History of Ancient Archaeological Rock Carving in India

Hinayana & Mahayana Sects:

There are many sects of Buddhism in the world but among them Hinayana and Mahayana are the major sects. Once we understand the Hinayana and Mahayana sects it becomes easy to understand these caves.

After the Mahaparinirvana of Lord Gautama Buddha, for about 100 years, Buddhist monks and followers of Buddhism practiced according to the original thoughts of Gautama Buddha. At that time, Lord Gautama Buddha was worshiped in the form of a stupa. There is such a stupa in Chaitya Caves in Aurangabad. Also, there are no Idols carved on the wall of this Chaitya cave, because idol worship was not acceptable at that time, but at the same time there were some followers among these followers who thought that Lord Gautama Buddha was an incarnation of God. Similarly, during the reign of Emperor Kanishka, one hundred years after Lord Gautama Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, a religious council was held in India. In this religious council, there were internal disputes among Buddhist monks and two sects of Buddhism were formed. One sect was Hinayana and the other was Mahayana. Both Hinayana and Mahayana are Sanskrit words. Hina means small and Yana means ship. In short, Hinayana was a small group of Buddhist monks, while Mahayana was a large group of monks. Hinayana is also called Theravada. This sect practices according to the original teachings of Lord Gautama Buddha. They did not accept idol worship. The Hinayana sect is found mainly in India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Laos. Buddhist monks of the Hinayana sect wear saffron colored clothes.

In the Mahayana sect, Lord Gautama Buddha is worshiped in the form of a god. This sect accepts idol worship and the Buddhist monks of this sect wear dark red brown colored clothes. For example, the Dalai Lama belongs to the Mahayana sect. The Mahayana sect has expanded to a very large extent. This sect is mainly found in China, Tibet, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan and tundra region etc.

Information about caves:

Cave No 7:

This is the most beautiful cave. It is a vihara with pillars carved outside it, followed by a Hall or verandah. On the walls of verandah we can see various idols carved out of stone. Behind the verandah is the sanctorum in which we can see magnificent statue of Lord Gautama Buddha in the Dhammachakrapravartana state.

All the pillars have fine carvings, flowers of different shapes are carved on the pillars. On the walls of the sanctum there are idols of men and women, different ornaments can be seen carved on the body of the women. Rooms of various sizes are carved out around santum to live for Buddhist monks. It seems that these rooms were probably used by Buddhist monks to live and meditate. This vihara was built between 700 and 800 AD. This cave is almost twelve hundred years old. These caves are a unique example of Architecture and Geometry.

At that time, the tools for engraving were not as developed as they are today, except chisels and hammers. So think how long it would have taken to carve out such a huge work with just a chisel and hammer. Looking at the vastness and magnificence of the caves, these caves must have been carved for many years. Some caves date back to AD 700-800. It means these caves were not carved by just one generation. In short, all these caves were carved by about Eight to Ten generations and each generation has done better sculpture than the previous generation. The magnificence and beauty of these caves is indescribable.

Chaitya Cave No 4:

This is a vihara, the oldest of the caves available in Aurangabad. Chaitya cave was carved in 100 AD. This cave was carved in the beginning of AD.

There are no carvings on the pillars, there are no carvings on the roof arch and the walls of the chaityagriha. This is the only cave in the Aurangabad caves without carvings or carvings of any kind. There is a stupa inside but no carvings. Because of that, looking at this cave, we feels that this cave should be from the very early period after Lord Gautama Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, that is, before the Hinayana and Mahayana sects. As this cave is the oldest, the roof of this cave is seen to have fallen a little. Perhaps this chaityagriha was used for community prayer or It must have been done for worship.

Cave No 1:

This is a Mahayana cave, the only cave with doors and windows. This is a vihara. The carvings on its doors and windows are amazing. Inside this cave we can see about 12 to 15 pillars. These pillars are carved to support the weight of the ceiling. Each pillar has fine carvings, a circular band and rose petals carved on it. Various shapes of idols are carved on pillers. Each pillar here is in a straight line and at right angles. The floor of the cave and the surface of the roof are exactly parallel. In the sanctum sanctorum of the same cave, we can see the idol of Lord Gautama Buddha in Dhammachakrapravartana state. Outside the sanctorum there we can see two tall gatekeepers idol, one of them has a lotus flower in his hand and the other has a serpent on his head. This cave has the largest number of carved idols from entire Aurangabad caves. These idols range from very small to large in size. All the idols in this cave are less worn than the idols in other caves. There is no consensus about when this cave was built, so it seems that this cave was carved last.

If we look at the caves of Aurangabad and then look at the caves of Ajanta Verul, one question surely arises. Perhaps the digging of these caves started from Aurangabad and the subsequent generations carved the caves of Ajanta-Verul because there is a pre-Mahayana and Hinayana sect of Chaitya, also If they were carved after Ajanta-Verul caves, they would of course have been made better than Ajanta Verul. we can see that there are many similarities between Aurangabad caves and Ajanta Verul caves.

Aurangabad Caves are very little promoted and disseminated, perhaps many of us are not even aware of the presence of such amazing caves and hence the number of tourists who visit here can be counted on the fingers.

What then! Are you coming to see these caves?