NAME - ISHAAN RANJAN

CLASS – 9TH
SECTION - 'B'
DATE – 8 NOVEMBER, 2020
ENROLLMENT NUMBER--->181114010557
HISTORY
PROJECT
TOPIC-
The art and
architectural
features of the
monuments:

• Buddhist Caves,
Ajanta
• Gol Gumbaz
,Bijapur
➢ Buddhist
Caves,
Ajanta
• Buddhist Caves, Ajanta
• The Ajanta Caves are 29 (approximately) rock-
cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd
century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad
district of Maharashtra state of India. They are both
chaityas and viharas. They are cut out of a large rocky
plateau. These historical structures are related to
Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. The caves at Ajanta
have 24 Buddhist viharas and five Hindu temples. These
are carved out of a rock of about 80 metres high and
about 380 metres long. The caves of Ajanta are related
to both Hinayana and Mahayana sect of Buddhism. Some
of the finest sculptures and paintings are in the caves at
Ajanta. Paintings are found in only a few of these caves,
which were created between 100 B.C. and the A.D.
400's.
The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described
as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art,
particularly expressive paintings that present emotion through
gesture, pose and form
According to UNESCO, these are masterpieces
of Buddhist religious art that influenced the Indian art that
followed. The caves were built in two phases, the first phase
starting around the 2nd century BCE, while the second phase
was built around 400–650 CE, according to older accounts, or
in a brief period of 460–480 CE according to later
scholarship.The site is a protected monument in the care of
the Archaeological Survey of India and since 1983, the Ajanta
Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and
worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved
into a 250-feet wall of rock .The caves also present
paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the
Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala,
and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities Textual
records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon
retreat for monks, as well as a resting-site for
merchants and pilgrims in ancient India. While
vivid colours and mural wall-painting were abundant in
Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves
16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of
surviving ancient Indian wall-painting.
➢ Gol
Gumbaz
,Bijapur
• Gol Gumbaz
,Bijapur
• The Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil
Shah.
• It is one of the largest single chambers ever built.
• Externally, the building is a great cube with a turret
or tower attached to each angle, with a large
hemispherical dome covering the whole.
• The effect of the building is derived from the fine
proportions between its various elements, especially
between the cubical part below and the domed part
above.
• Subsidiary elements include the wide cornice supported by
closely spaced brackets. Above this is an arcade of small
arches, their formality broken by their skillful spacing. Above
this is are the massive merlons with finials which break the
skyline well.
• Above the merlons are the foliations around the base of the
dome concealing the junction between the dome and the cube
below.
• The wall surface of the cube has three arches sunken into
them, the central one paneled out to bring it to the size of a
normal doorway.
• The width of each of the sides is equal to the height which is
a little above 200'. The exterior diameter of the dome is
144'.
• The interior of the structure is a single large hall, one of the
largest ever built, measuring 135' across, 178' high and the
gallery from where the dome springs is 110' from the pavement.

• The main architectural features of the hall are the tall pointed
arches which support the dome above.

• The arches have their bases within the sides of the square plan
while their planes of surface are at an angle, the intersection
above forming an eight sided figure on which the circular cornice is
projected.

• The dome is set back some 12' from the inside of this cornice so
that some of its weight is transferred onto the four walls, while
the rest is projected onto the intersecting arches which also
receive and counteract any outward thrust.
• The dome is a plain plastered vault with six small openings
through the drum and a flat section at its crown but no
central pendant.

• The dome consists of horizontal courses of bricks with

substantial layer of mortar between them. In other words,
it consists of a homogeneous shell of concrete reinforced
with bricks, the whole being of a thickness of 10'.

• Due to the system of oversailing courses of brickwork,

timber centering would be unnecessary, hence it was
probably not used in the construction of the dome except in
the section near the crown.