Description

In this album photographs of monuments belonging to Buddhist, Jain, Hindu and Islamic peri-ods have been included. The Buddhist cave of Bawapyara st Junagadh belongs to Kshatrapa period. It was originally a Buddhist vihara. The Buddhist symbols of Chaitya motifs point to the fact that it was an important Buddhist monument. Later during the pre-Solanki and Solanki periods two styles of Hindu architecture developed the temples having pyramidal roof (cnhadyaprassad style) and the temples with curvilinear tower (Nagar style). The monuments of both these styles have been shown in the photographs. The 5th-6th century temple at Gop in Saurashtra (which is the earliest temple in Western India) and the Khimeshwar temple at Kuchhadi are examples of first style. The Roda temple stylistically represents a transitory archite-cture between the two. Whereas Munibawa, Kera, Kotai, Modhera, Ghumali and Lakhena tem-ples belong to the second tradition of temple building. During the Sultanate and Mughal periods a distinctive Islamic architecture developed in Gujarat wherein the Hindu influence is clearly seen. The photographs of mosques at Dholka and Champaner are also included in the album. All these monuments belonging to various religions also symbolize our national unity. Though in studying these various cultural aspects of Gujarat important contributions have been made by numerous individuals and organizations, it is not possible here to mention them all separately.

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