Rock temple
Rock temple is a summary term for cave temples, for monolithic temples that have been carved out of the rock and stand free in space, as well as for temple complexes that are located in a rock courtyard. Mixed forms also occur in which part of the temple, for example the sanctuary , is carved into the rock, while vestibules and sculptures in front of the temple were carved out of the rock or added to as built architecture.
Examples
- In Egypt , rock temples are mostly mixed forms (e.g. Abu Simbel ). Ancient Egyptian rock temples are commonly referred to as speos , (Greek for "cave" or "grotto").
- Numerous monolithic temples are known from early India or Sri Lanka (e.g. the Buddhist Ajanta caves , the cave monasteries of Karla , Bhaja and others ( Maharashtra ) or the cave temples of Dambulla (Sri Lanka) as well as the Hindu Pallava temples ( Tamil Nadu ), the Kailasa Temple of Ellora , the Elephanta Caves near Mumbai (Maharashtra) or the little-known Masrur Temple ( Himachal Pradesh )).
- There were also rock sanctuaries in pre-Columbian America (e.g. in Machu Picchu (Peru) or in Malinalco , (Mexico)).
See also
literature
- Hans Bonnet : rock temple. In: Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. Nikol, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-937872-08-6 , pp. 184f, 2nd edition: 1st edition: de Gruyter, Berlin 1971, ISBN 3-11-003365-8 .
- Rosemarie Klemm : From quarry to temple: observations on the building structure of some rock temples of the 18th and 19th dynasties in motherland Egypt. In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde- Vol. 115, 1988, pp. 41–51.
- Hans J. Martini: Geological problems in saving the rock temples of Abu Simbel. Vandenhoeck u. Ruprecht, Göttingen 1970.
- Herbert Plaeschke and Ingeborg Plaeschke: Indian rock temples and cave monasteries: Ajaṇṭā and Elūrā. Köhler & Amelang, Leipzig 1982.