Top Ten Of The Most Known Rock And Stone Based Indian Sculptures

The art of etching life into stone to make a beautiful sculpture can be really fascinating. When you look at such art and that too from an era when we knew that the people involved in the art did not have access to tools of today. In countries like India, the sculptures of yesteryear live on in temples and monuments of the past. Many of the sites like these are now considered heritage sites that can be found around the country. When you consider the most famous sculptures across the globe, then you realize that there is so much more for you to see.

These Indian sculptures are quite unlike the perfectly imperfect sculptures of Bruno Catalano, but one cannot deny that they too are fascinating. These sculptures have stood the test of time which differs from ice sculptures and you should know about them but they are an entirely different type of sculpture from the examples given below:

Kangra Fort in Himachal Pradesh: This rates among the oldest forts in India and there are mentions of this fort as far back as 4^th century BC in the war records of Alexander the great. One can only imagine the sturdiness of the way these richly carved structures of the past.

Dilwara Temple in Mount Abu, Rajasthan: Based in the hill station of Mount Abu, these temples of the Jain religion were built in the eleventh to thirteenth century. One look at the marvelous carvings on the marble structures in the temple will leave you completely mesmerized.

Qutub Minar in Delhi: This site that has been declared an UNESCO world heritage site ranks as the highest tower of stone and is dating back to 1052 CE. This is made of marble and red stone and has 379 steps that have inscriptions and carvings. You can see many words written in Arabic and carvings when you look at it closely.

Mahishasura Mardini Cave in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu: This location boasts a number of temples in caves that have sculptures on the walls. But in this case it is the twin panels that are opposite each other depicting the goddess obliterating the demon king that will catch your eye and leave your reeling.

Jami Masjid, Champaner in Gujarat: This one can be visited at Champaner, 47 kilometers from the city of Baroda. This mosque has two minarets that have intricate stonework that is really remarkable along with the work on the ceilings and to imagine all this was done in 1513.

Stone carvings at Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebid in Karnataka: These temples’ have wall carvings that will delight you. These sculptures date back to the 1121 CE and the details that the sculptures have can leave you reeling in delight.

Monolith Carvings at Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu: The fascinating sculptures in Mahabalipuram are not just restricted to the Mardini cave. These monolith carvings date back to the time period between seventh and ninth centuries and have survived the fury of waves from the seas.

Wall carvings at Sun Temple, Konark in Odisha: These out of the ordinary carvings date back to the thirteenth century and has been compared to poetry in stones. These sculptures are not only decoration but also speak of the daily life of the past. This chronicle on stone is indeed remarkable.

Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra: We cannot talk about famous stone works of India without mentioning these famous caves. These 29 rock cut monuments were discovered by happenstance by a British officer in the year 1819. These caves have become quite a tourist attraction.

Akshardham in Delhi: These are more of a modern testimony to carving and sculpture work and has 234 pillars, 9 domes and 20000 statues. One can see that elephants have been given a lot of importance in the sculpture in this building and use of Italian marble and pink sandstone makes this building stand out.