Famous Temples in India

Architecture

Karla Caves represent the highest achievement of Indian rock-cut architecture of the time and are one of the earliest examples of ornate and richly decorated rock-cut temples in India. In splendor these caves can be compared to Ajanta and Ellora but are much less popular – thus visit here is pleasant due to fewer crowds. Part of the caves is accessible by climbing 350 steps cut in the rock at the time when temples were built. The group at Karla is one of the older and smaller of the many rock-cut Buddhist sites in Maharashtra but is one of the best known because of the famous "Grand Chaitya" (Cave 8), which is "the largest and most completely preserved" chaitya hall of the period, as well as containing unusual quantities of fine sculpture, much of it on a large scale. There are altogether 16 caves in the group, with 3 of them being Mahayana caves. Most of the caves are lenas, with the major exception being the Great Chaitya, Cave No. 8. The main cave called the Great Chaitya cave, or Cave No.8, features a large, intricately carved chaitya, or prayer hall, dating back to 120 C.E. This is the largest rock-cut chaitya in India, measuring 45 meters long and up to 14 meters high. The hall features sculptures of both males and females, as well as animals such as lions and elephants.

Karla Caves are a very famous tourist destination because of their amazing architecture. Inscriptions and Stupas in the caves depict the ancient Buddhist architecture and culture. The early Buddhist school, Mahasamghika, is associated with these caves. The hall has many beautifully decorated sculptures of men, women and animals. The most important feature of this facade is that it is made out of teak wood. The access to the city hall is embellished with a horseshoe-shaped arch. There is an Ashoka pillar at the front side with a closed stone facade and Tirana in between them. There are large windows carved-out on the walls of the caves for lighting purposes. All around the cave complex, there are many chaityas and viharas. A Vihara is a place where the monks used to stay and meditate in the caves for a long period of time. Some sculptures of elephants dressed up well with metal jewelry placed there. The chaitya at Karle is, by far, the largest of the cave temples, It is cut off of a solid rock to a depth of about 124 feet. It is 40 meters long, 15 meters high and 15 meters broad. Inside, there are 37 octagonal pillars of remarkable beauty. Each column rests in a water jar. Some of these pillars have capitals on the top. The capitals have figures of elephants kneeling on bell-shaped bases.

At the inner end there is an imposing stupa with a wooden umbrella on the top. The original wood of the umbrella survives even to this day. There is a huge horseshoe arch at the outer end of the opening of the cave. The whole structure appears to rest on the backs of the elephants with metal ornaments and ivory tusks. The Karle chaitya differs from other chaityas in one aspect that its façade screen is made of teak wood. This chaitya hall is associated with the Buddhist religion. The hall was used for prayers and meetings. The monastery was once home to two 15-meter grand pillars outside the chaitya. Now only one of these remains, and the remaining space is occupied by a temple dedicated to the goddess Ekveera, who is worshipped most notably by the Aagri and Koli community. All around the cave complex, there are many chaityas and viharas. A Vihara is a place where the monks used to stay and meditate in the caves for a long period of time. Some sculptures of elephants dressed up well with metal jewelry placed there.

Most Magnificent Chaitya - Caves contain enormous chaitya – the largest and possibly the most beautiful among the more than 1,000 cave temples in India, carved in the 1st century BC. Sometimes this cave temple is considered to be the highest achievement of Indian cave architecture. This 45 m long and up to 14 m high chaitya has a beautiful facade with numerous sculptures in both sides of the central doorway and rich, intricate artwork and structural elements inside, often imitating woodwork. The stone carvings depict people, lions, and elephants – and it is believed that sculptures of elephants in the central hall originally had tusks of genuine ivory. The frequent element is mithuna – women and men in pairs. Walls originally were covered with murals. An important role is played also by the light coming in through the large window – the softened sunlight adds a different flavor to exquisite sculptures and architectural details.

At the entrance of this chaithya stands 15 m high pillar with exquisite capital adorned with lions. Earlier there was one more pillar. The site of this another pillar nowadays is taken by a temple of another religion – it is devoted to Hindu goddess Ekveera and visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. Often this temple and pilgrimage is seen as an encroachment of Hindu religion on Buddhist shrine. Rows of pillars divide the chaitya into three parts – central hall and narrow side aisles, divided by two rows of ornate pillars – 15 pillars in each row. Pillars have beautiful capitals, which, among others, include also a representation of men and women riding elephants and bowing to Buddha. Representations of Buddha have been added around the 7th century AD. Contrary to some other cave temples, the ceiling in Karla Cave No. 12 has wooden ribs and not stone ribs. This woodwork (chhatri) is unique – wood has been cut 2,000 years ago and has been preserved rather well, without signs of corrosion. Far end of chaitya contains the shrine – stupa with an umbrella over it.

Veranda - The outer porch, or veranda, is considerably wider than the body of the building, being 52 ft. wide by 15 ft. deep, and is closed in front by a screen composed of two stout octagonal pillars, without either base or capital, supporting what is now a plain mass of rock, but which was once ornamented by a wooden gallery forming the principal ornament of the facade. Above this a dwarf colonnade or attic of four columns between pilasters admitted light to the great window, and this again was surmounted by a wooden cornice or ornament of some sort.

Entrance - The entrance, consists of three doorways under a gallery, one leading to the center and one to each of the side-aisles; and over the gallery the whole end of the hall is open, as in all chaitya halls, forming one great window, through which all the light is admitted. This great window is formed in the shape of a horseshoe, and exactly resembles those used as ornaments on the facade of this cave, as well as on those of Bhaja, Bedsa and at Nasik and which are met with everywhere at this age. Within the arch is a framework or centering of wood standing free. It is like the ribs of the interior, coeval with the building. The sculpture on the screen wall between the doors is mostly of much later date than the cave itself. All the figures of Buddha there represented are of late date and belong to the Mahayana school. The later inscriptions are of the time of the Satavahana king Pulumavi.

Hall - Immediately under the semidome of the apse and nearly where the altar stands in Christian churches, is placed the Dagoba, in this instance a plain dome, on a two-storeyed circular drum, the upper margins of each section being carved with rail ornaments. Just under the lower of these are holes or mortices for woodwork, which may have been adorned with hangings, which some of the sculptured representations would lead us to suppose was the usual mode of ornamenting these altars. It is surmounted by a capital or Tee, and on this still stand the remains of an umbrella in wood, somewhat decayed and distorted by age. This canopy was circular and minutely carved on the under surface. Fifteen pillars on each side separate the nave from the aisles; each pillar has a tall base, an octagonal shaft, and richly ornamented capital, on the inner front of which kneel two elephants, each bearing two figures, generally a man and a woman, but sometimes two females, all very much better executed than such ornaments usually are; behind are horses and tigers, each bearing a single figure. The seven pillars behind the altar are plain octagonal piers, without either base or capital, and the four under the entrance gallery differ considerably from those at the sides. The sculptures on the capitals supply the place usually occupied by frieze and cornice in Greek architecture and in other examples plain painted surfaces occupy the same space. Above this springs the roof, semicircular in general section, but somewhat stilted at the sides, so as to make its height greater than the semi-diameter. It is ornamented even at this day by a series of wooden ribs, probably coeval with the excavation, which prove that the roof is not a copy of a masonry arch, but of some sort of timber construction.