Monday, September 11, 2017

Buddhist Caves, Junagadh

Buddhist Caves in Junagadh, close to the mosque inside the Uppekot Fort is fine example of Buddhist rock cut architecture of 2nd century A.D. These caves are on the eastward slope leading to the Adi-chadi Vav. 



These caves are scooped out in three tiers from surface downwards, with all members of each gallery shown in semi-relief. There are three rock-hewn chambers, each open to the skies. The caves feature many monastic meditation cells.



Only two of the stories have regular floors. The main hall of the lowest storey is partly open to the skies and contains exquisitely carved pillars, whose base, shaft and the capital contains unique decorative designs. 



The pillars, having spiral ridges on their shaft, octagonal plinth bases and floral ornamented capitals with animal figures etc, represent the main Satvahana art traditions on one hand, and in the exotic, Grecco-synthian trends on the other hand.



There are still some traces of beautiful carvings in the cave that is built across several floors.

30 comments:

SANDEEP PANWAR said...

जूनागढ़ के शिखर तक पहुंचने के लिये एक तरफ से केवल 10,000 सीढियों को चढना पडता है इन्हें वापसी में उतरना भी होता है,
वापसी बहुत तंग करती है।

rupam sarma said...

Wonderful. Great pics.

Maggie said...

How wonderful that a structure so ancient should still be standing today displaying such artful carvings, thanks for bringing them to MM today.

Nancy Chan said...

Interesting carvings in the caves. I thought I had followed you but anyway, I am following you now. Inviting you to follow me too!

Fun60 said...

Very interesting carvings and structures.

carol l mckenna said...

Fascinating Buddha caves ~ neat photos ~

(A ShutterBug Explores)

krishna said...

It reminds me my visit to Udaygiri ..

Angie said...

Second century A.D.!! Inconceivable! My husband, who is from the UK, has a strong sense of history given the age of many things in England, but this is OLD!!! I am so glad that it is still there for people to visit. Thanks for sharing.

Lady Fi said...

Lovely caves!

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Wow - those are amazing. I wonder how they excavated all that stone. I must find more information on this - so interesting. Thank you for sharing - it is wonderful to learn more about our world, even when we can't personally travel there.

Little Wandering Wren said...

I am always blown away by the intricate craftsmanship you find, these caves are amazing. Hats off to these cavemen for all their work on these detailed carvings.
Wren x

s.c said...

Looks indeed very interesting and also that the builders must have known the principles of greek architecture.

Tomoko said...

Amazing photos. Those caves tell us how Buddhism developed in the long history.

Sharon Wagner said...

Very nice and an interesting peek.

Jeevan said...

Very interesting and uniquely carved! Excellent capture with detail

stardust said...

Stones are carved magically beautiful. Nice to know such old sites since 2nd century are preserved well.

Gattina said...

I have seen similar once in Turkey, very impressive !

Photo Cache said...

Curious to go inside.

Worth a Thousand Words

Anonymous said...

so nice :)

ABC-Wednesday said...

Wonderful photo's.. of a place which can tell countless storie I presume

Have a splendid, ♥-warming ABC-Wednes-day / - week!
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc-w-team)
http://melodymusic.nl/21-j

Vilt og vakkert said...

Heisann, exciting.... interesting to explore old ruins of temples, both architecture and decorations.
I will soon go to Peru, look forward to visit South America, I have never been there before!
Have nice days ;:OD)

Roger Owen Green said...

so impressive!

ROG, ABCW

Al said...

What an awesome place - to think how long ago these were made.

Teamgsquare said...

Wow, Beautiful caves. Nice to know about them.

Ruth said...

So were these carved out from a stone? I tend to wonder how people hundreds of years ago were able to create places like these. #OurWorldTuesday

Anonymous said...

seems like it would be cold deep in those caves

NatureFootstep said...

this is interesting, thanks for sharing :)

R Niranjan Das said...

Glad to know about this.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Beautiful carvings and pillars certainly not what one imagines when thinking of a cave.

Pat Tillett said...

Wonderful and amazing! Thanks for sharing these places with us.