Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
The Kailasa temple (Cave 16) was carved under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I in the 8th century as a monolithic temple cut downward from a single rock. The Chalukyas of Badami built the Badami cave temples and the temples at Aihole and Pattadakal, the Pallavas built the Mahabalipuram rathas and Shore Temple, and the Cholas built structural temples such as the Brihadeeswara at Thanjavur.
- Statement 1: The Ajanta caves are located in Madhya Pradesh.
- Statement 2: The Barabar caves were excavated for Jain monks.
Statement 1 is incorrect — Ajanta is in Maharashtra, in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) district, on the Waghora river. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Barabar caves in Bihar, the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, were donated by Ashoka and Dasharatha to the Ajivika sect, not to Jains.
Statement (d) is incorrect — the Pancha Rathas at Mahabalipuram were carved under the Pallavas, especially Narasimhavarman I (Mamalla), in the 7th century. The other statements are correct: the Barabar caves have the highly polished interiors typical of Mauryan craftsmanship, Udayagiri–Khandagiri near Bhubaneswar were carved for Jain monks and carry Kharavela’s Hathigumpha inscription, and the Ajanta paintings were executed on plastered cave walls in a fresco-like technique.
- Assertion (A): The Ajanta and Ellora caves are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- Reason (R): Both sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.
A is correct — Ajanta and Ellora are both on the UNESCO World Heritage List. R is also correct — both were inscribed in 1983, among India’s earliest World Heritage Sites alongside Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. However, R does not explain A: the year of inscription is only a fact about the listing, while the real reason is their outstanding universal value — the Buddhist art of Ajanta, and Ellora’s coexistence of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves.
- A chaitya is a Buddhist prayer hall, while a vihara is a monastery for monks.
- The chaitya at Karla in Maharashtra is one of the largest rock-cut chaityas in India.
- The Lomas Rishi cave in the Barabar hills is known for its carved entrance imitating wooden architecture.
All three statements are correct. A chaitya is a prayer hall, usually apsidal with a stupa at one end, while a vihara is a residence for monks. The Karla chaitya (1st century BCE–1st century CE), near Lonavala, is among the largest and best-preserved rock-cut chaityas. The Lomas Rishi cave has an ogee-shaped arched entrance that imitates timber construction, a key example of the wood-to-stone transition in Indian architecture.
