Aurangabad Caves

The Aurangabad Caves ( Marathi: औरंगाबाद लेणी ) consist of twelve Buddhist cult ( Chaitya ) and caves ( Vihara ) and a Brahmin, that is Hindu, cave on the central Indian Deccan Plateau.

Location

The caves are located in the Deccan Traps formed by basaltic Sahayadri mountains in the north of the city of Aurangabad, about three kilometers north of the Bibi- Ka Maqbara -. They are easily accessible by taxi or a motor rickshaw.

History

The caves were probably carved out in the period from the 3rd to the 7th century from the rock. After the decline of Buddhism, the rise of Hinduism and the advance of Islam, the caves were forgotten and were ' rediscovered ' only in the second half of the 19th century by the British.

The twelve caves are usually divided into three groups ( caves 1-5, 6-9 caves and caves 10-12), both are about 500 meters apart. In terms of time, there is quite a mess - the oldest parts are definitely the caves 4 and 5 ( with neighboring caves ), which can still be attributed to the aniconic phase of Hinayana Buddhism (3rd / 4th century ). The Cave 1 seems to be old ( 4th century ), because it is indeed figural jewelry available, but only two kleinfigurige Buddha images. In the following years resulted in several unusually rich provided with figurative representations combined worship and caves that may refer to a kind of sectarianism within the monastic community. The caves 10 to 16 are less interesting and partially unfinished.