What is/are common to the two historical places known as Ajanta and Mahabalipuram?
- 1.Both were built in the same period.
- 2.Both belong to the same religious denomination.
- 3.Both have rock-cut monuments.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 3 only
The only thing common to Ajanta and Mahabalipuram is that both have rock-cut monuments. Ajanta is a Buddhist cave site cut in two phases, about the 2nd-1st century BCE and the 5th century CE, while Mahabalipuram is a Pallava group of the 7th and 8th centuries whose dynasty was mostly Shaivite.
- ✗ 1. Ajanta's caves belong to two phases, about the 2nd-1st century BCE and the 5th century CE onwards; Mahabalipuram's monuments were made mostly in the 7th and 8th centuries under the Pallavas.
- ✗ 2. Ajanta's caves are Buddhist, whereas the Pallava monuments at Mahabalipuram were mostly Shaivite (with some Vaishnava shrines).
- ✓ 3. Both are famous for rock-cut caves and monuments: Ajanta's chaitya and vihara caves and Mahabalipuram's rock-cut mandapas and rathas.
Remember · Ajanta: Buddhist rock-cut caves (2nd century BCE to 5th century CE). Mahabalipuram: Pallava rock-cut and structural temples (7th-8th century), mostly Shaivite. Common feature: rock-cut architecture.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Ch 6 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 4 “It has four chaitya caves datable to the earlier phase, i.e., the second and the first century BCE (Cave Nos. 10 and 9) and the later phase, i.e., the fifth century CE (Cave Nos. 19 and 26).”
- NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 6 “Mahabalipuram is an important coastal town from the period of the Pallavas. It is dotted with several important rock-cut and free-standing structural temples mostly made in the seventh and eighth centuries.”
- NCERT Class 11 · An Introduction to Indian Art, Part I, Chapter 6 “Although they were mostly Shaivite, several Vaishnava shrines also survived from their reign”
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram ↗ “This group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·