The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c12.17

c12.17

Before proceeding to describe the great rock-cut chaitya-halls, some splendid examples of which belong to the first three centuries before the Christian era, a few preliminary observations regarding the practice which obtained in India, more than in any other country in the world, of excavating places in the living rock adapted both for religious and secular uses seem to be necessary. A cave temple or monastery suggests to the Western mind something essentially ascetic and barbaric, as our word "grotesque" implies. In India it represents a refinement of luxury for the users, an exceptional trial of skill for the craftsmen, and a special act of devotion and consecration on the part of the individual or the community for whom the work is performed. The reason why cave-dwellings remained in use in India long after the art of building had reached a high degree of perfection was partly climatic and partly geological; it was partly also due to the intuitive instinct that close to the bosom of Mother Earth, wherever the *genius loci* invited to prayer and meditation, was the best place for her children in adoring their Creator.