Consider the following statements: a) The early chaityagrihas and viharas of Guntupalli in West Godavari district are rock cut. b) The chaityas and viharas of Eastern deccan are usually rock cut. Of these statements:

The correct answer is C. Both statements hold, though the second needs care.

Statement a is correct. Guntupalli in West Godavari district has a group of early rock-cut Buddhist caves, with chaitya halls (chaityagrihas) and monastic viharas carved directly into the laterite hillside. They belong to roughly the early centuries BCE to CE, when Buddhism flourished along the Krishna-Godavari region.

Statement b is also correct, with a qualification. The Eastern Deccan (Andhra) is famous for its stupa complexes at Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda, which are built in brick and stone. But the region also has many hill-side monasteries cut into rock, such as Guntupalli, Bavikonda, Thotlakonda and Ramatirtham. Rock-cut monastic architecture is therefore the usual form for Buddhist chaityas and viharas here, while the structural stupas are the prominent exceptions.

Core concept: Buddhist architecture in India, covering the rock-cut and structural traditions and their regional spread. For Mains, this links to the Satavahana patronage of Buddhism and the Deccan's contribution to early art and architecture.

Trap: Candidates tend to associate rock-cut chaityas only with the Western Deccan (Karla, Bhaja, Ajanta, Kanheri) and reject statement b outright.