The Indian tradition of carving caves, halls, monasteries and temples directly out of living rock rather than building them with cut stones, running from the Mauryas to the early medieval period.
- Earliest examples are the Barabar and Nagarjuni caves (Bihar), cut for the Ajivika sect under Ashoka and his grandson Dasharatha; known for their polished interiors.
- Buddhist rock-cut forms are the chaitya (an apsidal prayer hall with a stupa and a horseshoe-shaped facade window) and the vihara (a monastery with cells around a courtyard).
- The Western Ghats hold the main Buddhist caves: Ajanta (paintings and sculpture), Karle (a grand chaitya), Bhaja, Bedsa, Kanheri and Nashik.
- Ajanta (Maharashtra) is famed for its murals (fresco-like painting) on Jataka themes, spanning the Satavahana to Vakataka periods; Ellora has Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves together.
- Ellora's Kailasa temple (Cave 16), cut top-down out of a single rock by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I, is the largest monolithic rock-cut structure.
- The Pallavas at Mahabalipuram carved the rathas (monolithic temples) and the Descent of the Ganga relief; Elephanta (near Mumbai) has the Trimurti Shiva.
Ajanta (painting), Ellora (three-faith caves and the monolithic Kailasa under the Rashtrakutas), Barabar (Ashoka, Ajivikas) and Mahabalipuram (Pallavas) are recurring monument-to-dynasty and monument-to-feature matches.
Ajanta has paintings and is purely Buddhist; Ellora is later, has Hindu, Buddhist and Jain caves, and houses the Kailasa temple; the chaitya is the prayer hall while the vihara is the residential monastery.
Caves carved from living rock; chaitya (hall) and vihara (monastery); Barabar (Ashoka), Ajanta (paintings), Ellora (Kailasa, three faiths), Mahabalipuram (Pallavas).