Kamal Guha: Maharashtra Buddhist site template added

2023-11-23T12:18:05Z

Maharashtra Buddhist site template added

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	{{Aurangabad district, Maharashtra topics\|state=collapsed}}		{{Aurangabad district, Maharashtra topics\|state=collapsed}}
			{{Buddhist sites in Maharashtra}}
	{{Indian Buddhist Caves}}		{{Indian Buddhist Caves}}
	{{Authority control}}		{{Authority control}}

Kamal Guha: Category added

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Category added

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	[[Category:Geography of Aurangabad, Maharashtra]]		[[Category:Geography of Aurangabad, Maharashtra]]
	[[Category:Indian Buddhist sculpture]]		[[Category:Indian Buddhist sculpture]]
			[[Category:Buddhist sites in Maharashtra]]
	[[Category:Indian painting]]		[[Category:Indian painting]]
	[[Category:History of Maharashtra]]		[[Category:History of Maharashtra]]

68.235.248.22 at 02:52, 30 November 2021

2021-11-30T02:52:47Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox Cave
| name = Pitalkhora Caves
| photo = [[File:4 Pitalkhora overview.jpg|250px]]
| photo_caption = Overview of Pitalkhora caves.
| coords ={{coord|20.313473|N|74.994228|E|region:IN-MH_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=inline,title}}
| location =
| map=India
| relief=yes
| depth =
| length =
| survey =
| survey_format =
| discovery =
| geology = Basalt
| entrance_count =
| entrance_list =
| difficulty =
| hazards =
| access =
| translation =
| language =
| pronunciation =
}}
The '''Pitalkhora Caves''', in the Satmala range of the [[Western Ghats]] of [[Maharashtra]], [[India]], are an ancient [[Buddhist]] site consisting of 14 [[Rock cut architecture|rock-cut]] cave monuments which date back to the third century BCE, making them one of the earliest examples of rock-cut architecture in India. Located about 40 kilometers from Ellora, the site is reached by a steep climb down a flight of concrete stairs, past a waterfall next to the caves.<ref name=asipitalkhora/>

==Description==
The caves are cut in a variety of [[basalt]] rock, but some of the caves have crumbled and are damaged. Out of the 14, four are [[chaitya]]s (one housing votive stupas, one apsidal and single-cell) and the rest are [[vihara]]s. All the caves belong to the [[Hinayana]] period, but the reasonably well preserved paintings are of the [[Mahayana]] period. The caves are in two groups, one of 10 caves and the second of four. It is believed that Pitalkhora can be identified with [[Ptolemy]]’s "Petrigala" as well as the "Pitangalya" of ''Mahamayuri'', a Buddhist chronicle. The inscriptions date from c. 250 BCE to the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.<ref name=asipitalkhora>[http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_ellora_pitalkhora.asp Pitalkhora Caves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523040124/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_ellora_pitalkhora.asp |date=23 May 2013 }} at Archaeological Survey of India.</ref>

The site shows statues of elephants, two soldiers of which one is intact, a damaged [[Gaja Lakshmi]] icon, and an ancient [[rainwater harvesting]] system.<ref name=asipitalkhora/> These caves have been significant in helping establish the chronology of cave building in the Ajanta-Ellora region.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Burgess|title=The Cave Temples of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HgTAAAAYAAJ |year=1880|publisher=W.H. Allen & Company|pages=516–519}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:5 Pitalkhora overview.jpg|Some of the caves.
File:043 Reconstructed Cells (34045149876).jpg|Reconstructed [[vihara]] cells.
File:Soldier statue guarding Buddhist cave Pitalkhora.jpg|[[Dvarapala]] statue guarding a cave.
File:032 Broken Elephant Figures (33274190623).jpg|Row of broken sculptures of elephants.
</gallery>

==Chronology of the Chaitya hall (Cave 3)==
The Chaitya hall, Cave 3 of Pitalkhora, represents an important marker in the chronology of the Chaitya hall design in western India. It is thought that the chronology of these early Chaitya Caves is as follows: first, in the 1st century BCE, Cave 9 at [[Mahakali Caves|Kondivite Caves]] and then Cave 12 at the [[Bhaja Caves]], which both predate Cave 10 of [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta]].<ref name="Le 108">{{cite book|last1=Le|first1=Huu Phuoc|title=Buddhist Architecture|date=2010|publisher=Grafikol|isbn=9780984404308|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA108|language=en}}</ref> Then, after Cave 10 of Ajanta, in chronological order: Cave 3 at Pitalkhora, Cave 1 at [[Kondana Caves]], Cave 9 at Ajanta, which, with its more ornate designs, may have been built about a century later, Cave 18 at [[Nasik Caves]], and Cave 7 at [[Bedse Caves]], to finally culminate with the "final perfection" of the Great Chaitya at [[Karla Caves]].<ref name="Le 108"/>

{{clear}}
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:011 Side View of Chaitya Hall (34085579685).jpg|Side view of the Chaitya hall.
File:012 Fron View of Chaitya Hall (33243583374).jpg|Cave 3, a [[Chaitya]] hall, front view.
File:014 Pillars showing Paintings (34085568815).jpg|Rows of painted pillars.
File:5 Paintings at ancient Pitalkhora Buddhist caves.jpg|Ancient paintings ([[Mahayana]] period).
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal|last1=Brancaccio|first1=Pia|title=Cave Architecture of India, in Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |year=2014|pages=1–9|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_9848-1}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pitalkhora Caves}}
*[https://www.britannica.com/place/Pitalkhora Pitalkhora, archeological site], Encyclopædia Britannica
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130523040124/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_ellora_pitalkhora.asp Pitalkhora Caves] at Archaeological Survey of India
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/42929810 Pitalkhora Yaksha: Sankarin?], M. S. Mate (1966)
*[http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=12679055 Les temples rupestres de Pitalkhora en Inde], S Ueda (1978)

{{Aurangabad district, Maharashtra topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Indian Buddhist Caves}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Geography of Aurangabad, Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhist sculpture]]
[[Category:Indian painting]]
[[Category:History of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Caves of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in India]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Indian rock-cut architecture]]
[[Category:Buddhist caves in India]]

Pitalkhora - Revision history

Kamal Guha: Maharashtra Buddhist site template added

Kamal Guha: Category added

68.235.248.22 at 02:52, 30 November 2021