The next type of religious edifices gets better representatiion in South India. They are usually called cave temples and are found in the Deccan. They are Buddhist.
There are two types among them namely viharas (monasteries) and chaitya halls. The vihara had a verandiah in front. It was a big hall with square cells cut in the rock to accommodate asceties.
The chaitya on the other hand was a vaulted congregation hall with an apsidal back, and a rock hewn stupa at one end. It is divided into a nave and side-aisles by rows of pillars. Light and air are let in through windows over the door-ways.
The earlier chaityas which were Hinayanist in character bear less ornamentation and are imitative of wooden models. In fact wooden girders are used in some of them. In later chaityas there are found sculptures particularly on the tops of pillars.
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The most important among them are those at Nasik and Karle. Probably they may be assigned to the first and second centuries AD. The viharas of a later period contain a shrine chamber with a pillared assembly hall in front. Buddhist images were carved on the walls. Though in the earlier stages the viharas were single storeyed, caves with two or three storeys were made in later times.
Some of the caves in Ajanta are of this variety. Though most of them were Buddhist caves some were Brahmanical also. Most of these caves are found in the Western Ghats which were probably very well suited for such excavatiion. The tradition of excavation continued till about the tenth century.
The places where these caves are found are Bhaja, Bedsa, Junnar, Karle, Elephanta, Kanheri, Nasik, Ajanta, Ellora, Aurangabad, Ter, Chezarla etc. The earliest examples of the temple architecture in the Deccan are seen in the temple complex at Aihole, Pattadakkal and Badami.
In the Tamil country as also in south Andhra Pradesh there appear to have existed temples from very early times though they are not extant now. Tamil Sangam literature contains numerous references to temples, deities consecrated in them and the festivals conducted in their honor; but unfortunately those temples do not exist now.
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Most probably they were made of perishable material like wood and therefore they perished in course of time. It is not even easy to get any clue with regard to their shape or size. However the bas reliefs from Amaravati, Jaggyapet, Nagarjunakonda and Goli contian different examples of architecture which include different types of religious shrines and they may probably be able to suggest the types of religious edifices that existed in early South India. In early Hindu religious structures stone was not used.
No Hindu stone monuments, rock-cut or structural, are found in the Tamil country dating from a time anterior to the sixth century AD, though stone had come into use as may be seen from the Yupas (sacrifical posts) in distant Borneo, even a century earlier.
But the need for the use of the permanent medium of stone in the making of temples was realised more and more and stone came to be used in such construction in South India from about the beginning of the 7th century. The first king associated with the practice of making temples of stone in the Tamil country was Mahendravarman I (c. 580-630).
The period of the Pallavas was probably the most creative epoch in the history of South India which was marked by the revival of Saivism and Vaishnavism led by an efflorescence of literary activity and development of art, architecture, sculpture and painting, though on the political side it was marked by frequent wars between the Pallavas, Pandyas, Gangas and the Western Chalukyas and later the Rashtrakutas and many minor dynasties that ruled over different parts of South India.