Badami Caves

• Badami is a town in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka.
• The caves were constructed in the 6th century by the Chalukya Dynasty in their capital Badami, which was earlier known as Vatapi.
• The caves significantly represent Indian rock-cut architecture, especially Badami Chalukya architecture.
• The caves house several Hindu and Jain temples, The Hindu temples are mainly dedicated to Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, and their incarnations.
• The caves are a World Heritage Site of UNESCO.

Ellora Caves

• The caves are located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.
• The caves are complex of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain monuments; and are one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple cave complexes in the world.
• More than 100 caves are there at the site and all the monuments were built during the Rashtrakuta dynasty.
• It was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Gandhara art

• Gandhara art, a style of Buddhist visual art that developed in what is now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE.
• The style, of Greco-Roman origin, seems to have flourished largely during the Kushan dynasty and was contemporaneous with an important but dissimilar school of Kushan art at Mathura (Uttar Pradesh, India).
• Gandhara attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Buddhist Kushan Kings.
• A unique style of Buddhist sculpture called Gandhara art developed in ancient times in the Gandhara region of the Indian subcontinent.
• This art and culture associated with the Greco-Roman style of art.
• Grey Sandstone was used in the Gandhara School of Art for making images.
• Bamiyan Buddha is an example of the Gandhara School of Art.
• The Standing Buddha’s of Sravasti, Sarnath, and Kausambhi belongs to Mathura School of Arts.

Amaravati School of Art

• Amaravati school of art evolved and flourished for nearly six centuries commencing from 200-100 BC in India itself, i.e. it has no outside influence.
• It was patronized first by the Satavahanas and later by the Ikshvakus.
• The material used is a distinctive white marble and Amaravati sculptures have a sense of movement and energy with profound and quiet naturalism in human, animal and floral forms.
• Both religious (mainly Buddhist) and secular images were present in this style.

Nagara Temple Style

• In North India it is common for an entire temple to be built on a stone platform with steps leading up to it.
• Further, unlike in South India it does not usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways.
• While the earliest temples had just one tower, or shikhara, later temples had several.
• The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower.
• There are many subdivisions of nagara temples depending on the shape of the shikhara.
• There are different names for the various parts of the temple in different parts of India; however, the most common name for the simple shikhara which is square at the base and whose walls curve or slope inward to a point on top is called the 'latina' or the rekha-prasada type of shikara.
• The second major type of architectural form in the nagara order is the phamsana, which tends to be broader and shorter than latina ones.
• Their roofs are composed of several slabs that gently rise to a single point over the centre of the building, unlike the latina ones which look like sharply rising tall towers.
• The third main sub-type of the nagara building is generally called the valabhi type.
• These are rectangular buildings with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber.