The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

ROCK-CUT

TEMPLES

69

plate,

whichshowsthe

conditioninwhich

theywerediscovered,

havesinceprobably

beendestroyed

;

for

the photographs

taken

by Dr.

Burgess in

1874,

andpublished

in his

Report ofthe

Archaeological Survey ofWestern

India for that

year, show

them

alreadyinashockingly

mutilatedstate.

Suchisthetreat-

ment ofgreatworks ofart

whicharchaeological

historians con-

temptuouslydismiss as

"

Puranic."

Before proceeding

todescribe

the greatrock-cut

chaitya-

halls,some

splendidexamplesofwhich

belong tothefirst

three

centuries before the Christian era,

afewpreliminary

observa-

tions

regardingthepractice

whichobtainedin

India,morethan

in anyother countryinthe

world,of excavating

places inthe

living rockadapted both

forreligiousandsecular

usesseemto

be necessary. A cave

temple or monastery

suggests to

the

Western mind something

essentially

ascetic and barbaric,

as

ourword

"

grotesque

"

implies. InIndia

itrepresentsarefine-

mentofluxuryfortheusers, an

exceptional trialofskill

forthe

craftsmen,and a special act of

devotion and consecration

on

thepartoftheindividual

orthecommunityforwhom

thework

is

performed. The

reasonwhy cave-dwellingsremained

inuse

inIndialongaftertheartofbuildinghadreached

ahighdegree

of perfection was partlyclimaticandpartly

geological; itwas

partlyalsodue

to

theintuitive instinct

thatclose tothe bosom

ofMotherEarth,whereverthegenmslociinvitedtoprayerand

meditation,wasthe bestplaceforherchildreninadoring

their

Creator.

InIndia,insteadofbuilding,asin

temperateclimates,soas

toadmitsunlightrightintotheinterior ofhouses,man instinc-

tivelytrieshisutmosttodiminishtheglareandheat.

Adwelling

carved out ofthe living rock, when it is
designed with due

regard to lightingandventilation, is notonlyan ideal retreat

forthe studentandreligious recluse, butitaffordsbetter pro-

tection fromthetorrential rains ofthe monsoon
and from the

5*