Between the Buddhist and Jain groups are fifteen or sixteen Brahmanical caves, which rival those of their predecessors in magnificence and richness of decoration. In the earlier examples, the Brahmans copied, to a certain extent, the arrangements of the Buddhist caves’; but they gradually deviated from their prototypes, by substituting sculpture for cells, till in the Kailasa, they completely emancipated themselves from the influence of Buddhist cave architecture. The earlier examples so nearly resemble the latest caves at Ajanta and Aurangabad, in their plans and in the style of their architectural details, that they may probably belong to the second half of the 7th century. Their chronological succession appears to be nearly in the order in which they are locally situated from the Buddhist group.
