Ellora: Cross-fertilization of Style in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Cave Temples
This substantial volume takes on something genuinely ambitious: the first thorough, structured survey of the Ellora cave temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site carved into the rock between 600 and 1000 CE. What makes Ellora unusual among ancient Indian sites is its remarkable plurality. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples coexist here within a single complex, and this book takes that coexistence seriously, tracing the visual and stylistic conversations that passed between the three traditions over four centuries. The 34 principal caves, along with a number of smaller ones, are examined with care. Scholarly essays analyse the chronology and artistic development of the site, looking at how each religious tradition absorbed influences both from its neighbours at Ellora and from wider regional styles. It's a genuinely illuminating approach, one that treats these monuments not as isolated achievements but as part of a living, cross-pollinating creative culture. The visual material is equally impressive. Extensive photography sits alongside architectural ground plans and, perhaps most intriguingly, a selection of rarely reproduced early 19th-century etchings that offer a fascinating historical perspective on the site. Contributors include Stanislaw J. Czuma, Nicolas Morrissey, Lisa N. Owen, Vidya Dehejia, Pia Brancaccio and Arno Klein, bringing a range of expertise that gives the book real scholarly weight. For anyone drawn to ancient Indian art and architecture, this is a rich and rewarding resource.
- Author: Deepanjana Klein
- Publisher: Mapin
- Genre: Architecture
- ISBN: 978-9385360800
- Pages: 260 pages