Indian Painting Decorative Ceiling panel from Ajanta, Cave no- 2.

Indian Painting

Decorative Ceiling panel

from Ajanta, Cave no- 2

Decorative Ceiling panel from Ajanta, Cave no- 2

Introduction: The Ajanta murals are a picture of

harmony between the ethos (characteristic spirit, moral values, ideas, and beliefs of community) of the theme as the means by which the ethos has been expressed.

The Ajanta caves are situated in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.

There are about thirty caves existing here.


The Buddhists made paintings and sculptures in these caves from 2nd century B.C. to 7th century A.D.

In order to proclaim (announce) the message of the Buddha, the monks employed artists who turned the stone wall into picture books of his life and teaching


Representations from the Jataka tales illustrate his intelligence, noble character, selfless service and compassion (feeling sorrow for the sufferings of others, making one want to help them.) by means of legends from his previous births.


Decorative Ceiling panels: The Ajanta caves also provide excellent

paintings related to ceiling decorations. The decorative paintings on the ceiling

panels from cave no. 2 are the best examples for the above mentioned.

The ceiling of Ajanta is filled with excellent and varieties of decorative designs.


The spontaneity of movement is particularly prominent in the flower decorations of the ceilings

The lines now inhibited and set free from illustrating story-telling themes create fantasies and rich imagery by inventing geometric patterns, flower–arabesques, fruits and birds- real and unreal- mythologies creatures and other gay themes.

They give the impression of being hallucinatory imitations of reality.


From the artistic point of view, the painting on the ceiling shows power of imagination, perhaps even excelling the wall murals.

The ceiling did never carry religions motifs, yet kept a connection with the wall-their color scheme, delineation and repetitious themes were rendered with equal craftsmanship


The ceiling in their unconcerned and humorous drawings became a glorious counterpart to throughout provoking Jataka and other Buddhist stories.

Those drawing have taken the texture of a carpet, brilliantly woven, immediately fascinating the eyes and filling the senses.

They do not throw a challenge to the intellect but cover the empty space, above the walls, with pleasant coloured design.


Set in the contrast to the dynamic walls full of action, we find the ceilings different caves.

Here colors flow out, take form and convulse (violent movements) on each other, wave upon waves.

Although there are slight variations between the ceilings of different caves, in the main they are of the same kind, with common pet themes appearing always over and again.


One of them is the huge concentric circles enclosed in a square, with numerable minute flowery bands within it, as are usually to be found in the centre of the ceiling, main hall, antechamber and inner shrines.

Another equally cherished theme is squarish and rectangular spaces of different size plays next to each other, framed in narrow panels carrying key-patterns or other geometric designs and used as a device for separating different area.


Many of the ornaments, which we find on the ceilings of Ajanta, are still alive. They have been absorbed into the different branches of Indian artistic expressions and are valued even today.

With only six pigments in his hand, the Ajanta artist created the vocabulary of entire color-range, each speaking of its own language and giving meaning to others.


Multipurpose is the use of colours- creative of forms, perspective and rhythm.

As is usually done, the colors have been applied in a certain order so that the foreground appears brighter and background darker. However, this effect has again been modified by white flowers and petals being spread all over, to regain the link and continuous color-dialogue.

Indian Painting Decorative Ceiling panel from Ajanta, Cave no- 2.

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