Ajanta and Mahabalipuram: What They Do and Don’t Share

Ajanta and Mahabalipuram share one real feature. Both have rock-cut monuments. Their periods differ. Their faiths differ. Their patrons differ too.

An old exam question asks about exactly this. So this lesson checks each claim one by one.

1.1 What does “rock-cut” mean?

A rock-cut monument is carved out of natural rock. It is not built by stacking separate stones. Builders cut into a cliff or a boulder and shape the space they need.

Both sites use this method, but in different ways.

• At Ajanta, the caves are excavated out of a vertical cliff above the left bank of the Waghora river.
• At Mahabalipuram, the group has rock-cut caves, five monolithic temples and large rock reliefs.
• Monolithic means carved from one single block of stone.

So “rock-cut” names a technique. It does not name a style, a faith or a period.

1.2 Where are the two sites?

Ajanta lies in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Its caves are cut into a vertical cliff above the left bank of the Waghora river.

Mahabalipuram is also called Mamallapuram. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of south-eastern India. It was a celebrated port city of the Pallava dynasty.

UNESCO counts thirty caves at Ajanta, including the unfinished ones. The NCERT textbook says twenty-nine. If a question asks for the number, follow the textbook.

1.3 Were they built in the same period?

No. Ajanta was cut in two phases, about four centuries apart.

• Phase one: from about the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE, under the Satavahana dynasty.
• Phase two: from the 5th century CE into the early 6th century CE, under the Basim branch of the Vakataka dynasty and its feudatories.

Mahabalipuram belongs to the 7th and 8th centuries CE. The Pallava kings founded its sanctuaries then. Ajanta’s first phase is far older than any Mahabalipuram monument.

Some summaries give Ajanta’s range as the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. UNESCO extends the second phase into the 6th century. The NCERT textbook says the last caves belong to the early 6th century.

1.4 Do they belong to the same faith?

No. Ajanta is a Buddhist site. Mahabalipuram is a Hindu site, built under Pallava kings.

The Pallavas were mostly Shaivite, which means devoted to Shiva. Several Vaishnava shrines, devoted to Vishnu, also survive from their reign.

The Shore Temple shows both. It has two Shiva shrines and a middle shrine to Vishnu.

Statement 1 and statement 2 of the exam question are therefore false. Only the rock-cut statement holds.

Ajanta is a group of Buddhist caves cut into one cliff over many centuries. Its two phases show Buddhist art moving from simple to rich.

2.1 Why did Ajanta grow in two phases?

The first phase had six caves. They were cut by followers of Hinayana, also called Theravada, Buddhism. The second phase was led by followers of Mahayana Buddhism.

• Phase one: the Buddha was worshipped in a symbolic form, not as an idol.
• Phase one caves: simple and austere, with few mural paintings.
• Phase two: the Buddha was worshipped as an image.
• Phase two caves: the earlier caves were reused and several new ones were cut. Walls got mural paintings. Pillars, brackets, shrines and facades got rich carving.

The two phases are about four centuries apart. That is why Ajanta looks so different from cave to cave.

2.2 What are chaityas and viharas?

Ajanta has two kinds of caves.

• A chaitya hall is a prayer hall.
• A vihara is a monastery.

A chaitya hall has a vaulted ceiling and a rounded back end called an apse. Above the door sits a horseshoe-shaped window, known as the chaitya window. Rows of pillars split the hall into a central nave and two side aisles.

At the centre of the apse stands a stupa, a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine. It is carved out of the same rock. Worshippers walk around it behind the apse.

A vihara has a hall where monks gathered. Cells for the monks run along three sides.

The textbook names four chaitya caves: Nos. 9 and 10 from the early phase, and Nos. 19 and 26 from the later phase. UNESCO also counts Cave 29 as a chaitya hall. Caves 19 and 26 are elaborately carved. Their facades show Buddha and Bodhisattva images.

2.3 Why is Ajanta famous for its paintings?

Ajanta’s walls carry mural paintings. A mural is a painting made straight on a wall. UNESCO says the second-phase murals use the tempera technique. Tempera is paint made by mixing colour pigments with a water-based binder.

The textbook calls Ajanta the only surviving example of painting of the first century BCE and the fifth century CE.

One of the famous figures is Bodhisattva Padmapani in Cave 1. A bodhisattva is a being on the path to becoming a Buddha. Padmapani holds a padma, which means lotus.

• The painting is on the back wall of the interior hall, before the shrine antechamber.
• It dates to the late 5th century CE.
• Padmapani and Vajrapani in Cave 1 are among the best-preserved paintings at Ajanta.

Cave 1 also holds the Mahajanaka Jataka. A Jataka is a tale from the Buddha’s past lives. This one is painted along an entire wall. It is the biggest narrative painting there.

Mahabalipuram, also called Mamallapuram, was a celebrated port city of the Pallavas. Its monuments show rock carving in many forms. They also include built temples.

3.1 Which Pallava kings shaped it?

The Pallavas were an ancient South Indian dynasty. Their history is better documented from the 6th to the 8th century. Three kings matter here.

• Mahendravarman I: the early buildings are generally attributed to his reign.
• Narasimhavarman I, called Mamalla: he came to the throne around 640 CE. He began most of the building works. The town is named Mamallapuram after him.
• Narasimhavarman II, called Rajasimha: he reigned from 700 to 728 CE. The Shore Temple was probably built in his reign.

UNESCO gives Rajasimha’s reign as 638 to 660 CE. The textbook says 700 to 728 CE, and this lesson follows the textbook.

UNESCO dates the sanctuaries to the 7th and 8th centuries. The textbook agrees that most were made in those two centuries.

3.2 What kinds of monuments are there?

UNESCO sorts the monuments into five groups.

• Mandapas: rock-cut cave sanctuaries. Examples are the Varahamandapa and the Mahishamardhini cave.
• Rathas: five monolithic temples, each hewn out of one huge boulder. Ratha means chariot. The temples look like the chariots used in temple processions.
• Rock reliefs: carvings on rock faces. There are four. The most noteworthy are Arjuna’s Penance and Govardhanadhari.
• Structural temples: temples built up from stone, not carved from rock. The Shore Temple is the famous example.
• Excavated remains: buried structures found after sand was cleared near the Shore Temple.

3.3 What is the Descent of the Ganges?

The Descent of the Ganges is a famous rock relief at Mahabalipuram. It was created during Mamalla’s reign. UNESCO calls it a unique artistic achievement.

• The panel is nearly thirty metres long and fifteen metres high.
• It is one of the largest and oldest panels of its kind known in the world.
• A natural cleft in the rock was used as a channel for water to flow down.
• The water collected in a large tank in front of the wall.

Two names are in use for this panel. Some scholars read it as the descent of the Ganga from heaven to earth. Others read it as Arjuna’s penance, a story from a poem called Kiratarjuniya.

Both readings point to the same carved wall. In either case, it is a relief carved on rock. It is not a painting.

3.4 Is everything at Mahabalipuram rock-cut?

No. The textbook says the early Pallava buildings were rock-cut and the later ones were structural.

The Shore Temple is a structural temple. It stands free beside the sea. It was probably built in Rajasimha’s reign.

So the claim “both have rock-cut monuments” is true. The claim “all of Mahabalipuram is rock-cut” would be wrong.

The exam answer is “rock-cut only”. This section explains why that answer is safe and what the sites still share.

4.1 Why does “nothing is common” feel right but fail?

The sites differ in period, faith and patron. That makes them feel unrelated. So “nothing is common to both” looks tempting.

It is wrong. The rock-cut method is common to both. A shared method does not need a shared faith or a shared century.

4.2 Who else used the rock-cut method?

Rock-cut work was used by several faiths and dynasties.

• In western India, many Buddhist caves were excavated from the 2nd century BCE onwards.
• Ellora has thirty-four Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves. It lies about a hundred kilometres from Ajanta.
• Its monasteries range from the 5th to the 11th century CE.
• The Kailashnath temple at Ellora is dedicated to Shiva. The textbook calls it the culmination of at least a millennium-long rock-cut tradition in India.

So rock-cut is a technique that Buddhists, Hindus and Jains all used, in different centuries.

4.3 What else do the two sites share?

Both sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They were listed separately.

• Ajanta: inscribed in 1983.
• Mahabalipuram: inscribed in 1984.
• Criteria: both were listed under criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (vi).
• Care: the Archaeological Survey of India manages both.
• Influence: UNESCO says Ajanta’s style reached Java. It says Mahabalipuram’s sculpture spread to Cambodia, Annam and Java.

None of these facts makes the periods or the faiths the same. The exam statements ask about period, faith and rock-cut work only.

Three previous-year questions use these two sites. They are listed newest first. Each is quoted word for word from the official paper.

5.1 What did CAPF (ACs) 2026, Q37 ask?

CAPF (ACs) 2026, General Ability and Intelligence, Q37: The ‘Descent of the Ganga’ is a
(a) relief sculpture at Mamallapuram
(b) poem by Bhatti
(c) temple built by Rashtrakutas
(d) painting at Ajanta

Answer: (a) relief sculpture at Mamallapuram. The Descent of the Ganga is the great rock relief at Mamallapuram. It is a carving, not a painting. The Rashtrakuta achievement named in the textbook is the Kailashnath temple at Ellora. Ajanta is known for paintings, but this is not one of them.

5.2 What did UPSC CSP 2017, Q69 ask?

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2017, General Studies Paper I, Q69: The painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani is one of the most famous and oft-illustrated paintings at
(a) Ajanta
(b) Badami
(c) Bagh
(d) Ellora

Answer: (a) Ajanta. The Padmapani painting is on a wall of Cave 1 at Ajanta, and it comes from the late 5th century CE. Ellora is a separate site, about a hundred kilometres away. Bagh is another cave site with Buddhist murals.

5.3 What did UPSC CSP 2016, Q65 ask?

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2016, General Studies Paper I, Q65: What is/are common to the two historical places known as Ajanta and Mahabalipuram?
1. Both were built in the same period.
2. Both belong to the same religious denomination.
3. Both have rock-cut monuments.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) None of the statements given above is correct

Answer: (b) 3 only. Statement 1 is false because the periods are centuries apart. Statement 2 is false because Ajanta is Buddhist and Mahabalipuram is Hindu. Statement 3 is true. Option (d) fails because statement 3 is correct.

5.4 Which traps do these questions repeat?

• Same period: Ajanta’s phases end long before Mahabalipuram’s 7th-century work.
• Same faith: Buddhist caves and Hindu monuments are not one tradition.
• “None is common”: the rock-cut method is common.
• Wrong site for a famous work: Padmapani is at Ajanta, and the Descent of the Ganga is at Mahabalipuram.
• Wrong art form: Ajanta is known for paintings, and Mahabalipuram for carved reliefs and temples.