STANDARD PLANS OF BUDDHIST CAVES OF WESTERN MALWA REGION : Study on the forms of the later Hinayana Buddhist caves in India Part 2

Abstract

This paper is the second part of the thesis on the forms of the later Hinayana Buddhist caves in India. In Western Malwa region, there are four other major groups of the Buddhist caves, that is, Caves at Poladungar, Khejadia Bhop, Kolvi and Binnayaga besides caves at Dhamnar. In this paper, standard plans of the carved caityagriha (or stupa- shaped shrine), the assembly hall and the residential cave in this region are studied on, As the result of this study, we may say that the carved caityagriha of this region is not modeled after the structural one, and that the plan of the pillared assembly hall is based on that of the typical residential cave of this region.