framework.
Sirpur Group of Monuments are an archaeological and tourism site containing Hindu, Jain and Buddhist monuments from the 5th to 12th centuries in Mahasamund district of the state of Chhattisgarh, India. Located near an eponymous village, it is 78 kilometres (48 mi) east of Raipur, the capital of the state. The site is spread near the banks of the river Mahanadi.
