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@Chinese-Dragon - Could you provide me pointers at some basics of Buddhism? I am marveled with especially noticed in Ladakh, Himachal - I presume that is known as Tibetan. It is simply unique; looks quite different than what you notice in other parts of India. No offences meant, but most of the Buddhist religious movement in rest of the India is hijacked by political clowns for vote bank. On the other hand once practicsed in Himachal, Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim looks ultra pure, serene ! What attracts me is the Avalokiteshwara. I also understand there are some various forms of Buddha - Past, future; similarly various forms of Buddhism.

A gentleman parted me load of information on similar account last year while visiting those areas; but most of that has eroded out of my mind.
 
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Because the discussion is about ancient "India" which belongs to all of us (whether some Indians like it or not).

I am actually quite OK with that, and even welcome that thought. What can be somewhat amusing and a little exasperating is when some people try to claim that it is all Pakistan's proprietary heritage, that is being stolen!
 
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Because the discussion is about ancient "India" which belongs to all of us (whether some Indians like it or not).
Thing is people claim IVC as they sole property. May be that's why.

I consider all this as part of Indian sub-continent. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh included.
 
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World's largest Vedic temple to be ready by 2016, says Iskcon - India - DNA

The International Society of Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) on Monday said the world's largest Vedic temple 'Chandrodaya Mandir', which is under construction at West Bengal's Mayapur, would be inaugurated in 2016.

The 340-foot-high temple, being constructed at a cost of about $75 million or about Rs37.5 crore at the birthplace of 16th century saint and social reformer Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nadia district, will be a centre of Vedic knowledge, culture and science, Iskcon officials said.

Construction work for the temple, dedicated to the worship of Lord Krishna, started in 2010.

Alfred Brush Ford, scion of US automobile pioneer Henry Ford, who has shouldered the responsibility of financing the first phase of the construction, told reporters here that the Chandrodaya temple would be a world class of attraction, bringing visitors from around the globe.

Ford, who is also the chairman of the temple, said, "This historic project does not belong to any community or an individual but to the entire human race."

ISKON officials said the temple spread across 425,000 square feet will also boast a state of the art 75-feet tall domed planetarium theatre, the largest in India.

"The temple will be built at a total cost of $75 million, in which about $35 million has already been donated by Ford. The construction work will be completed by 2016," an Iskcon official said.

"We will invite the US president along with the Indian president to inaugurate the huge temple," he added.
 
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Ratnagiri, Odisha

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Ratnagiri (Oriya: ରତ୍ନଗିରି) was once the site of a mahavihara, or major Buddhist monastery, in the Brahmani and Birupa river valley in Jajpur district of Odisha, India. It was part of the Puspagiri University, together with Lalitgiri and Udayagiri.

Ratnagiri was established no later than the reign of the Gupta king Narasimha Baladitya in the first half of the sixth century CE, and flourished until the twelfth century CE. A Tibetan history, the Pag Sam Jon Zang, identifies Ratnagiri as an important center in the development of the Kalachakratantra in the 10th century CE, an assertion supported by the discovery of a number of votive stupas, plaques, and other artifacts featuring Kalachakra imagery.

Architectural features

A large-scale excavation was conducted at the site between 1958 and 1961,[2] uncovering much of what is known today. The main stupa dates to the 9th century AD and was likely built on the site of an earlier, Gupta-era stupa. Seals were found bearing the legend "Sri Ratnagiri Mahavihariya Aryabikshu Sanghasya," which helped identify it. Prominent, well-preserved standing statues of the bodhisattvas Vajrapani and Padmapani can be found in niches in a portico. Monastery No. 2 features a central paved courtyard flanked by a pillared veranda around which are eighteen cells, a central shrine featuring an image of Shakyamuni in varada mudra flanked by Brahma and Sakra, and elaborately ornamented entrance porticos.

According to Amit Jha, a lecturer in the Department of History at Sri Aurobindo College, Delhi University, "Ratnagiri comprises two magnificent monasteries, also rebuilt more than once. One of them was double-storyed and had an extensive courtyard with two-sides of it having a number of cells for habitation of monks. Besides, we have archaeological remains of six temples, thousands of small stupas, 1386 seals, myriad sculptural relics and architectural pieces of daily use. The largest stupa was 47 feet (14 m) square and 17 feet (5.2 m) high surrounded by four minor stupas. There are hundreds of miniature votive stupas decorated with lotus, petal and beaded tassels."

A museum now located on the site displays statuary featuring Tara, Avalokiteshvara, Aparajita, and Hariti have also been found, all in prototypical of Gupta style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratnagiri_(Orissa)

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Ajanta Caves

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The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE.[1] The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting",[2] which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales.[3] The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period between 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink.[4] The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India,[5] and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; indeed other survivals from the area of modern India are very few indeed, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka.

Like other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta was a kind of college monastery, with a large emphasis on teaching, and divided into several different colleges for living and for some of the education, under a central direction. The layout of the site reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected via the exterior. The seventh-century traveling scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dinnaga, the celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived there in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement must have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have used Ajanta as a base to return to during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.

The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.

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Paintings

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves
 
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Ellora Caves

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Ellora (Marathi: वेरूळ Vērūḷ) also known as Ellooru, is an archaeological site, 29 km (18 mi) North-West of the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty. Well known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site.[1] Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock-cut temples and viharas and mathas were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history.[2] It is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Buddhist caves

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These caves were built during the 5th-7th century. It was initially thought that the Buddhist caves were one of the earliest structures, created between the fifth and eighth centuries, with caves 1-5 in the first phase (400-600) and 6-12 in the later phase (mid 7th-mid 8th), but now it is clear to the modern scholars that some of the Hindu caves (27,29,21,28,19,26,20,17 and 14) precede these caves. The earliest Buddhist cave is Cave 6, followed by 5,2,3,5 (right wing), 4,7,8,10 and 9. Caves 11 and 12 were the last. All the Buddhist caves were constructed between 630-700.[5]

These structures consist mostly of viharas or monasteries: large, multi-storeyed buildings carved into the mountain face, including living quarters, sleeping quarters, kitchens, and other rooms. Some of these monastery caves have shrines including carvings of Gautama Buddha, bodhisattvas and saints. In many of these caves, sculptors have endeavoured to give the stone the look of wood.

The Vishwakarma

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The Vishwakarma (Cave 10) is the only chaitya griha amongst the Buddhist group of caves. It is locally known as Vishwakarma or Sutar ka jhopda "carpenter's hut". It follows the pattern of construction of Caves 19 and 26 of Ajanta. On stylistic grounds, the date of construction of this cave is assigned to 700 A.D. The chaitya once had a high screen wall, which is ruined at present. At the front is a rock-cut court, which is entered through a flight of steps. On either side are pillared porticos with chambers in their back walls. These were probably intended to have subsidiary shrines but not completed. The pillared verandah of the chaitya has a small shrine at either end and a single cell in the far end of the back wall. The corridor columns have massive squarish shafts and ghata-pallava (vase and foliage) capitals. The main hall is apsidal on plan and is divided in to a central nave and side aisles by 28 octagonal columns with plain bracket capitals. In the apsidal end of the chaitya hall is a stupa on the face of which a colossal 3.30 m high seated Buddha in vyakhyana mudra (teaching posture) is carved. A large Bodhi tree is carved at the back. The hall has a vaulted roof in which ribs have been carved in the rock imitating the wooden ones.

The Hindu caves

The Hindu caves were constructed between the middle of sixth century to the end of the eighth century. The early caves (caves 17–29) were constructed during the Kalachuri period. The work first commenced in Caves 28, 27 and 19. These were followed by two most impressive caves constructed in the early phase - Caves 29 and 21. Along with these two, work was underway at Caves 20 and 26, and slightly later at Caves 17, 19 and 28.[8] The caves 14, 15 and 16 were constructed during the Rashtrakuta period. The work began in Caves 14 and 15 and culminated in Cave 16.[8] All these structures represent a different style of creative vision and execution skills. Some were of such complexity that they required several generations of planning and co-ordination to complete.

The Jain caves

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The five Jain caves at Ellora belong to the ninth and tenth centuries. They all belong to the Digambara sect.[11] Jain caves reveal specific dimensions of Jain philosophy and tradition. They reflect a strict sense of asceticism – they are not relatively large as compared to others, but they present exceptionally detailed art works. The most remarkable Jain shrines are the Chhota Kailash (cave 30), the Indra Sabha (cave 32) and the Jagannath Sabha (cave 33). Cave 31 is an unfinished four-pillared hall and a shrine.[12] Cave 34 is a small cave, which can be approached through an opening on the left side of Cave 33.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellora_Caves
 
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Elephanta Caves

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The Elephanta Caves (Marathi: घारापुरीची लेणी, Gharapurichya Lenee) are a network of sculpted caves located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally "the city of caves") in Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the east of the city of Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The island, located on an arm of the Arabian Sea, consists of two groups of caves—the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the Shaiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the god Shiva.[1][2]

The rock cut architecture of the caves has been dated to between the 5th and 8th centuries, although the identity of the original builders is still a subject of debate. The caves are hewn from solid basalt rock. All the caves were also originally painted in the past, but now only traces remain.

History

Since no inscriptions on any of the caves on the island have been discovered, the ancient history of the island is conjectural, at best. Pandava, the hero of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and Banasura, the demon devotee of Shiva, are both credited with building temples or cut caves to live. Local tradition holds that the caves are not man-made.[3][7]

The Elephanta caves are "of unknown date and attribution". Art historians have dated the caves in the range of late 5th to late 8th century AD.[7] Archaeological excavations have unearthed a few Kshatrapa coins dated to 4th century AD. The known history is traced only to the defeat of Mauryan rulers of Konkan by the Badami Chalukyas emperor Pulakesi II (609–642) in a naval battle, in 635 AD. Elephanta was then called Puri or Purika, and served as the capital of the Konkan Mauryas. Some historians attribute the caves to the Konkan Mauryas, dating them to the mid 6th century, though others refute this claim saying a relatively small kingdom like the Konkan Mauryas could not undertake "an almost superhuman excavation effort," which was needed to carve the rock temples from solid rock and could not have the skilled labor to produce such "high quality" sculpture.

Some other historians attribute the construction to the Kalacuris (late 5th to 6th century), who may have had a feudal relationship with the Konkan Mauryas. In an era where polytheism was prevalent, the Elephanta main cave dedicates the monotheism of the Pashupata Shaivism sect, a sect to which Kalacuris as well as Konkan Mauryas belonged.[7]

The Chalukyas, who defeated the Kalacuris as well as the Konkan Mauryas, are also believed by some to be creators of the main cave, in the mid 7th century. The Rashtrakutas are the last claimants to the creation of the main cave, approximated to the early 7th to late 8th century. The Elephanta Shiva cave resembles in some aspects the 8th century Rashtrakuta rock-temple Kailash at Ellora. The Trimurti of Elephanta showing the three faces of Shiva is akin to the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva), which was the royal insignia of the Rashtrakutas. The Nataraja and Ardhanarishvara sculptures are also attributed to the Rashtrakutas.

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