RASTRAKUTA ARCHITECTURE

THE RASTRAKUTAS OF KANAUJ AND WESTERN GHATS ( 6th to 10th C)

• The Rastrakutas, the heirs of the early Vakatakas, focused their , y , attention
on the northern city of Kanauj. They found a rapidly weakening power on
their southern flank. Doing the a right about turn to suit the new situation,
the Rastrakutas quickly overcame the Chalukyas of Badami.
• The heart of the new Rastrakuta kingdom was the Western Ghats, a
countryside in which the rock cut form of architecture has flourished foe over
700 years, since the time of Buddhist monks had carved the caves of Ajanta,
Ellora and Karli.
• This art was rejuvenated under the growing power of the Rastrakutas. The
revival got underway with the excavations of cave temples on the ancient
land of Ghorapuri (Elephanta). Later in Salsette and Ellapur (Ellora).

Examples

Rock Temples at Elephanta and Salsette

Rock Temples at Ellora
• These caves house rock cut temples dating
back to the 5th century CE
• The Elephanta island was so named by the
Portuguese, after the statue of an elephant
near the landing area of the island.
• These rock cut temples dedicated to Shiva
Mahadeva are rich in sculptural content. The
entire temple is akin to a huge sculpture,
through whose corridors and chambers one
can walk. The entire complex was created
through a process of rock removal. Some of
the rock surfaces are highly finished while
some are untreated bare rock.
• The entire temple is akin to a huge sculpture,
through whose corridors and chambers one
can walk. The entire complex was created
through a process of rock removal. Some of
the rock surfaces are highly finished while
some are untreated bare rock.
• The entire cave temple complex covers an area of about 60000 squrare feet and it consists
a main chamber and two lateral ones , courtyards and several subsidary shrines. Above the
temple is the mass of natural rock.
• There are three entrances to this temple. The
ones on the east and the west marking the
axis of the temple. A 20 pillared hall lines the
axis, and on its western end is the cella in
Which is enshrined a Shivalingam.

• The pillars consist of fluted columns standing

on square bases, and are crowned with fluted
cushion capitals.

• The enigmatic image of Trimurthi Sadasiva:

The Sadasiva manifestation of Shiva is carved
in relief at the end of the north south axis.
This collossal 20 feet high image of the three
headed Shiva, Trimurthy is a magnificient one,
considered to be a masterpiece of Indian art.

• This colossal image represents Panchamukha

Shiva, only three faces of whom are carved
into the wall and it demands immediate
attention upon entering the temple through
the northern entrance.
• Also on the southern wall are grand sculptured
images of Kalyanasundara, Gangadhara,
Ardhanariswara and Uma Maheswara.

• To the west of the northern entrance are

sculptured images of Nataraja and
Andhakaasuravadamoorthy, and to its east are
images of Yogiswara and Ravanaanugrahamurthy.

• To the east of the main temple is a courtyard,

flanked by the secondary shrine. This temple
contains six pillars at its entrance, The entrance
leads to a hall decorated with sculptured panels
depicting legends from the Shiva Purana.

• The 7-metre-high masterpiece “Sadashiva”

dominates the entrance to Cave 1. The sculpture
represents three aspects of Shiva: the Creator, the
Preserver, and the Destroyer, identified,
respectively, with Aghora or Bhairava (left half),
Taptapurusha or Mahadeva (central full face), and
Vamadeva or Uma (right half). their forms,
dimensions, themes, representations, content,
alignment and execution.
• The layout of the caves, including the
pillar components, the placement and
division of the caves into different parts,
and the provision of a sanctum or
Garbhagriha of sarvatobhadra plan, are
important developments in rock-cut
architecture.

• The Elephanta Caves emerged from a

long artistic tradition, but demonstrate
refreshing innovation. The combination
of aesthetic beauty and sculptural art,
replete with respondent Rasas, reached
an apogee at the Elephanta Caves. Hindu
spiritualistic beliefs and symbology are
finely utilized in the overall planning of
the caves.

Shiva linga in elephanta

cave in west side
Cave 1: Main, Great Cave
The main cave, also called Cave 1,
• Grand Cave or the Great Cave, is 39.63 metres (130.0 ft) square in plan with a
hall (mandapa )
• The basic plan of the cave can be traced back to the plan of the ancient
Buddhist viharas , consisting of a square court surrounded by cells, built from
about 500 to 600 years before in India.
• The Cave has several entrances, the main entrance is unassumingly small and
hides the grand hall inside. The main entrance faces north, while two side
entrances face east and west.
• The cave's main entrance is aligned with the north–south axis, unusual for a
Shiva shrine (normally east–west).
• However, inside is an integrated square plan Linga shrine (garbha-griya) that
is aligned east-west, opening to the sunrise.
• The main entrance are four pillars, with three open porticoes and an aisle at
the back. Pillars, six in each row, divide the hall into a series of smaller
chambers. The roof of the hall has concealed beams supported by stone
columns joined together by capitals.
• The main mandapa recesses into a pillared vestibule (ardha-mandapa) on the
south side, while a pillared portico (mukha-mandapa) connects it to the main
entrance.
• It is a square garbha-griya (womb house) with four entrances, located in the
right section of the main hall. Steps lead from the four doorways into the
sanctum, which has a linga in the mulavigraha style.
Trimurti Shiva flanked by the dvarapalas
Shiva bringing Ganges
River to earth.
Ardhanarishvara (centre): half female
(Parvati) and half male (Shiva),
feminine-masculine equivalence.
Shiva slaying Andhaka Kalyanasundara: the
wedding of Shiva and
Parvati.
Shiva as Yogishvara, god
of Yoga.
ROCK CUT CAVES AT ELLORA
• Ellora is not far from Aurangabad and is
less than 300 kms from Mumbai.
• This famous place was the site of an
extra ordinary artistic flowering, in
which Buddhist, Hindu and Jain art all
participated.
• More than 30 temples have been carved
out of the cliff face or sculpted from the
hill side. They form an ensemble of an
unique kind, dating between the sixth
and ninth centuries under the
Rastrakuta Dynasty (754 – 982 AD).
• Beyond the intrinsic values of many of
the monuments of Ellora, their
association with each other – bringing
together as it does the three great
religions derived from vedic beliefs ‐
represents a moving example of Indian
religious feelings.
The caves numbered 1 to 12 are of
Buddhist Southern Group.

• The Brahmanical group of Ellora

extends along the west face of the hill
for about a kilometer and consists of
seventeen excavations numbered 13
to 29.

• The principle examples are

• (No 14) Ravana ka Khai or Abode of
Ravana, the demon king of Lanka
• (No 15) Das Avatar or the Ten
Incarnations of Vishnu
• (No 16) the Kailasa or Shiva’s Paradise
• (No 21) Rameshvara or “ Lord of
Rama”
• (No 29) Dumar Lena or Sita’s Nahani
or Bath of Sita
ROCK CUT CAVES AT ELLORA (6h to 9th C)

• All the examples can be resolved themselves as follows, into four

different types, most of them apparently taking their various shapes
in order to conform to the changing requirements of the creed.

1. The most primitive and evidently owing much to the Buddhist

Vihara, being merely a pillared portico with a cella beyond. Ex. Das
Avatar ( No. 15)
2. Similar to the preceding but with the cella isolated by means of a
passage round it, as in the Ravana ka Khai ( No 14) and Ramesvara
(No 21).
3. Another style in which the shrine is isolated but standing in the
centre of a cruciform hall, the whole having more than one
entrance, as in the Dumar Lena ( No 29) ( the temple at Elephanta
are of this type)
4. The culmination of the rock cut method taking the form not of an
excavated series of galleries as in each of the previous examples but
one which a structural temple is copied in all its detail, as in
the monolithic temple of Kailasa.
DAS AVATAR (No 15) ROCK CUT CAVES OF ELLORA – TYPE 1

• It is the only Brahmanical example in two stories.

• This temple is approached through a rock‐cut entrance which opens to a large
irregular shaped courtyard having a detached shrine in its centre. There is a
doorway on the left of this courtyard leading to a square compartment
surrounded by cells comprising the quarters.
• The detached shrine is a large and important feature of the exterior, probably
intended for a nandi image ( the bull of Shiva), and is in the form of a square four
pillared pavilion surrounded by a verandah with a flight of steps at front and rear
DAS AVATAR (No 15) ROCK CUT CAVES OF ELLORA – TYPE 1

• A short flight of steps gives admission to the floor floor which consists of a
compartment 30 M wide by 15m deep, and containing 14 square pillars.

• A staircase on the left communicates with the upper storey, a fine

rectangular hall 16m by 14m having the large of 44 pillars to support its flat
roof. These pillars are arranged in six rows of nine each, with additional ones
at the far end of the central aisle to form a shallow vestibule leading to a
square cella enshrining a lingam.

• The architecture was only the framework or setting, for the handiwork of the
sculptor, whose skill is displayed in large sunk panels spaced out between
pilasters at regular intervals around the In each of these deep square
recesses walls. is illustrated, in exceeding bold relief, those on one side being
mostly Vaishnava, while on the other they are entirely Saivite.

• The effect of such gigantic figures partly hidden by the darkness and
shadowy obscurity of the pillared aisles is supremely dramatic
RAMESHVARA (No 21) ROCK CUT CAVES OF ELLORA – TYPE 2

• It is dedicated to the cult of Shiva.

• Both sides of the verandah show

river goddesses. Notable among
these is the graceful Ganga, treading
underfoot the “makara”, a sort of
monster combining elements of the
crocodile, dolphin and elephant.

• Other deities are visible on the

façade and on the richly decorated
capitals of the columns that rise out
of low walls. Their delicate presence
is also found in the form of brackets
which form part of the solid mass of
rock from which the columns were
cut.
RAMESHVARA (No 21)
RAMESHVARA (No 21)

The cave opens on to a large, oblong chamber (with two further rooms or
recesses at either side), which leads into the sanctuary
itself.
• Its cella contains a linga and is surrounded by a corridor for
circumambulation
DHUMAR LENA OR SITA’S NAHANI (No 29)
ROCK CUT CAVES OF ELLORA – TYPE 3
• It is cruciform in plan and contains a
hypostyle whose columns have
square bases and are crowned by
fluted cushion capitals of bulbous
form.
• The hall is reached via staircases that
lead up to the entrance gallery,
which is flanked on either side by
densely carved mythological scenes
in which the awesome Shiva has a
prominent place.
• In the centre is the quadrilateral
cella, open on all four sides to allow
sight of the linga, the emblem of the
divinity. This “ holy of holies”
occupies the middle of the
composition, thus allowing the
devotees simultaneously to perform
the ritual of circumambulation.
The walls of the Dhumar Lena Cave are covered in high relief statues to the glory
of Shiva, who is represented in various episodes from his legends, in particular
those in which he is paired with his wife Parvati.
THE KAILASA TEMPLE, ELLORA (No 16)
• The Kailasa Temple (Cave 16) is
ROCK CUT CAVES OF ELLORA – TYPE 4
undoubtedly the most sublime
monument at Ellora.
• Unlike the caves tunneled into the
cliff, whose facades alone are visible
from outside and whose internal
spaces are chambers within the
hillside, the Kailasa Temple is a
gigantic monolithic temple, its ornate
exterior open to the air like a
sculpture of architectural dimensions.
• The Kailas Temple is dedicated to
Shiva. Built in the reign of Dantidurga
and Krishna I of Rastrakuta Dynasty,
between 757 and 773 AD.
• It is the largest monolithic temple in
India, being 100m long and 75m
wide. It is dominated by the
enormous square plan tower, which
symbolizes the cosmic mountain and
reaches a height of 30m.
THE KAILASA TEMPLE, ELLORA (No 16) ROCK CUT CAVES OF ELLORA – TYPE 4
• In aspect it is a typical Dravidian temple,
comprising gateway (gopuram), courtyard,
aedicule for the bull Nandi, the mount of
Shiva, large hypostyle mandapa, and an
imposing tower (shikhara).
• The tower is conventionally composed of
successively receding storeys decorated with
miniature buildings symbolizing the celestial
world.
• The most astonishing feature of the complex
is the deep narrow passage that surrounds
the temple a colonnaded temple. This forms
gallery running along the bottom of the cliff
face. Lateral sanctuaries at first and second
storey levels offer vast hypostyle interiors in
the manner of cave temples.
• required the removal of some 4,00,000
tonnes of stone. The first step, though simple
but laborious was to cut three massive
trenches to isolate an “island” of rock over
65m long, 32m wide and 32m high from the
cliff like formations of Ellora.
• Beginning from top, the rear mass of the
island was gradually fashioned into a shape of
a vimana to crown the main cell. Each portion
of the carved rock was finished and polished
before proceeding downwards, to avoid
erecting scaffolding at a later stage.
• who gave life to this
temple, by proliferation of
monsters, fabulous
animals, guardian
elephants, lions, divinities,
mythical scenes and the
repeated motifs of the
omnipresent
ornamentation. Everything
is meticulously sculpted
from the rock and there is
no trace of altercations or
second thoughts.
• The tower of the sanctum
soars upwards in imitation
of the mountainous
dwelling of Shiva. Each of
its storey is decorated
with miniature buildings
to represent the homes of
the gods .
There is a Nandi Pavilion housing a
sacred Nandi Bull, standing on 7.5m
Plinth. Such a massive plinth was
obviously meant to lift the entire
composition out of the pit around.
• The sculpted entire complex
was not merely but probably
already at that time stuccoed
and painted in vibrant colours
as well. Today , only little of this
treatment remain to give us an
idea of its original appearance,
painted on a white background.

• The relief scenes with their

Shivaite iconography are
framed by a architectural
structures in which the signs of
wood frame architecture
transformed into stone,
pilasters, capitals , corbels can
be recognized.
• On either side of the Nandi Pavilion,
two obelisk like pillars are situated.
Standing 16m high, they are
adaptations of the Ashoka Pillars found
in Buddhist monuments.

• The temple at Kailas Ellora is not only

the most stupendous single work of art
executed in India, but as an example of
rock – architecture it is unrivalled.
• The Kailasa is an illustration of one of
those rare occasions when people’s
minds, hearts and hands work in
unision towards the consummation of
a supreme ideal. It was under such
conditions of religious and cultural
stability the this grand monolithic
representation of Shiva’s Paradise was
produced.