PilgrimTrips - India Pilgrimage

The rock-cut Ajanta Caves are renowned masterpieces for their unique architecture and the profusion of sculptures and paintings. The walls and ceilings of the Ajanta Caves are chiseled with exquisite carvings and paintings that chronicle the life of Lord Buddha. Among the 29 caves, five belong to the Hinayana sect (9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A) while the rest are Mahayana caves.

The Buddhists were the pioneers in the excavation of rock-cut temples in India. Not only that, they in fact excavated the largest number of caves. Even today there are over 1200 Buddhist caves in India. Of these, about 900 excavations are in Maharashtra alone. The remaining 325 caves are in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. All these caves were excaved with pick-axe from the solid rock faces and carved with primitive tools, viz.,hammer and chisel.

The Buddhist caves are broadly of two types-the Chaitya temple, a place of worship, and the Vihara, monastery, a place of residence for the monk. The Chaitya hall has vaulted roof and its entrance is topped by a large window inside and it has a shrine or image chamber. TheVihara has a large hall for congregation and has residential cells on three sides. Of all the caves in India, the wonderful caves of Ajanta have attracted and aroused the admiration of scholars and tourists from all over the world. The Ajanta Caves are unique as they combine three best specimens of art: architecture, sculpture and painting. The growth and decay of these caves correspond to the rise and fall of Buddhism in India. The Ajanta Caves belong to the priod from 2nd century BC. to about AD. 7th century. According to Percy Brown the construction work at ajanta came to standstill in AD. 642 with the overthrow of the Chalukyan king by Narashimhavarman I, the Pallava king, who forcibly removed all the skilled workers to work on the Hindu temples in his kingdom. This episode perhaps explains the reason for some of the unfinished caves at ajanta.

The Ajanta Caves are 106 kilometres by road from Aurangabad and about 60 kilometres by road from Jalgaon, a railway junction on Delhi-bombay and Allahabad-Bombay mainline of the Central Railway. The Ajanta Caves fell into desolation and ruin after Buddhism declined in India. They were covered with natural growth and lay buried in the jungle-clad slopes for more than a thousand years when they were accidentally discovered in 1819 by a pair of British soldieres who were on patrol duty on the western mountain range. The Ajanta Caves are the product of both the Theravada (Hinayana) and Mahayana Buddhists. Of the 30 caves in Ajanta, five (Nos. 9,10,19,26 and 29) are Chaitya halls. The remaining are Viharas. The oldest caves created by the early Buddhists belonging to the period from 2nd century BC. to AD. 2nd century. In this group are two Chaiyas (Nos.9 and 10) and four Viharas (Nos. 8,12,13, and 30). The remaining 24 caves were added by the Buddist devotees after a long interval during the period from the fifth to seventh centuries.

The Ajanta Caves have earned world-wide fame as the beautiful and marvelous paintings have added luster to the architectural and sculptural value of these rock-cut temples. As says Dr.Moti Chandra, "These 5th century-6th century Wall paintings of Ajanta chiefly deal with the Buddha’s life and the Jataka Stories. The painters, however, have drawn copiously from the contemporary life and in that way Ajanata does not remain only a religious art glorifying Buddhism but provides a faithful record of the life andculture of the people." Of the 30 caves in Ajanta, as many as sixteen contain mural paintings. The best paintings are to be found in caves 1,2,16,17 and 19. The best sculptures are in caves 1,4,17,19 and 26. Looking at the Ajanta paintings as a teacher of art, J.Griffiths says: "I find the work so accomplished in execution, so consistent in convention, so vivacious and varied in design and full of such evident delight in beautiful form and colour, that I cannot help ranking it with the same early art, which the world has agreed to praise in italy... For the purpose of art education, no better examples could br placed before an Indian art student than those to be found in the caves of Ajanta. Here we have the art with life in it, human faces full of expressions, limbs drawn with grace and action, flowers which bloom, birds which soar and beasts tht spring or fight or patiently carry burdens-all are taken from Nature’s book growing after her pattern." Cave-1 is one of the finest examples of Vihara architecture evolved towards the end of AD. fifth century.

The façade is lavishly ornamented, its beauty enhanced by six richy carved colums on the verandah. The ornate doorway leads into a big hall, 64 ft. square. On three sides there are rows of cells. Beyond the ante-chamber facing the entrance is ahuge Buddha image grouped with the Master’s first five disciples and a wheel between two deer. One Central pillar in the right row has a curious carving done with remarkable realism; four deer in different positions have a single head which seems to belong to each one. The paintings mainly illustrate Jataka stories. The two side-walls of the ante-chamber present remarkable scenes from the Buddha’s in large-scale compositions. The one at the left depicts the scene when Bodhisattva was about to attain Englightenment. The composition on the right wall is the "Miracle of Sravasti." Here the Buddha has turned himself into hundreds of Buddhas in different poses. The wall of the back corridor, to the left and right of the ante-chamber, contains two majestic Budhisattavas which are among the Ajanta masterpieces. The one to the left is Padmapni. His eyes are lowered meditatively, his face has depths of spiritual calm born of compassion for all living froms. This great piecture has fascinated the art-critics of many countries. Beside the Bodhisattva is his attractive wife, a dark beauty who is featured often in Ajanta reproductions. The other Bodhisattva, Vajrapani, is richly bejeweled. He leans gracefully against an attendant. A king offers him flowers.

Cave 1
Located at the eastern end of the horse shoe-shaped ravine, this is the first cave the visitors come across and thus numbered 1. Essentially a vihara, it is the most beautifully adorned cave in the complex. The sanctum of the cave enshrines an imposing image of the Buddha in the dharamachakra pravartana mudra or the preaching pose. The image was created with such sculptural virtuosity that Lord Buddha seems to be in different moods when seen from different angles.

The cave also contains some of the most fabulous Ajanta cave paintings drawing inspiration from Jataka stories and life of the Gautam Buddha. The famous painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani shows Buddha wearing a splendid crown and holding an open lotus in his right hand.

Cave-2 is somewhat alike in plan to Cave-1. The verandah has a lovely painted ceiling. Among the excellent murals, one on the left wall of the hall, dramatizes the legend of the Buddha’s birth with some vivid panels. Here the Bodhisattva is seen in one of the Heavens. Maya has a strange dream. While she sleeps, a white elephant with six tusks enters her body, Wondering, she speaks to her husband about the dream. The astrologers are invited to interpret the dream. The lower panel depicts Maya on her way to her father’s place followed by the nativity scene in the Lumbini garden. Lastly, the new-born child walks seven steps overlotus blossoms while Indra, king of the Gods, holds an umbrella over his head. The ceiling decorations in the ante-chamber and the shrine are remarkable. One of the ceiling-panels shows a procession of twenty-three geese rendered with great skill.

The Cave 2 is notable for its beautifully embellished ceiling depicting a profusion of decorative motifs. Most of the scenes are from Jataka tales which narrate Buddha's life in former incarnations such as Bodhisattva. One of the walls is adorned with the magnificent 'Thousand Buddhas' painting which portrays how Lord Buddha multiplied himself to confound a heretic.

Cave-4 is the largest Vihara at Ajanta. The decorated main entrance leads to a hall with twenty-eigth pillars. To the right of the door is the carving of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara to whom devotees are praying for deliverance from the eight fears. The shrine has a large image of the Buddha in the company of vajrapani and Padmapani. Cave-10 apsidal Chaitya, is largest excavtion at Ajanta, and the second largest in India, the first beingat Karla. This cave is 369 square metres in area (29.5 metres long and 12.5 metres wide) with 39 pillars.

Cave-16 is one of the most beautiful cave at Ajanta. An inscription of late AD. 6th century gives its history; a Minister of the royal court had it excavated as a gift for the "best of ascetics."

Apart from being one of the biggest viharas or monasteries, the Cave 16 is also well-known for elegant decorative murals. The piece-de-resistance here is the famous painting of 'Dying Princess' on the left wall. It portrays the distressing plight of Sundari, wife of Buddha's half brother Nanda who left his wife to become a monk. The nativity story started in Cave-2 is continued here. Siddhartha goes to school and practices archery. He witnesses a ploughing contest and the sight of the tired toilers in the fields and the bleeding oxen prompts him to meditate about life’s realities.

The masterpiece in this cave is a painting on the left wall, famed, as "The dying Princess." There is agony in the tdrooping, sightless eyes, the helpless abandon of the fingers, the farewall gestures. The emotion of the attendants beside the princess is well expressed in their faces and attitudes. The princess is possibly Sundari, the broken hearted wofe of the Buddha’s half-brother Nanda, who left his palace and gave himself to monastic lige.

Cave-17 is in its design very much like Cave-16 and belongs to the same period AD. 6th century but it has in addition an ante-chamber. Its entrance, with the decorative panels and the female figures embellishing the corner projections, is considered to be "a thing of supreme artistic value." On the portice’s right wall is illustrated the subjugation of a charging elephant, one of the eight great miracles attributed to the Buddha. Devadatta, the Buddha’s jealous cousin, made three attempts on the Master’s life. When the first two failed he set up an enraged elephant against the Buddha. The beast, as it came charging, stopped and prostrated itself in submission.

Inside the cave there are paintings depicting Jataka stories and some historic incidents. A large composition on the right wall is recongnized as a great work of art. The story recounts Prince Simhala’s conquest of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Shipwrecked, Simhala with has five hundred merchants was cast ashore on an island of ogresses who enticed them in the guise of beautiful women. This painting treats realistically a a line of boats ashore, a charming group of dancers, a procession of elephants and finally the coronation. The back wall of the ante-chanmber contains the excellent "Mother and Child before Buddha." The occasion is the Buddha’s return to his place door, a begging bowl in his hand. The baby boy he had left is now seven years old. At his mother’s bidding Rahula begs of the Buddha his rightful inheritance as a son.

Cave-19, is a Chaitya-hall of the late Mahayana period, has an exquisitely carved façade with many large Buddha figures in relief. The great arched window adds to its grandeur. Boldly conceived and superbly executed in minute detail, this chapel is regarded as one of the best examples of Buddhist art. With its large number of stone figures it has aptly been called "the sculptor,s treasure-chest."

Cave-26 is almost as crowded with sculptures as Cave-19. But this Chaitya-hall is larger in size. It has acolossal reclining Buddha figure-representing. Parinirvana. The Buddha is lying on his right side between two Sal trees. Ananda and Kashyapa are shown standing mourning his passing. In front of the bed are other disciples and bhikkhus in grief. Above panel has devas scattering flowers. The same wall presents a relief of "The Temptation of the Buddha" a theme seen in mural in Cave-1. On the left is Mara seated on an elephant and assaulting Gautama with his demon forces. On the right is Mara’s retreat. There is another panel showing Buddha in the attitude of teaching.