THE AJANTA CAVES
The Ajanta Caves are a series of 29 Buddhist cave temples in Ajanta, India, some of which date from the 2nd century BC. Encompassing both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist traditions, the Ajanta caves preserve some of the best masterpieces of Buddhist art in India. Many visitors explore the Ajanta Caves in conjunction with the nearby Ellora Caves.
History of the Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves were carved in the 2nd century BC out of a horseshoe-shaped cliff along the Waghora River. They were used by Buddhist monks as prayer halls (chaitya grihas) and monasteries (viharas) for about nine centuries, then abruptly abandoned. They fell into oblivion until they were rediscovered in 1819.
The Buddhist rock-hewn Ajanta Caves, are only about 59 Kilometers from Jalgoan (The city is located in northern Maharashtra, and serves as the administrative headquarter of the Jalgaon district. Jalgaon is nicknamed "Banana City"); and from Aurangabad 104 kilometers and from Ellora 76 kilometers.
At the end of the seventh century, Buddhism began to decline in the land of its origin and its shrines fell into desolation and ruin. For a thousand years, Ajanta lay burried in the jungle clad slopes of the western mountain range, untill In 1819 it was discovered accidentally.
The isolated scrap of horse shoe shaped rock rising over a ravine to a steep height of 76.20 metre (250 ft.) made an ideal site for the monastic sanctuary. Limited in space, the caves had to be more compact than those of Ellora. Most of them were of an earlies date, the oldest belonging to pre Christian times. The architectural and sculptural values in these rock temples are suf passed by the addition of third art form, painting, which, more than all else, has given Ajanta its world fame.
Having seen these cave temples the visitor will perhaps wonder at the profusion of secular themes and motifs on the walls. He may be bewildered by the uninhibited vivacity of the female figures, the famous "Ajanta type" with well curved forms, elongated eyes, attractive mien and ample adornment. The fact was that the artist-monks and their associates painted side by side and with equal zest the physical beauty of women and the spiritual beauty of theBoddhisattva.
There are 30 caves, some of them unfinished and negligible. 16 contain mural paintings, but the best work is to be found in Caves 1, 2, 16, 17 and 19. The best sculptures are in Caves 1, 4, 17, 19, 24 and 26. The numbering of the caves has been dane in consecutive order and has no relation to their choranolo gical sequence. It starts at the western extremity of the rock, near the entrance. The present entrance does not seem to have been the original approach to the excavations.
Five of the caves, 9, 10, 19, 26 and 29, are chaitya halls. The others are vihars. As for antiquity the oldest (second cen tury B.C. to second century A.D.), the creation of the Hinayan system, are Chaity as Caves 9 and 10, and viharas 8,12,13, and 30. The others, excavated after a long interval, belong to the fifth and sixth centuries and make the Mahayana series. In olden times, each cave had flights of steps which led to the picturesque stream flowing deep down through a narrow gorge. With the collapse of cave fronts most of these steps have been destroyed. Caves 1,2,16, and 17 are fitted with spotlights, available for use on payment. There use is essential.
The technique employed by the painters in the ancient India has been described in contemporary works on Aesthetics. First, arough plaster of clay, cow-dung and rice-husks were laid uponthe selected rock surface and thoroughly pressed in. It made a layer about one and half centimetre in thickness On this a coat of fine lime was spread in order to attain a smooth surface. The outlines were drawn with brush and then colour was applied. The pigments used were of the simplest Kind of materials such as yellow earth, red ocher, green rock crushed into burnt dust brick, lamp black and copper oxide. A second was then applied. Through this the outlines were dimly visible. Other brushes were used to fill in colour unil the picture, in the langauge of ancient Aesthe tics, "bloomed". Finally, plastic relef was attained by shading with darker lines and toning down the highlights.
The central theme on the walls comes under two heads narrative scenes from ths Buddha's life and illustrations of Jataka fabbles. Within this framework of spirituality an entire pageant of contemporary life has been vividly covered. Depicted on these walls is the portraiture not only of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, but of a wide range or human types in different attitudes, under the stress of varied emotions and drawn from every social level.
The paintings on the ceiling, unlike those on the walls, are mainly decorative patterns. They include geometric designs, floral and ornamental motifs, flying figures of celestial beings, animals, birds, plants. The grouping in penals or compratments, with adequate variation in colour schemes.
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