Ancient Indian caves were carved to look like wooden halls
Deep inside the cliffs of Maharashtra, ancient monks spent centuries painstakingly carving a mountain into the shape of a wooden palace that will never rot.
The Ajanta Caves are a triumph of stone masquerading as wood. Starting in the 2nd century BC, Buddhist monks used iron chisels to hollow out 30 massive caves from solid basalt. What makes these caves extraordinary is that the architects painstakingly replicated the details of contemporary timber construction—carving decorative 'beams,' 'ribs,' and 'pegs' into the ceiling that serve no structural purpose in a rock-cut room.
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