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DO NOT STATE WHAT WAS ACHIVED BY INDIAN WHO CARVED AND POLISHED AS FOREIGN INFLUENCE. LEARNING SKILLS FROM OTHER IS NORMAL, IT GOES BOTH WAYS. WHAT MAKES IT GREAT IS EXBITTING WHAT YOU LEARNED.
Many Indian historians believe that Persians entered India after the break-up of the empire. It’s very possible that the Mauryan kings commissioned them to create the caves and stonework. Obviously they would have shared/spread the knowledge with local people over time. The same thing happened throughout history. In pretty much every country. Everyone influences everyone else as people migrate. When I see a Roman column in England, I don’t think that Iron Age British made them, most would suggest the Romans made them. And then the Roman’s taught the British. As an example.
unreal stone work , how the hell did they do that . India has a bigger place in history than it gets the credit for . great vid Matt ..thanks as always
We can't know had they did it. We can know that they could not have achieved it with the tools of the day. It would be an extremely difficult task today with all our modern equipment. The only way to understand any of this is through an engineering analysis.
@@BluntofHwicce Oh really, sand paper or such like. H'mm I presume you have direct experience of cutting a huge symmetrical chamber out of solid granite and polishing it by hand with 'abrasives'? If so please let me know exactly how you did this. Modern technology could create something like this, we have computer controlled machines and massively powerful tools creating very similar marks to what is found in this location, however, the cost and time would be too excessive and would never be done. Michaelangelo worked in soft materials and was an artist sculpting the human form, very different from the precision and difficulty we see here.
In my "free time" lately , I've been fully immersed in the Vedic texts and Hinduism. The Yugas are a fascinating and quite compelling account of past abilities now lost. India intrigues me and I greatly appreciate your researching there. Well done sir.😁
2:25 This is India's current national emblem😊 Four Asiatic lions (only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view) standing back to back, symbolising power, courage, confidence, and pride, mounted on a circular base. At the bottom is a horse and a bull, and at its centre is a wheel (Dharma chakra). The sculptures in high relief of The Lion of the North, The Horse of the West, The Bull of the South and The Elephant of the East, separated by intervening wheels, over a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. Carved from a single block of sandstone, the polished capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
When I talk like that people scoff. Yet, they have no idea why there are seven birds carved at the base of one of the central monoliths in enclosure D of Gobekli Tepe.
@@PatchouliPenny - Basically it shows the origin of the cataclysm as the Pleiades to which the Taurid Stream seems to appear from. Follow the avatar icon and email me, I would be glad to explain it. Even the Egyptians portray it as a bird sitting on a bull. It is very probable why in India the bovine is venerated and let to wander where they please.
I love watching this channel. I am fascinated by ancient civilizations and always always learn things I had never heard of. Thank you for all the research you do.
I love his concept on that, the truth tho, is were a species that is and has been war torn, we kill eachother and destroy anything and anyone who opposes our individualism, amnesia would be right were we a passive race, truth is weve destroyed our on history to cover it up sonwe can usher in our way and do away with the old. Amnesia is such a nice way of putting it tho
Another fascinating Ancient Architects video on ancient Indian architectural gems. What is particularly noteworthy of Matt's discussions is that possibilities and sometimes probabilities are discussed in a manner consistent with rational scientific thought. Matt is careful to avoid a preferred notion based on tradition or legend, but rather on objectively verifiable evidence. This keeps the subject open, and is even more interesting and enjoyable than otherwise. Keep up the great work, Matt Sahib, मैट, हमारे प्राचीन वास्तुकला विद्वान!
As an artist who has done sculpture in wood and stone, what I see in these superb structures and monuments carved out of solid rock is craftsmanship on a level beyond our comprehension in the present day, and that means there must have been a huge infrastructure to back it up. There had to have been university-style training by master artists and sculptors who taught legions of young artists in their forgotten techniques to have such a precision and mastery of their work. Like ink drawings, there are no mistakes in sculpture that are admisable. You have to be spot on from begining to end. Sculpture in those mysterious times in India, Persia and other cultures might have been what the study of the afterlife was to ancient Egyptians, by thisI mean in that maybe the most talented and intelligent students were drafted into schools of higher learning in the arts. It is perhaps not a surprise that the secrets of the masters were lost in the sands of time. Even today, we have no idea how artists like Van Eyk made his glazes---simply because every artist guarded their formulaes for glazes and mixing paints in total secrecy.
An interesting take. Interestingly, one of the oldest, if not the oldest university of the world, Nalanda University was situated few kilometers from the site. On a sidenote, Buddha also attained "enlightenment" few kilometers from this site in Gaya (mentioned in the video) and started preaching what we now call Buddhism.
with the right tools that's actually not a big deal nowadays. We know how comparable things were made by hand using simple tools and lots of time and sweat in the past, so that's probably what happened here, too. There's no secret. it's just a question of how much time and energy you are willing to spend. Such is life.
@@beurksman GGGGGGreat to hear from you. Michelangelo carved the Pièta at 24 years old, so you're right. Genious artists, scientists, mathmaticians etc., are never in time with their times.
Stone masons have kept many of their techniques a secret over the years passing them down from master to journeyman when they are ready. Polishing a hard stone usually requires a harder stone in various grits to slowly bring the surface to a high finish. When I lap granite surface plates I usually use a diamond powder or synthetic diamond powder in several different grits to bring the granite back to a AA grade flat surface.
Not a harder stone, but as hard or harder on Mohs scale of hardness. Because we use diamond sintered blades on masonry slab saws, it’s easy to overlook the next step down on the scale, corundum. Sri Lanka is home to the worlds oldest corundum production which includes mining and cutting. There are people still using ancient bow powered stone lathes to cut corundum (ruby and sapphire) into gems for the lapidary industry. Their lathes are mostly wood and look very similar to the ones depicted in ancient Egypt.
The Mauryan Polish is unbelievable. It was not only done on flat walls, but also on columns and sculpture. I guess polishing grits and elbow grease got it done but, wow 😳.
I love that you are covering the ancient sites in India. I have watch Praveen's channel for long time & the country has such a long history. One thing I learned from his videos is that the ancient ones built practical knowlege & functional inventions into these temples. Have we missed looking at other ancient cultures' building practices with a similar eye? Thank you for the great videos. I have learned much & questioned more as I watch them.
Gonna go out on a limb here and say the other artistically intricate sculptures weren't created in the same time period. I'd even argue that the entrance is a later add-on. The caves themselves are something older and more practical where precision, not art was the goal.
That looks a lot like the polish on the boxes iin the Serapeum in Egypt. No doubt that is a very spectacular polish to hold a shine like that even after all of these years. Great video 👍👍👍👍😎🤟
Puts a dent on the theory that they are super ancient or done by ancient high tech machines if all these other places with glass like polish can be dated.
I was there in 2023, there is one tour guide who was was very enthusiastic. It doesn’t get the recognition it should. The local govt. should make sure to safeguard the caves and also other sects from encroaching it as more people start visiting it.
Great video Matt! Funny, I've been watching BAM, that megalithic culture doc on Prime.. and I litterially watched the part on these incredible caves last night! I think acoustics are the key to discovering what they were used for and why the insane level of flat, polished surfaces were required. The writing is clearing added at a later date as it is primitive in comparison.
@@AncientArchitects You’re welcome! I’ve been a viewer for years. Your work is fantastic. From covering geopolymer pyramid casing stones, to the King Tut tomb hoax, to the study of the practice shafts that match the design of the descending shaft of the great pyramid, and the process of excavating into the pyramid, you provide a perspective that is extremely valuable. I hope in time you receive the praise and credit you deserve as these concepts inevitably go mainstream.
For me the most basic Indian temple can blow my mind. They are temples that have every square inch filled with intricate carvings. They really had some master stone masons there that could do amazing things so there's nothing imo that they couldnt do.
@@akshy9560 That' might be true. Ancient India (yes, even during Imhotep's Egypt era since ancient India is pretty darn old) might have been producing services like the OP suggested and of course later traded food, cotton, spices, etc. to get the gold it got because India itself is not that much rich in gold reserves.
Agreed. Even then... how? the extreme flatness makes me think the polishing surface would have had to be too big to be hand held... by one person anyway and it would have to be flawlessly flat too.
@@Gamerock82 What gets me is the polish on all the tiny protruding details. makes me think, they did something like pressured air sand blasting, with finer and finer grains (like those 5 step nail polishing kits, tbe last step would be, inside out leather!
@@schoolhomevrtechnologyassi6286 Or.... even more astonishing than the flatness of the flats, (Clearly indicative of either skills or machines we can only imagine) would be small, hand held machines with interchangeable heads like today's grinders and polishers. Using graded abrasives just as you described. Anyway... a lot of fun to speculate. Hey at least we know it was never Diorite pounding stones. LOL ridiculous notion.
Its incredible to see the unfinished cave. You can see part of the process they used. The rocks look like they were scrapped out with some kind of very able tool; almost 3-4 pronged tool, perhaps comb-like.
Great work. Genius architecture by Ancient Indians. It is said that they had a device or tool with which they could cut through any hard rock like we slice butter with knife. We need to dig deeper into the ancient Indian (Hindu) scriptures and texts.
If I could go back in time I will go back to when these ancient caves were made or when the pyramids were being built because I would love to see with my very own eyes how these things were made.
Truly fascinating topic, Matt. Great presentation and visuals. That finish on sand stone is mind boggling. You say a possible import from the near East... Could be the other way too, right? Perhaps the technique was shared with the creators of the Serapeum's boxes? Accurate dating would clarify, I guess. I was aware of the intricate bedrock carvings but had no clue about this level of gloss polishing in ancient India. Live and learn. Thank you for this. Cheers mate.
@@BluntofHwicce Weird, then, that Crete does not boast one art piece even close to Egypt's or India's perfection. EDIT: Apologies for the oh so YT norm of commenting without checking. I will soon but in the mean time I'm open to correction on this. With links, if possible. Will shorten the search.
Cause we're born with no knowledge and only thing we know from the past is what we're told. India has some superb ancient temples and phenomenal stone work
Thank you for highlighting this and subscribed. I took a flight out of Patna from a visit to Bodh Gaya a couple of years ago and never knew about this early Buddhist rock caves.
Asian monolithic stonework is the greatest of all. Not only is it incredibly difficult to cut all these structures with all that unbelievably fine detail into the bedrock and polish it to mirror finish. What is even more incredible is, this kind of work needs extremely precise planning before work even gets started. There is no room for mistake or later additions. Rock that once is cut away can not be replaced. All that work was done without electric light and without ventilation systems. I don't say it's impossible, but they were pushing the limits to the extreme.
Thankyou for looking into India, I think the study of worldwide megalithic stonework may find some answers there, especially considering Indias abundance of ancient writings.
Hi, Thanks for this very interesting video. How can we explain not only the polish but the precision of the cutting inside de caves and the rather approximate carvings on the door and inscriptions inside? Do you believe, like others, that these caves could have been created by one civilization and then recycled and carved (door and inscriptions) by another? Looking forward to your next videos and to more understanding this great culture. Cheers
whoever made those caves, thats lost tech. those flat walls are like 0.0011 flat. crazy skill. all inside a tight space, no traces of sootmarks , burn marks on walls ext. no traces of where the rock they removed is ext.
For another very interesting perspective on the Barabar caves, check out the video titled: *"Barabar Caves even more impressive than Great Pyramid chambers! Lost carving tech?"*
There are so many of these structures n India carved into these rolled dough shaped granite outcrops . Makes me wonder if they carved these outcrops to look like that , they are all very smooth also.
The reality is that these caves are carved with planes that have a precision beyond what the Indians were capable of measuring (let alone cutting) at the time these structures are attributed to. There was advanced technology operating on Earth, the evidence is overwhelming. Who, when, how, why? I'm not sure. But a study of the precision tells the tale. You cannot carve something more accurately than you can measure it
@@BluntofHwicce Everyone knows of wet abrasion. You're repeating it like you've figured out the universe. Your incessant focus on the "polishing" which is just a small part of the video is weird. For example, as mentioned with the granite boxes at the serapeum. No one is obsessing about the polish and shine on many of the boxes. More people are wondering how they quarried, cut, moved, placed, carved (and polished) the boxes with such precision. The purpose etc...
@@BluntofHwicce You can not use wet abrasives to hollow out a 100+ ton granite box. Furthermore, you can't use wet abrasives to cut the lid off a 100+ ton granite box. Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to achieve the level of flatness and the miniscule tolerances of the granite boxes in the serapeum of Saqqara. The tolerances of some of the boxes are .9 microns. Impossible to achieve by hand, much less the inside 90 deg right angles. There is also not enough space inside the alcoves for this work to be completed. You can have all of the plumb lines, rulers, compasses etc...you're still never going to achieve those tolerances by hand. Whoever built those boxes (as well as other megalithic structures) had technology that we have yet to figure out. The cut/tool marks are littered all over the world. Whatever they used, however they used it, it appears it was easy for them to do so given the quality and quantity of these sites. Lastly, look at the statues of Ramses at Luxor. The faces of the statues built out of solid granite. The faces are all identical. So identical that when you transpose the left and right sides o the faces they match up precisely as a mirror image of each other. The only way you could achieve that symmetry is by the use of CNC type machining. Christopher Dunn (who is an engineer as well) speaks at length about this. Start at about 40:00- Also the unfinished obelisk at aswan, if you go down the sides of it and look at the scoop marks and measure the distance between the high ridges they are equal. Every single one of them. No dolorite ball pounders were used. It's fine to say wet abrasives were used for the polishing. I agree with you on that as you can see on the underside of the lids of the granite boxes where the wet solution dripped down and onto the bottom of the lid. th-cam.com/video/YZFN29FdCM0/w-d-xo.html
The walls are more than "extremely flat". In fact none are actually flat. Every apparently flat surface when precisely surveyed with lidar they all display absolutley perfect LONG radius curves. So long that to the eyes and sense of touch the curve is imperceptible. But very precise AND accurate. This wasn't done by hand. It doesn't matter HOW much money you pour at it, in the end the ONLY way this can be achieved is with high speed cutting tools guided by either analog gearing or cams of even more insane precision on an Absolutely true square and inflexible frame with a carriage for the cutter head that is flawlessly articulated to insane precision in three dimensions. Or the same set up being guided by Digital CNC technology. But occams razor suggests a digital CNC is actually easier to pull off. My considered opinion on these caves is that they are legacy structures significantly older than attributed. They writing being used to date the site is not in anyway close to the same level of exacting precision and technical expertise. But anyone utilizing the tech to produce the immaculate curvature displayed in the walls is by definitions in possession and competent in the use of equipment and tech capable of carving flawlessly formed writing whose engraved faces display the same mirror polish and exact linear corners equal to that on display on a larger scale in the design construction of the walls.
Everyone should learn about how Ashoka was not so great and how he was purely evil. As usual, the people named "the great" are never really as great as we make them out to be. To learn about this, listen to Sanjeev Sanyal talk about this. He's explained well why Ashoka was terrible and Chandragupta Maurya was the great one
Hi. I enjoyed lots of your video. Well done. Have you made another video on the caves? Not only the polishing is astonishing but the structures themselves / dimensions and the acoustics proprieties. The topics is well questioned on BAM. Best Michael
what were the caves (rooms really) used for? huge amount of extra work has gone into making them so smooth and the curves so even. apparently the curves are perfect to within 0.01 mm ! why be that precise? that's high precision engineering tolerances.
Why must you not give credit to India and say, every technology came from Persia? This is unfair. Can you show one example of rock cut structure from Persia which predates ancient India?
I've always been intrigued by these caves since I was in high school. I think they're the ones that are mentioned in "a Passage to India". They were spooky and revered because of the intense echoes.
These sort of specialist craft techniques would presumably be passed on by some form of master apprentice system, so even a short period without it being practised could cause the technique to be lost as there's no body of persons with the ability to perform and teach the method. Interestingly, I watched a video a little while ago about how we can't build a Saturn V rocket engine these days because the metalworking ability has been lost. The craftsmen who built them used techniques which are no longer used and were not passed on. Knowing how to weld in general is one thing, knowing how to actually perform very specific high quality welds on particular alloys is another. Heck, I trained as an electrician in the 80s and some of the basic skills I learned are now now considered specialist and the average sparks can't do them; terminating mineral insulated cable (MICC/"pyro") being an example. "That's a dying art" seems to be a regular feature of human civilisation :)
Beautiful ❤️. I doubt we will have any long lasting beautiful structures for the future generations to discover , like we have been discovering from our past generations. Kinda sad actually 😔💔....
The UnchartedX guy (Ben) shows that this granite polish was a liquid that they put on the stone to give it that high-gloss finish. He speculates that in higher concentrations that it can actually dissolve the granite, which would account for the smooth grooves found in Egyptian granite monuments. What that liquid is, is still a mystery but any enterprising chem-lab could probably reverse engineer it if anybody really cared to discover it.
You say nothing about what tools were used to do these things. Did they ever figure out where the rubble went to. The other TH-cams I've seen could not figure out where the massive amount of material went to.
These highly polished caves have been measured with 3D and LIDAR technology and what it reveals is that they are perfect symmetry. To get such a precise shape would need technology. Why would we step back in our evolution of architecture? Surely, in the meaning of “evolution” is to progress and yet we see this example and examples from all over the world that we took a step back? This doesn’t make any sense? Maybe this was never “our” technology to begin with and that we simply inherited it from civilisations much older than our own. We are already uncovering megalithic structures now carbon dated to 20,000 years! Maybe, history of humanity or intelligent life is a lot older than we are being told it is. Question everything or you’ll fall for anything! ✨🙏✨
Hi love the chanel you have helped me formulate a lot of ideas since I found this chanel all your vids are grate but one of my ideas I think could help with your Current investigations how would I go about talking in detail with you as I'd love your feed back is like to keep it batween you and me I know a bit selfish but I truly think I'm on to something
Definitely not 300BC. They didnt have the technology or capabilities to create these These are pre ice age, made by an ancient highly advanced civilisation
The technique was invented in India, as there is/was NOTHING IN Persia or Greece that comes close to it. Also, the Kailash Temple, NOTHING like that exists anywhere in the world. So don't try to take away credit from the Indians.
@@BluntofHwicce So they cut the entire structure out of the rock with wet abrasives? I think we would have trouble replicating some of this even with all our modern technology. Not that we couldn't do it, but it would be a massive task. Yet we are told that primitive people did this with primitive tools. I have been at a granite quarry where they make tombstones. This is stuff that really can't be done with primitive tools. It requires core drills, explosives and large machinery, and all they work on is small tombstones.
Most informative and fascinating! But what were they really made for? Obviously Chanting but what was the need to be underground? I do love the information on the fact that it ones involved developed Buddha. Thank You very much. I look forward to your next Video!
I'm glad you covered Barabar caves. It's underrated even here in India. Irrespective of whether ancient Indians (Bharatiyas) made it or ancient Persians or both together, it is an astonishing work and has always been in my bucket list since I came across it.
Thank you for watching! If you want to support the channel, you can become a Member of the channel at th-cam.com/channels/scI4NOggNSN-Si5QgErNCw.htmljoin or I’m on Patreon at www.patreon.com/ancientarchitects
DO NOT STATE WHAT WAS ACHIVED BY INDIAN WHO CARVED AND POLISHED AS FOREIGN INFLUENCE. LEARNING SKILLS FROM OTHER IS NORMAL, IT GOES BOTH WAYS. WHAT MAKES IT GREAT IS EXBITTING WHAT YOU LEARNED.
Many Indian historians believe that Persians entered India after the break-up of the empire. It’s very possible that the Mauryan kings commissioned them to create the caves and stonework. Obviously they would have shared/spread the knowledge with local people over time. The same thing happened throughout history. In pretty much every country. Everyone influences everyone else as people migrate.
When I see a Roman column in England, I don’t think that Iron Age British made them, most would suggest the Romans made them. And then the Roman’s taught the British. As an example.
Like I've already said India is far more impressive than Egypt
Hiho, good evening. Is "loyal supporter" the only membership option you offer?
What's the music you used at the begining
unreal stone work , how the hell did they do that . India has a bigger place in history than it gets the credit for . great vid Matt ..thanks as always
Thanks Kev. And thanks the continual support. I always see your comments.
I’m not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens 👾
@@Gnosis4me4you Perhaps illegal Aliens, ıƖƖɛɠąƖ ąƖıɛŋʂ ʄཞơɱ ɛƖʂɛῳɧɛཞɛ!
We can't know had they did it. We can know that they could not have achieved it with the tools of the day. It would be an extremely difficult task today with all our modern equipment. The only way to understand any of this is through an engineering analysis.
@@BluntofHwicce Oh really, sand paper or such like. H'mm I presume you have direct experience of cutting a huge symmetrical chamber out of solid granite and polishing it by hand with 'abrasives'? If so please let me know exactly how you did this. Modern technology could create something like this, we have computer controlled machines and massively powerful tools creating very similar marks to what is found in this location, however, the cost and time would be too excessive and would never be done. Michaelangelo worked in soft materials and was an artist sculpting the human form, very different from the precision and difficulty we see here.
India to me has the most amazing ancient structures in the world The temples are my favorite
Mine too
The Kailasa temple is absolutely unbelievable!
In my "free time" lately , I've been fully immersed in the Vedic texts and Hinduism.
The Yugas are a fascinating and quite compelling account of past abilities now lost.
India intrigues me and I greatly appreciate your researching there.
Well done sir.😁
check Sudeesh Kottikkal channel if you like Indian temples. many of his videos have english captions available
Abraham/Brahman
Sarah/Sarasvati
India is the in thing atm........... gobsmackingly beautiful x
Indian timesclaes are massive..it describes billions of years to 'matra' the fraction of a second
There is no such thing called Hinduism.
B.A.M. did a great job measuring this. I've been fascinated with these caves since I seen their documentary.
B.A.M. is the only one doing what is needed, now change our historie books ..... will never happen as they are bound in secrecy
2:25 This is India's current national emblem😊
Four Asiatic lions (only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view) standing back to back, symbolising power, courage, confidence, and pride, mounted on a circular base. At the bottom is a horse and a bull, and at its centre is a wheel (Dharma chakra). The sculptures in high relief of The Lion of the North, The Horse of the West, The Bull of the South and The Elephant of the East, separated by intervening wheels, over a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. Carved from a single block of sandstone, the polished capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
Thank you so much for the knowledge. I have A LOT to learn
@@AncientArchitects Yes! We all have A LOT to learn😅
When I talk like that people scoff. Yet, they have no idea why there are seven birds carved at the base of one of the central monoliths in enclosure D of Gobekli Tepe.
@@bardmadsen6956 please enlighten us and I mean that genuinely not sarcastically xx
@@PatchouliPenny - Basically it shows the origin of the cataclysm as the Pleiades to which the Taurid Stream seems to appear from. Follow the avatar icon and email me, I would be glad to explain it. Even the Egyptians portray it as a bird sitting on a bull. It is very probable why in India the bovine is venerated and let to wander where they please.
I love watching this channel. I am fascinated by ancient civilizations and always always learn things I had never heard of. Thank you for all the research you do.
Thank you for being here!
"we are a species with amnesia" - Graham Hancock
4:25. Yes, but some things are never forgotten it seems.
I love his concept on that, the truth tho, is were a species that is and has been war torn, we kill eachother and destroy anything and anyone who opposes our individualism, amnesia would be right were we a passive race, truth is weve destroyed our on history to cover it up sonwe can usher in our way and do away with the old. Amnesia is such a nice way of putting it tho
Zahi Hawass has left the chat
Amen
Hancock ( whose work i like a lot) took the original idea from 'Mankind in Amnesia' by “Immanuel Velikovsky.
Another fascinating Ancient Architects video on ancient Indian architectural gems. What is particularly noteworthy of Matt's discussions is that possibilities and sometimes probabilities are discussed in a manner consistent with rational scientific thought. Matt is careful to avoid a preferred notion based on tradition or legend, but rather on objectively verifiable evidence. This keeps the subject open, and is even more interesting and enjoyable than otherwise. Keep up the great work, Matt Sahib, मैट, हमारे प्राचीन वास्तुकला विद्वान!
This is the exact same thought I had while watching this. This is why I'm subbed to this guy as of now.
Love ancient India sites. First time I’ve heard of this site!
Thanks for sharing your research!♥️❤️💛
As an artist who has done sculpture in wood and stone, what I see in these superb structures and monuments carved out of solid rock is craftsmanship on a level beyond our comprehension in the present day, and that means there must have been a huge infrastructure to back it up. There had to have been university-style training by master artists and sculptors who taught legions of young artists in their forgotten techniques to have such a precision and mastery of their work. Like ink drawings, there are no mistakes in sculpture that are admisable. You have to be spot on from begining to end. Sculpture in those mysterious times in India, Persia and other cultures might have been what the study of the afterlife was to ancient Egyptians, by thisI mean in that maybe the most talented and intelligent students were drafted into schools of higher learning in the arts. It is perhaps not a surprise that the secrets of the masters were lost in the sands of time. Even today, we have no idea how artists like Van Eyk made his glazes---simply because every artist guarded their formulaes for glazes and mixing paints in total secrecy.
An interesting take. Interestingly, one of the oldest, if not the oldest university of the world, Nalanda University was situated few kilometers from the site. On a sidenote, Buddha also attained "enlightenment" few kilometers from this site in Gaya (mentioned in the video) and started preaching what we now call Buddhism.
with the right tools that's actually not a big deal nowadays. We know how comparable things were made by hand using simple tools and lots of time and sweat in the past, so that's probably what happened here, too. There's no secret. it's just a question of how much time and energy you are willing to spend. Such is life.
@@beurksman GGGGGGreat to hear from you. Michelangelo carved the Pièta at 24 years old, so you're right. Genious artists, scientists, mathmaticians etc., are never in time with their times.
dude see the Ellora fucking caves.
Stone masons have kept many of their techniques a secret over the years passing them down from master to journeyman when they are ready. Polishing a hard stone usually requires a harder stone in various grits to slowly bring the surface to a high finish. When I lap granite surface plates I usually use a diamond powder or synthetic diamond powder in several different grits to bring the granite back to a AA grade flat surface.
Not a harder stone, but as hard or harder on Mohs scale of hardness. Because we use diamond sintered blades on masonry slab saws, it’s easy to overlook the next step down on the scale, corundum. Sri Lanka is home to the worlds oldest corundum production which includes mining and cutting. There are people still using ancient bow powered stone lathes to cut corundum (ruby and sapphire) into gems for the lapidary industry. Their lathes are mostly wood and look very similar to the ones depicted in ancient Egypt.
The Mauryan Polish is unbelievable. It was not only done on flat walls, but also on columns and sculpture. I guess polishing grits and elbow grease got it done but, wow 😳.
This is why I'm subscribed to this channel. Great stuff as always. Thanks!
And I appreciate it
I love that you are covering the ancient sites in India. I have watch Praveen's channel for long time & the country has such a long history. One thing I learned from his videos is that the ancient ones built practical knowlege & functional inventions into these temples. Have we missed looking at other ancient cultures' building practices with a similar eye?
Thank you for the great videos. I have learned much & questioned more as I watch them.
I am going to watch this video now. Lol I posted my long comment before watching
Thanks Stacy
The script and writing were added thousands of years later on top of the pillars and structures they found. They just passed it off on their own
I love that you post things I have never heard of and they are always interesting as heck!
Why *YOU* tho 😒?!...
Gonna go out on a limb here and say the other artistically intricate sculptures weren't created in the same time period. I'd even argue that the entrance is a later add-on. The caves themselves are something older and more practical where precision, not art was the goal.
Looking forward to seeing whatever you bring us on the rest of these caves.
I'm always impressed by the amount of work you put into your videos Matt. Keep on the path, you walk it well.
Nice to see totally new material. Thank you!
Thanks. All new material coming up!
as per usual, fantastic content, well researched. keep up the good work dude
Why is ancient architecture so much more beautiful and complex than modern cheap architecture? It's like we regressed
Population explosion
Wow! Awesome topic! Nicely done. You outdid yourself with this little gem.
Thank you for your work on these videos. Awesome to see more from india! 🔥❤🔥
check Sudeesh Kottikkal channel. he tours Indian temples
And Praveen Mohan
Thanks for the tips. I'll check them out! 🔥👍🔥
That looks a lot like the polish on the boxes iin the Serapeum in Egypt. No doubt that is a very spectacular polish to hold a shine like that even after all of these years. Great video 👍👍👍👍😎🤟
Puts a dent on the theory that they are super ancient or done by ancient high tech machines if all these other places with glass like polish can be dated.
The black boxes appear to be painted with sodium silicate.
I was there in 2023, there is one tour guide who was was very enthusiastic. It doesn’t get the recognition it should. The local govt. should make sure to safeguard the caves and also other sects from encroaching it as more people start visiting it.
Great video Matt! Funny, I've been watching BAM, that megalithic culture doc on Prime.. and I litterially watched the part on these incredible caves last night! I think acoustics are the key to discovering what they were used for and why the insane level of flat, polished surfaces were required. The writing is clearing added at a later date as it is primitive in comparison.
Whoa! Haven’t seen this before. Thanks!
Thanks!
@@AncientArchitects You’re welcome! I’ve been a viewer for years. Your work is fantastic. From covering geopolymer pyramid casing stones, to the King Tut tomb hoax, to the study of the practice shafts that match the design of the descending shaft of the great pyramid, and the process of excavating into the pyramid, you provide a perspective that is extremely valuable.
I hope in time you receive the praise and credit you deserve as these concepts inevitably go mainstream.
For me the most basic Indian temple can blow my mind. They are temples that have every square inch filled with intricate carvings. They really had some master stone masons there that could do amazing things so there's nothing imo that they couldnt do.
To me ancient Indians were the absolute best at carving stuff from rock!
I was under the impression Imhotep hired stone masons from India to do some of the rockwork in Egypt.
India wasn't even a thought. This was 2000 years after Imhotep
@@vikasthapa1320 don't be mad at me because your scholars are liars
They might have actually bcoz Indians were rich in gold, where do you get it? you build there preferred artistry for huge sum of gold
@@akshy9560 That' might be true. Ancient India (yes, even during Imhotep's Egypt era since ancient India is pretty darn old) might have been producing services like the OP suggested and of course later traded food, cotton, spices, etc. to get the gold it got because India itself is not that much rich in gold reserves.
@@nigodemoscarfo3149 Indian civilization is very old..10 thousand atleast
Thank you this is Amazing. The finish on the walls had to have taken 100's of hours to produce.
Agreed. Even then... how? the extreme flatness makes me think the polishing surface would have had to be too big to be hand held... by one person anyway and it would have to be flawlessly flat too.
@@Gamerock82 What gets me is the polish on all the tiny protruding details. makes me think, they did something like pressured air sand blasting, with finer and finer grains (like those 5 step nail polishing kits, tbe last step would be, inside out leather!
@@schoolhomevrtechnologyassi6286 Or.... even more astonishing than the flatness of the flats, (Clearly indicative of either skills or machines we can only imagine) would be small, hand held machines with interchangeable heads like today's grinders and polishers. Using graded abrasives just as you described. Anyway... a lot of fun to speculate. Hey at least we know it was never Diorite pounding stones. LOL ridiculous notion.
Its incredible to see the unfinished cave. You can see part of the process they used. The rocks look like they were scrapped out with some kind of very able tool; almost 3-4 pronged tool, perhaps comb-like.
Absolutely awesome structures & cave complexes! GREAT VID
Thank you
this is the site that raises so many red flags for me. thanks matt! this one needs a deep dive.
Great work. Genius architecture by Ancient Indians. It is said that they had a device or tool with which they could cut through any hard rock like we slice butter with knife. We need to dig deeper into the ancient Indian (Hindu) scriptures and texts.
Appreciate the work and great channel!
Thank you
If I could go back in time I will go back to when these ancient caves were made or when the pyramids were being built because I would love to see with my very own eyes how these things were made.
Truly fascinating topic, Matt. Great presentation and visuals. That finish on sand stone is mind boggling. You say a possible import from the near East... Could be the other way too, right? Perhaps the technique was shared with the creators of the Serapeum's boxes? Accurate dating would clarify, I guess. I was aware of the intricate bedrock carvings but had no clue about this level of gloss polishing in ancient India. Live and learn. Thank you for this. Cheers mate.
@@BluntofHwicce Weird, then, that Crete does not boast one art piece even close to Egypt's or India's perfection.
EDIT: Apologies for the oh so YT norm of commenting without checking. I will soon but in the mean time I'm open to correction on this. With links, if possible. Will shorten the search.
Cause we're born with no knowledge and only thing we know from the past is what we're told. India has some superb ancient temples and phenomenal stone work
Thank you for highlighting this and subscribed. I took a flight out of Patna from a visit to Bodh Gaya a couple of years ago and never knew about this early Buddhist rock caves.
Asian monolithic stonework is the greatest of all. Not only is it incredibly difficult to cut all these structures with all that unbelievably fine detail into the bedrock and polish it to mirror finish. What is even more incredible is, this kind of work needs extremely precise planning before work even gets started. There is no room for mistake or later additions. Rock that once is cut away can not be replaced. All that work was done without electric light and without ventilation systems. I don't say it's impossible, but they were pushing the limits to the extreme.
That was pretty damn good, thanks
Thankyou for looking into India, I think the study of worldwide megalithic stonework may find some answers there, especially considering Indias abundance of ancient writings.
I see parts of the world I wouldn't otherwise with this channel, always been a favorite
Such beauty, thanx,
Matt❤⛰❤
Thanks Lynn
Jai Hind!
🤘🥰🤘......Thanks Mr. Ancient Architect's. Wow.
Thanks Jenni
Fantastic video! Thank you for sharing topics that are rarely discussed!
Great stuff, as always, Matt! I learn a lot from you, dude. Thanks, man!
Hi,
Thanks for this very interesting video.
How can we explain not only the polish but the precision of the cutting inside de caves and the rather approximate carvings on the door and inscriptions inside?
Do you believe, like others, that these caves could have been created by one civilization and then recycled and carved (door and inscriptions) by another?
Looking forward to your next videos and to more understanding this great culture.
Cheers
Wow...I really need to study more Indian architecture.
The polish reminds me of the 'sarcophaguses' for the Aphis Bulls in Egypt.
What bulls ??? Oh yeah that's what the serpium is for????? That's what you been told ????
Always great! Thank you
Nice work, thanks : )
Thanks mate
whoever made those caves, thats lost tech. those flat walls are like 0.0011 flat. crazy skill. all inside a tight space, no traces of sootmarks , burn marks on walls ext. no traces of where the rock they removed is ext.
do we know how the rounded outer surface of the hill was formed and what caused the burned, blackened appearance on the stone surface?
Fantastic video once again, well done.
For another very interesting perspective on the Barabar caves, check out the video titled: *"Barabar Caves even more impressive than Great Pyramid chambers! Lost carving tech?"*
Good stuff. Thanks mate 😁
There are so many of these structures n India carved into these rolled dough shaped granite outcrops . Makes me wonder if they carved these outcrops to look like that , they are all very smooth also.
The reality is that these caves are carved with planes that have a precision beyond what the Indians were capable of measuring (let alone cutting) at the time these structures are attributed to. There was advanced technology operating on Earth, the evidence is overwhelming. Who, when, how, why? I'm not sure. But a study of the precision tells the tale. You cannot carve something more accurately than you can measure it
I wonder if these are the same sort of techniques used on the serapeum boxes. Maybe there is some shared polish knowledge?
@@BluntofHwicce imagine the time and patience it took though! One mistake and.....shit!
@@BluntofHwicce Well gee. You have it all figured out. You should like write a book or something?
@@BluntofHwicce Everyone knows of wet abrasion. You're repeating it like you've figured out the universe.
Your incessant focus on the "polishing" which is just a small part of the video is weird. For example, as mentioned with the granite boxes at the serapeum. No one is obsessing about the polish and shine on many of the boxes. More people are wondering how they quarried, cut, moved, placed, carved (and polished) the boxes with such precision. The purpose etc...
@@coryCuc tell that to idiots like Brien forester saying "ancient egyptians couldnt cut granite"
"couldnt polish granite, it was pre-egyptian"
@@BluntofHwicce You can not use wet abrasives to hollow out a 100+ ton granite box. Furthermore, you can't use wet abrasives to cut the lid off a 100+ ton granite box. Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to achieve the level of flatness and the miniscule tolerances of the granite boxes in the serapeum of Saqqara. The tolerances of some of the boxes are .9 microns. Impossible to achieve by hand, much less the inside 90 deg right angles. There is also not enough space inside the alcoves for this work to be completed. You can have all of the plumb lines, rulers, compasses etc...you're still never going to achieve those tolerances by hand.
Whoever built those boxes (as well as other megalithic structures) had technology that we have yet to figure out. The cut/tool marks are littered all over the world. Whatever they used, however they used it, it appears it was easy for them to do so given the quality and quantity of these sites.
Lastly, look at the statues of Ramses at Luxor. The faces of the statues built out of solid granite. The faces are all identical. So identical that when you transpose the left and right sides o the faces they match up precisely as a mirror image of each other. The only way you could achieve that symmetry is by the use of CNC type machining. Christopher Dunn (who is an engineer as well) speaks at length about this. Start at about 40:00-
Also the unfinished obelisk at aswan, if you go down the sides of it and look at the scoop marks and measure the distance between the high ridges they are equal. Every single one of them. No dolorite ball pounders were used.
It's fine to say wet abrasives were used for the polishing. I agree with you on that as you can see on the underside of the lids of the granite boxes where the wet solution dripped down and onto the bottom of the lid.
th-cam.com/video/YZFN29FdCM0/w-d-xo.html
Bet whoever polished that sunstone chick took the longest polishing it.
The walls are more than "extremely flat". In fact none are actually flat. Every apparently flat surface when precisely surveyed with lidar they all display absolutley perfect LONG radius curves. So long that to the eyes and sense of touch the curve is imperceptible. But very precise AND accurate. This wasn't done by hand. It doesn't matter HOW much money you pour at it, in the end the ONLY way this can be achieved is with high speed cutting tools guided by either analog gearing or cams of even more insane precision on an Absolutely true square and inflexible frame with a carriage for the cutter head that is flawlessly articulated to insane precision in three dimensions. Or the same set up being guided by Digital CNC technology. But occams razor suggests a digital CNC is actually easier to pull off. My considered opinion on these caves is that they are legacy structures significantly older than attributed. They writing being used to date the site is not in anyway close to the same level of exacting precision and technical expertise. But anyone utilizing the tech to produce the immaculate curvature displayed in the walls is by definitions in possession and competent in the use of equipment and tech capable of carving flawlessly formed writing whose engraved faces display the same mirror polish and exact linear corners equal to that on display on a larger scale in the design construction of the walls.
India has the most beautiful stone work
Everyone should learn about how Ashoka was not so great and how he was purely evil. As usual, the people named "the great" are never really as great as we make them out to be. To learn about this, listen to Sanjeev Sanyal talk about this. He's explained well why Ashoka was terrible and Chandragupta Maurya was the great one
That's amazing man.
Hi. I enjoyed lots of your video. Well done. Have you made another video on the caves? Not only the polishing is astonishing but the structures themselves / dimensions and the acoustics proprieties. The topics is well questioned on BAM.
Best
Michael
Carry on, it’s fascinating.
what were the caves (rooms really) used for? huge amount of extra work has gone into making them so smooth and the curves so even. apparently the curves are perfect to within 0.01 mm ! why be that precise? that's high precision engineering tolerances.
Really really appreciate your work!!
Why must you not give credit to India and say, every technology came from Persia? This is unfair. Can you show one example of rock cut structure from Persia which predates ancient India?
Looking forward to the follow-ups!
I've always been intrigued by these caves since I was in high school. I think they're the ones that are mentioned in "a Passage to India". They were spooky and revered because of the intense echoes.
He said "...originally part dug" and shows the chiseled marks on the unfinished work. So definitely man made in ancient times.
FANTASTIC !!
These sort of specialist craft techniques would presumably be passed on by some form of master apprentice system, so even a short period without it being practised could cause the technique to be lost as there's no body of persons with the ability to perform and teach the method. Interestingly, I watched a video a little while ago about how we can't build a Saturn V rocket engine these days because the metalworking ability has been lost. The craftsmen who built them used techniques which are no longer used and were not passed on. Knowing how to weld in general is one thing, knowing how to actually perform very specific high quality welds on particular alloys is another.
Heck, I trained as an electrician in the 80s and some of the basic skills I learned are now now considered specialist and the average sparks can't do them; terminating mineral insulated cable (MICC/"pyro") being an example.
"That's a dying art" seems to be a regular feature of human civilisation :)
And isn't it such a great pity? Thatching roofs is one that's dying out because no millennials have any interest in learning it, really sad
I am always keen to see where the date is stamped.As many historical"facts" change over time.
Beautiful ❤️.
I doubt we will have any long lasting beautiful structures for the future generations to discover , like we have been discovering from our past generations.
Kinda sad actually 😔💔....
5:01
Holy mother of god!!😲😲😲
Why is his reflection backwards?
These works are way older than Alexander the great
Great work as always ♥️🙏🇮🇳
The UnchartedX guy (Ben) shows that this granite polish was a liquid that they put on the stone to give it that high-gloss finish. He speculates that in higher concentrations that it can actually dissolve the granite, which would account for the smooth grooves found in Egyptian granite monuments. What that liquid is, is still a mystery but any enterprising chem-lab could probably reverse engineer it if anybody really cared to discover it.
Look up the definition of 'reverse engineering'
Great work, thank you!
You say nothing about what tools were used to do these things. Did they ever figure out where the rubble went to. The other TH-cams I've seen could not figure out where the massive amount of material went to.
These highly polished caves have been measured with 3D and LIDAR technology and what it reveals is that they are perfect symmetry.
To get such a precise shape would need technology.
Why would we step back in our evolution of architecture? Surely, in the meaning of “evolution” is to progress and yet we see this example and examples from all over the world that we took a step back?
This doesn’t make any sense?
Maybe this was never “our” technology to begin with and that we simply inherited it from civilisations much older than our own.
We are already uncovering megalithic structures now carbon dated to 20,000 years!
Maybe, history of humanity or intelligent life is a lot older than we are being told it is.
Question everything or you’ll fall for anything!
✨🙏✨
Hi love the chanel you have helped me formulate a lot of ideas since I found this chanel all your vids are grate but one of my ideas I think could help with your Current investigations how would I go about talking in detail with you as I'd love your feed back is like to keep it batween you and me I know a bit selfish but I truly think I'm on to something
Definitely not 300BC. They didnt have the technology or capabilities to create these
These are pre ice age, made by an ancient highly advanced civilisation
bruh
Thanks Matt❤👍
Thank you
The technique was invented in India, as there is/was NOTHING IN Persia or Greece that comes close to it. Also, the Kailash Temple, NOTHING like that exists anywhere in the world. So don't try to take away credit from the Indians.
Side walls are so smooth that no friction exist
And we’re being asked to believe that primitive people did this using copper chisels and wooden mallets. We’re being lied to.
Great video BTW.
@@BluntofHwicce So they cut the entire structure out of the rock with wet abrasives? I think we would have trouble replicating some of this even with all our modern technology. Not that we couldn't do it, but it would be a massive task. Yet we are told that primitive people did this with primitive tools. I have been at a granite quarry where they make tombstones. This is stuff that really can't be done with primitive tools. It requires core drills, explosives and large machinery, and all they work on is small tombstones.
For those who do not know, the flatness are accurate down to 1 freaking micron, that is grade-A precision in today's scientific world.
Most informative and fascinating! But what were they really made for? Obviously Chanting but what was the need to be underground? I do love the information on the fact that it ones involved developed Buddha. Thank You very much. I look forward to your next Video!
Try to make a video on the Vitthala temple at Hampi, India.
Consider using older depictions of Buddha such as one from Gandhara or the Bimaran Casket.
Thanks for the info
I'm glad you covered Barabar caves. It's underrated even here in India. Irrespective of whether ancient Indians (Bharatiyas) made it or ancient Persians or both together, it is an astonishing work and has always been in my bucket list since I came across it.