Ajanta CavesAjanta Caves in Maharashtra, India are rock-cut cave monuments dating from the

second century BCE, containing paintings and sculpture considered to be

masterpieces of both "Buddhist religious art"[1] and "universal pictorial art"[2]. The

caves are located just outside the village of Ajinṭhā in Aurangabad District in the

Indian state of Maharashtra (N. lat. 20 deg. 30' by E. long. 75 deg. 40'). Since 1983,

the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

According to National Geographic, "The flow between faiths was such that for

hundreds of years, almost all Buddhist temples, including the ones at Ajanta, were

built under the rule and patronage of Hindu kings."[3]

Locality

The caves are in a wooded and rugged horseshoe-shaped ravine about 3½ km from

the village of Ajintha. It is situated in the Aurangābād district of Maharashtra State in

India (106 kilometers away from the city of Aurangabad). The nearest towns are

Jalgaon (60 kilometers away) and Bhusawal (70 kilometers away). Along the bottom

of the ravine runs the river Waghur, a mountain stream. There are 29 caves (as

officially numbered by the Archaeological Survey of India), excavated in the south

side of the precipitous scarp made by the cutting of the ravine. They vary from 35 to

110 ft. in elevation above the bed of the stream.

The monastic complex of Ajanta consists of several viharas (monastic halls of

residence) and chaitya-grihas (stupa monument halls) cut into the mountain scarp in

two phases. The first phase is mistakenly called the Hinayana phase (referring to the

Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism, when the Buddha was revered symbolically).

Actually, Hinayana – a derogative term for Sthaviravada – does not object to

Buddha statues. At Ajanta, cave numbers 9, 10, 12, 13, and 15A (the last one was

re-discovered in 1956, and is still not officially numbered) were excavated during this

phase. These excavations have enshrined the Buddha in the form of the stupa, or

mound.

The second phase of excavation at the site began after a lull of over three centuries.

This phase is often inappropriately called the Mahayana phase (referring to the

Greater Vehicle tradition of Buddhism, which is less strict and encourages direct cow

depiction of the Buddha through paintings and carvings). Some prefer to call this

phase the Vakataka phase after the ruling dynasty of the house of the Vakatakas of

the Vatsagulma branch. The dating of the second phase has been debated among

scholars. In recent years a consensus seems to be converging on 5th-century dates

for all the Mahayana or Vakataka phase caves. According to Walter M. Spink, a

leading Ajantologist, all the Mahayana excavations were carried out from 462 to 480

CE. The caves created during the Mahayana phase are the ones numbered 1, 2, 3,

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29.

Cave 8 was long thought to be a Hinayāna cave, however current research shows

that it is in fact a Mahayana cave.

There were two chaitya-grihas excavated in the Hinayana phase that are caves 9

and 10. Caves 12, 13, and 15A of this phase are vihāras. There were three chaitya-

grihas excavated in the Vakataka or Mahayana phase that are caves 19, 26, and 29.

The last cave was abandoned soon after its beginning. The rest of the excavations

are viharas: caves 1-3, 5-8, 11, 14-18, 20-25, and 27-28.

The viharas are of various sizes the maximum being about 52 feet. They are often

square-shaped. Their excavation exhibits a great variety, some with simple facade,

others ornate; some have a porch and others do not. The hall was an essential

element of a viharas. In the Vakataka phase, early viharas were not intended to

have shrines because they were purely meant to be halls of residence and

congregation. Later, shrines were introduced in them in the back walls, which

became a norm. The shrines were made to house the central object of reverence

that is the image of the Buddha often seated in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra

(the gesture of teaching). In the caves with latest features, we find subsidiary shrines

added on the side walls, porch or the front-court. The facades of many vihāras are

decorated with carvings, and walls and ceilings were often covered with paintings.

Changes in Buddhist thought in the 1st century BCE had made it possible for the

Buddha to be deified and consequently the image of the Buddha as a focus of

worship became popular, marking the arrival of the Mahāyāna (the Greater Vehicle)

sect.

In the past, scholars divided the caves in three groups, but this is now discredited in

light of fresh evidence and research. This theory of dating believed that the oldest

group of caves dated from 200 BCE to CE 200, the second group belonged,

approximately, to the 6th, and the third group to the 7th century.

The expression Cave Temples used by Anglo-Indians for viharas without the shrine

is inaccurate. Ajanta was a kind of college monastery. Hsuan Tsang informs us that

Dinnaga, the celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-

known books on logic, resided there. This, however, remains to be corroborated by

further evidence. In their prime the vihāras were intended to afford accommodation

for several hundreds, teachers and pupils combined. It is tragic that none of the

caves in the Vakataka phase were ever fully completed. This was because the ruling

Vakataka dynasty suddenly fell out of power leaving the dominion in a likely crisis,

which forced all activities to a sudden halt at the time of Ajanta's last years of

activities. This idea first pronounced by Walter M. Spink is increasingly gaining

acceptance based on the archaeological evidence visible on site.

Most of the subjects have been identified by the leading Ajantologist from Germany,

Dieter Schlingloff.

[edit] Cave One

Painting from Cave No. 1

Cave 1

It is first approach and has no relation to the chronological sequence of the caves. It

is the first cave on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp. According to

Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have begun on site and brought to near-

completion in the Vākāţaka phase. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, it has

been proposed that the Vākāţaka king Harisena may have been the benefactor of

this better-preserved cave. A dominant reason for this is that Harisena was not

involved initially in patronizing Ajanta, but could not have remained aloof for long, as

the site was burgeoning with activity under his rule, and the Buddhist laity would

have loved to see the Hindu king participating in the pious act of patronage.

Besides, most of the themes depicted are royal.

This cave has one of the most elaborate carvings on its facade with relief sculptures

on entablature and fridges. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as

well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-

century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells

fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave

has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on

the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta

when pillared vestibules had became a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch

were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain. There are three

doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were

carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 feet long and 20 feet high. Twelve pillars

make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles

along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive

seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana

mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls. The walls

are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation. The scenes depicted are

mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental. The themes are from the Jataka stories

(the stories of the Buddha's former existences as Boddhisattva), the life of the

Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration.

Cave Two

Painting, Cave No. 2

Painting from the Ajanta caves

Ajanta Caves

Ajanta Caves

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on

its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks pretty much the same as Cave 1 and is in a

better state of preservation.