History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c29.s2.t2.17

v1.c29.s2.t2.17

Rock-Cut Cave temples : Beginning with Maurya period rock-cut caves and temples my be taken as an achievement of Maurya Period. They scooped into hard and refractory quartzose-gneiss outcrops at Sitamarhi near Gaya district the caves of the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills. The technology developed further during Gupta period. The rock-cut caves included scooping out of the laterite, sandstone, granite, gneiss, charnockite and bed rock. Pallavas alone chose the hardest rocks like granite and gneiss.