#LOST CAVES OF THE BUDDISTS SERIES#

50 and conВtinued until the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. The second phase thus commenced around A.D. and was folВlowed by a lull of about seventy years. The earliest activity extended from about 100 to 20 B.C. The establishment and growth of monasteries in the western Deccan took place in two distinct phases. But in spite of the number of separate donations, the cave presents a unified scheme, and it is unlikely that the pillars were carved haphazardly as donations. At Carle, for example, each pillar in the chapel bears the name of a different donor. A large number of inВdividuals clearly contributed funds (see below). It is intriguing to speculate as to how the resources for such monumental projects were mustered. These monastic complexes had cisterns hewn out of rock that collected water from underground springs or from rain percolating through fissures many of these are still in use over two millennia later. Each cell contained a raised rock-cut bed, sometimes complete with a rock-cut pillow. The residential hall was generally quadrangular in plan, with cells cut into three sides (Fig. In the early (Hinayana) doctrine, the Buddha was not deified and was worshiped only through symbols such as the stupa,В which was an emblem of the BuddhaвЂ™s death and his release from earthly life. The object of worship in these early chapels was a stupaВ at the far endВ of the cave (Fig. In the cave at Karle, the vaulted ceiling of the nave still retains its original 2000Вyear-old wooden ribbing (Fig. The arched facade of this type of cave was carved of stone, and the broad entrance was filled by a wooden screen with a doorway. 4) and the viharaВ or residential hall.ДЄ typical chapel was apsidal in plan and divided into a nave and side aisles by rows of pillars. Individual caves fell into two basic types: the caityaВ or chapel for congregational worship (Fig. 2, 3) of western India might consist of several hundred separate вЂcaves which were often decorated with sculpture and finished in plaster that is carved and painted. 300 Construction and Design of the CavesДЄ single Early Buddhist monasВtery in the Deccan region (Figs.

In this article, we will not only describe these monuments, but also invesВtigate a second aspect of their conВstruction and use: their role in the flourishing trade between India andВ the west that took place between ca. The primary function of these caves was to serve as BudВdhist chapels and monasteries.

#LOST CAVES OF THE BUDDISTS SERIES#

Located along the western coast of India are a series of caves, some of them richly decorated, that were cut into living rock (Fig.

Lost caves of the buddists