Buddhist Cave Temples of India

The Buddhist Cave Temples of India have amongst them some of the grandest, most interesting, and probably the oldest monuments of Ancient India. For the specialist and the student off architecture, the cave temples of Buddhist origin offer a field of interesting study. Related basically to the Vedic form of architecture and structure, the Buddhist cave temples do have their own individual character. No endeavour seems to have been made so far to gather together, in handy form, information regarding even the main groups of the Buddhist Cave Temples. The author in this work has not only grouped all the main caves having importance from the point off view of an archaeologist, philologists, Art students etc.: but has also deciphered the representations of the structures which were grossly misunderstood previously showing and putting forth its significance and importance from the religious stand point. The author has very ably established close ties between the architectural styles of Vedic period, Aryan period, Jain period and Buddhist period. In the various chapters of the book, a study has been made of the Architectures, its origin, Art, characteristic features of the sculpture, Figures, Iconography, Meanings of the symbols and chronology of the cave temples. The text is complemented by a wealth of illustrative materials, consisting of over 50 photographs. The most comprehensive work of its kind to appear to date, this volume will have immense appeal both for the specialist and reader who wishes to appreciate the artistic heights of this major civilization.