Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c22.4

c22.4

This final manifestation of rock-architecture in India was confined to three localities : (1) Ellora, where excavated halls under the Buddhists had been already in course of production for two hundred years (Chapter XII) ; (2) the islands of Elephanta and Salsette near Bombay ; and (3) a development under the Pallava dynasty, the rulers of a kingdom approximating geographically to the modern State of Madras. As the works of the last named form the opening phase of the Dravidian style as a whole, they are referred to in the next chapter. The rock-cut groups now to be described are the Brahmanical and Jain series at Ellora, and the Brahmanical examples at Elephanta and Salsette, all excavated between the seventh and the ninth centuries.