Ajanta Caves - Wikipedia

6/15/2021 Ajanta Caves - Wikipedia
Coordinates: 20°33′12″N 75°42′01″E
Ajanta Caves
The Buddhist Caves in Ajanta are approximately 30 rock-cut
Buddhist cave monuments dating from the 2nd century BCE to Ajanta Caves
about 480 CE in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in UNESCO World Heritage Site
India.[1][note 1] The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures
described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian
art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through
gesture, pose and form.[3][4][5]
They are universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious

art. The caves were built in two phases, the first starting around the
2nd century BCE and the second occurring from 400 to 650 CE,
according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480 CE
according to later scholarship.[6] The site is a protected monument
in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India,[7] and since 1983,
the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls
of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall Location Aurangabad District,
of rock.[8][9] The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives Maharashtra State, India
[10]and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's
Criteria Cultural: i, ii, iii, vi
Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.[8][11][12]
Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat Reference 242 (http://whc.unesco.org/en/lis
for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in t/242)
ancient India.[8] While vivid colours and mural wall-painting were Inscription 1983 (7th session)
abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves Area 8,242 ha
16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient
Indian wall-painting.[13] Buffer zone 78,676 ha
Coordinates 20°33′12″N 75°42′01″E
The Ajanta Caves are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval-
era Chinese Buddhist travellers to India and by a Mughal-era official
of Akbar era in the early 17th century.[14] They were covered by
jungle until accidentally "discovered" and brought to Western
attention in 1819 by a colonial British officer Captain John Smith on
a tiger-hunting party.[15] The caves are in the rocky northern wall of
the U-shaped gorge of the river Waghur,[16] in the Deccan
plateau.[17][18] Within the gorge are a number of waterfalls, audible
from outside the caves when the river is high.[19]
With the Ellora Caves, Ajanta is one of the major tourist attractions
of Maharashtra. It is about 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from Fardapur,
59 kilometres (37 miles) from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra,
India, 104 kilometres (65 miles) from the city of Aurangabad, and
350 kilometres (220 miles) east-northeast of Mumbai.[8][20] Ajanta
is 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Ellora Caves, which contain Location of Ajanta Caves in India
Hindu, Jain and Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period Show map of India
similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta style is also found in the Ellora Caves Show map of Maharashtra
and other sites such as the Elephanta Caves, Aurangabad Caves, Show all
Shivleni Caves and the cave temples of Karnataka.[21]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves 1/47
Contents
History
Caves of the first (Satavahana) period
Caves of the later, or Vākāṭaka, period
Re-discovery
Sites and monasteries
Sites
Monasteries
Worship halls
Cave 19, Ajanta, a 5th-century chaitya hall
Paintings
Spink's chronology and cave history
Hindu and Buddhist sponsorship
Individual caves
Cave 1
Cave 2
Cave 3
Cave 4
Cave 5
Cave 6
Panoramic view of Ajanta Caves
Cave 7
from the nearby hill
Cave 8
Cave 9
Cave 10
Caves 11
Caves 12
Cave 13, 14, 15, 15A
Cave 16
Cave 17
Cave 18
Cave 19 (5th century CE)
Cave 20
Caves 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25
Caves 27, 28 and 29
Cave 30
Other infrastructure
Recent excavations
Copies of the paintings
Significance
Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta
Foreigners in the paintings of Ajanta
Impact on later painting and other arts
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
History
The Ajanta Caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct
phases, the first during the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, and a second
several centuries later.[22][23][24]
The caves consist of 36 identifiable foundations,[8] some of them discovered

after the original numbering of the caves from 1 through 29. The later-
identified caves have been suffixed with the letters of the alphabet, such as
15A, identified between originally numbered caves 15 and 16.[25] The cave
numbering is a convention of convenience, and does not reflect the
chronological order of their construction.[26]
Caves of the first (Satavahana) period

Map of Ajanta Caves
The earliest group consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13
and 15A. The murals in these caves depict stories
from the Jatakas.[26] Later caves reflect the artistic influence of the Gupta period,[26]
but there are differing opinions on which century in which the early caves were
built.[27][28] According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to
100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Hindu Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE –
c. 220 CE) who ruled the region.[29][30] Other datings prefer the period of the Maurya
Empire (300 BCE to 100 BCE).[31] Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa containing
worship halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the
architecture section below for descriptions of these types).[25] The first Satavahana
period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead.
According to Spink, once the Satavahana period caves were made, the site was not
Cave 9, a first-period further developed for a considerable period until the mid-5th century.[32] However,
Hinayana-style chaitya the early caves were in use during this dormant period, and Buddhist pilgrims visited
worship hall with stupa but the site, according to the records left by Chinese pilgrim Faxian around 400 CE.[25]
no idols
Caves of the later, or Vākāṭaka, period
The second phase of construction at the Ajanta Caves site began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought
that the later caves were made over an extended period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE,[33] but in recent
decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work
took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE,[32] during the reign of Hindu Emperor Harishena of the
Vākāṭaka dynasty.[34][35][36] This view has been criticised by some scholars,[37] but is now broadly accepted by
most authors of general books on Indian art, for example, Huntington and Harle.
The second phase is attributed to the theistic Mahāyāna,[26] or Greater Vehicle tradition of Buddhism.[38][39] Caves
of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-
grihas, the rest viharas. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some refurbishing
and repainting of the early caves.[40][26][41]
Spink states that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account
of his chronology is given below.[42] Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at
least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating:
"The second phase of paintings started around 5th–6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries".
According to Spink, the construction activity at the incomplete Ajanta Caves

was abandoned by wealthy patrons in about 480 CE, a few years after the
death of Harishena. However, states Spink, the caves appear to have been in
use for a period of time as evidenced by the wear of the pivot holes in caves
constructed close to 480 CE.[43] The second phase of constructions and
decorations at Ajanta corresponds to the very apogee of Classical India, or
India's golden age.[44] However, at that time, the Gupta Empire was already
weakening from internal political issues and from the assaults of the Hūṇas, so
that the Vakatakas were actually one of the most powerful empires in India.[45]
Some of the Hūṇas, the Alchon Huns of Toramana, were precisely ruling the
neighbouring area of Malwa, at the doorstep of the Western Deccan, at the
time the Ajanta caves were made.[46] Through their control of vast areas of
Most of the caves of the second
northwestern India, the Huns may actually have acted as a cultural bridge period were made under the rule of
between the area of Gandhara and the Western Deccan, at the time when the the Vakataka king Harishena.
Ajanta or Pitalkhora caves were being decorated with some designs of
Gandharan inspiration, such as Buddhas dressed in robes with abundant
folds.[47]
According to Richard Cohen, a description of the caves by 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuanzang and scattered
medieval graffiti suggest that the Ajanta Caves were known and probably in use subsequently, but without a stable
or steady Buddhist community presence.[14] The Ajanta caves are mentioned in the 17th-century text Ain-i-Akbari
by Abu al-Fazl, as twenty four rock-cut cave temples each with remarkable idols.[14]
Re-discovery
On 28 April 1819 a British officer named John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tigers discovered the
entrance to Cave No. 10 when a local shepherd boy guided him to the location and the door. The caves were well
known by locals already.[48] Captain Smith went to a nearby village and asked the villagers to come to the site with
axes, spears, torches, and drums, to cut down the tangled jungle growth that made entering the cave difficult.[48]
He then vandalised the wall by scratching his name and the date over the painting of a bodhisattva. Since he stood
on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult
today.[49] A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822.[50]
Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting,
impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional and unique paintings.
A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century
after rediscovery. In 1848, the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay
Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-
cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson as president. In 1861
this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India.[51]
During the colonial era, the Ajanta site was in the territory of the princely state
of the Hyderabad and not British India.[52] In the early 1920s, Mir Osman Ali
Name and date inscribed by John
Khan the last Nizam of Hyderabad appointed people to restore the artwork,
Smith after he found Cave 10 in
converted the site into a museum and built a road to bring tourists to the site 1819
for a fee. These efforts resulted in early mismanagement, states Richard
Cohen, and hastened the deterioration of the site. Post-independence, the state
government of Maharashtra built arrival, transport, facilities, and better site management. The modern Visitor
Center has good parking facilities and public conveniences and ASI operated buses run at regular intervals from
Visitor Center to the caves.[52]
The Nizam's Director of Archaeology obtained the services of two experts from Italy, Professor Lorenzo Cecconi,
assisted by Count Orsini, to restore the paintings in the caves.[53] The Director of Archaeology for the last Nizam of
Hyderabad said of the work of Cecconi and Orsini:
The repairs to the caves and the cleaning and conservation of the frescoes have been carried out on such
sound principles and in such a scientific manner that these matchless monuments have found a fresh
lease of life for at least a couple of centuries.[54]
Despite these efforts, later neglect led to the paintings degrading in quality once again.[54]
Since 1983, Ajanta caves have been listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of India.
The Ajanta Caves,
along with the Ellora Caves, have become the most popular tourist destination in Maharashtra, and are often
crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings.[55] In 2012, the Maharashtra
Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete
replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea
of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves.[56]
Sites and monasteries
Sites
The caves are carved out of flood basalt rock of a cliff, part of the Deccan Traps
formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous geological
period. The rock is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality.[57]
This variation within the rock layers required the artists to amend their carving
methods and plans in places. The inhomogeneity in the rock has also led to
cracks and collapses in the centuries that followed, as with the lost portico to
cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was
expanded downwards and outwards; as evidenced by some of the incomplete
Cave 24; the Ajanta Caves were
caves such as the partially-built vihara caves 21 through 24 and the abandoned
carved into a massive rock on the
incomplete cave 28.[58] Deccan plateau
The sculpture artists likely worked at both excavating the rocks and making
the intricate carvings of pillars, roof, and idols; further, the sculpture and
painting work inside a cave were integrated parallel tasks.[59] A grand gateway to the site was carved, at the apex of
the gorge's horseshoe between caves 15 and 16, as approached from the river, and it is decorated with elephants on
either side and a nāga, or protective Naga (snake) deity.[60][61] Similar methods and application of artist talent is
observed in other cave temples of India, such as those from Hinduism and Jainism. These include the Ellora Caves,
Ghototkacha Caves, Elephanta Caves, Bagh Caves, Badami Caves, Aurangabad Caves[62] and Shivleni Caves.
The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons to gain merit, with
several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave. The later caves were each
commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites, again for merit in
Buddhist afterlife beliefs as evidenced by inscriptions such as those in Cave 17.[63] After the death of Harisena,
smaller donors motivated by getting merit added small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing
caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of
intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.[64]
Monasteries
The majority of the caves are vihara halls with symmetrical square plans. To each vihara hall are attached smaller
square dormitory cells cut into the walls.[65] A vast majority of the caves were carved in the second period, wherein
a shrine or sanctuary is appended at the rear of the cave, centred on a large statue of the Buddha, along with
exuberantly detailed reliefs and deities near him as well as on the pillars and walls, all carved out of the natural
rock.[66] This change reflects the shift from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. These caves are often called
monasteries.
The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square
columns forming a more-or-less square open area. Outside this are long
rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and
rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are
roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had
wooden doors.[67] The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind,
containing a large Buddha statue.
The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines.[21][68]
Cave 4: a monastery, or vihara, with
Spink places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second
its square hall surrounded by
period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or
monks' cells
after the original phase.[69]
The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the
later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall.
Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.[70]
Cave 12 plan: an Cave 1 plan, a Cave 6: a two-storey Cave 16: a

early type of vihara monastery known for monastery with monastery featuring
(1st century BCE) its paintings[71] "Miracle of Sravasti" two side aisles[72]
without internal and "Temptation of
shrine Mara" painted[72]
Worship halls
Top: Interior of Ajanta chaitya hall, Cave 26, photo by Robert Gill (c. 1868); Bottom: James Fergusson painting of Cave 19 worship
hall.
The other type of main hall architecture is the narrower rectangular plan with high arched ceiling type chaitya-
griha – literally, "the house of stupa". This hall is longitudinally divided into a nave and two narrower side aisles
separated by a symmetrical row of pillars, with a stupa in the apse.[73][74] The stupa is surrounded by pillars and
concentric walking space for circumambulation. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with
large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space
inside the doors running the width of the cave. The oldest worship halls at Ajanta were built in the 2nd to 1st
century BCE, the newest ones in the late 5th century CE, and the architecture of both resembles the architecture of
a Christian church, but without the crossing or chapel chevette.[75] The Ajanta Caves follow the Cathedral-style
architecture found in still older rock-cut cave carvings of ancient India, such as the Lomas Rishi Cave of the
Ajivikas near Gaya in Bihar dated to the 3rd century BCE.[76] These chaitya-griha are called worship or prayer
halls.[77][78]
The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later
period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading
to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a
common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs carved into the rock,
which reflect timber forms,[79] and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs and are now smooth,
the original wood presumed to have perished.[80] The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also
found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19
and seated in Cave 26.[21][68] Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.[81]
The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using
simple octagonal columns, which were later painted with images of the Buddha, people and monks in robes. In the
second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with
elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface with floral motifs
and Mahayana deities, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.[82][83]
Cave 10: a worship Cave 9: a worship Cave 19: known for Cave 19: another
hall with Jataka hall with early its figures of the view (5th century
tales-related art (1st paintings and animal Buddha, Kubera and CE)
century BCE)[84] friezes (1st century other arts (5th
CE)[84] century CE)[84]
Paintings
The paintings in the Ajanta caves predominantly narrate the Jataka tales. These are Buddhist legends describing
the previous births of the Buddha. These fables embed ancient morals and cultural lores that are also found in the
fables and legends of Hindu and Jain texts. The Jataka tales are exemplified through the life example and sacrifices
that the Buddha made in hundreds of his past incarnations, where he is depicted as having been reborn as an
animal or human.[85][86][87]
Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved
from the earlier caves (Caves 10 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of ancient painting in India from this
period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painters had mastered an easy and fluent
naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the
reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".[88] Some connections with the art of Gandhara can
also be noted, and there is evidence of a shared artistic idiom.[89]
Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which,
states James Harle, "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-
specialist",[88] and represent "the great glories not only of Gupta but of all Indian
art".[90] They fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and
apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century
or later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them
in the 5th century as well, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or
one reflecting a team from a different region.[91] The Ajanta frescos are classical Painted ceiling depicting
paintings and the work of confident artists, without cliches, rich and full. They are Life circle of Lord
luxurious, sensuous and celebrate physical beauty, aspects that early Western observers Buddha
felt were shockingly out of place in these caves presumed to be meant for religious
worship and ascetic monastic life.[92]
The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.[93] All the
paintings appear to be the work of painters supported by discriminating connoisseurship and sophisticated patrons
from an urban atmosphere. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in
the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian mural painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal bands like a
frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre.[92] The ceilings
are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture.[91] The paintings
in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales
which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as deer or elephant or another Jataka animal. The
scenes depict the Buddha as about to renounce the royal life.[94]
In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in
the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular.[95] According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves,
the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in places including
cave 4 and the shrine of cave 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.[94]
Cave 2, showing the Cave 17 verandah doorway; Section of the mural in Cave
extensive paint loss of many eight Buddhas above eight 17, the 'coming of Sinhala'.
areas. It was never finished couples[97][98] The prince (Prince Vijaya) is
by its artists, and shows seen in both groups of
Vidhura Jataka.[96] elephants and riders.
Hamsa jâtaka, cave 17: the Cave 13

Buddha as the golden goose
in his previous life[99]
Spink's chronology and cave history

Walter Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period
of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence
such as the inscriptions and artistic style, dating of nearby cave temple sites, comparative chronology of the
dynasties, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves.[100] He believes the earlier group of caves,
which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some
later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries". This changed during the Hindu
emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty,[34] who reigned from 460 to his death in 477, who sponsored
numerous new caves during his reign. Harisena's rule extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a
stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava
dynasty much of the south.[32]
According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and
Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually
commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in many caves
simultaneously about 462. This activity was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring
Asmaka kings. Thereafter work continued on only Caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned
by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely,
in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time
the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.[101]
Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after
which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were
sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which
brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 CE major
excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues
added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space
between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks,
who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the
rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances,
and to walls inside the caves.[102] According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image
was ever made again at the site".[103] However, there exists a Rashtrakuta inscription Buddhist monks praying in
outside of cave 26 dateable to end of seventh or early 8th century, suggesting the front of the Dagoba of
caves were not abandoned until then. Chaitya Cave 26
Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of
error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".[104]
Hindu and Buddhist sponsorship
The Ajanta Caves were built in a period when both the Buddha and the Hindu gods were simultaneously revered in
Indian culture. According to Spink and other scholars, the royal Vakataka sponsors of the Ajanta Caves probably
worshipped both Hindu and Buddhist gods.[34][105] This is evidenced by inscriptions in which these rulers, who are
otherwise known as Hindu devotees, made Buddhist dedications to the caves.[105] According to Spink,
That one could worship both the Buddha and the Hindu gods may well account for Varahadeva's
participation here, just as it can explain why the emperor Harisena himself could sponsor the
remarkable Cave 1, even though most scholars agree that he was certainly a Hindu, like earlier Vakataka
kings.
— Walter Spink, Ajanta: History and Development, Cave by Cave,[105]
A terracotta plaque of Mahishasuramardini, also known as Durga, was also found in a burnt-brick vihara
monastery facing the caves on the right bank of the river Waghora that has been recently excavated.[106][107][108]
This suggest that the deity was possibly under worship by the artisans.[106][107] According to Yuko Yokoschi and
Walter Spink, the excavated artifacts of the 5th century near the site suggest that the Ajanta caves deployed a huge
number of builders.[109][110]
Individual caves
Ajanta Caves panorama with cave numbers. The caves are numbered from right to left, except for the later discovered cave 29,
located high above Cave 21. Also, cave 30 is located between caves 15 and 16, nearer the river bed (cave invisible here). Chaitya
halls are boxed (9, 10, 19, 26), and minor caves are indicated by a smaller type.
Cave 1
Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horseshoe-

shaped scarp and is now the first cave the visitor
encounters. This cave, when first made, would have
been a less prominent position, right at the end of the
row. According to Spink, it is one of the last caves to
have been excavated, when the best sites had been
taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship Front of Cave 1
by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central
shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty
deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine
image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that
would have happened if the garland-hooks around
the shrine had been in use for any period of time.
Spink states that the Vākāṭaka Emperor Harishena
was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected
in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave,
with those Jataka tales being selected that tell of
Cave 1, interior
those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was
royal.[111]
The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far
back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front
of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down
completely and the remains, despite containing fine carvings, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river,
from where they have been lost.[112][113]
This cave (35.7 m × 27.6 m)[114] has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature
and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. 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 frontcourt 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 suggests that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become
customary. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on
the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved
between the doorways to brighten the interiors.[115]
Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 feet (12 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) 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, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of
the rear aisle.[116]
The paintings of Cave 1 cover the walls and the ceilings. They are in a fair state
of preservation, although the full scheme was never completed. The scenes
depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the
Jataka stories of the Buddha's former lives as a bodhisattva, the life of the
Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous
The frieze over the frontage of Cave
individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life-size figures of the
1 front shows elephants, horses,
protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the
bulls, lions, apsaras and meditating
entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations
monks.
above).[117][118] Other significant frescos in Cave 1 include the Sibi,
Sankhapala, Mahajanaka, Mahaummagga, and Champeyya Jataka tales. The
cave-paintings also show the Temptation of Mara, the miracle of Sravasti where the Buddha simultaneously
manifests in many forms, the story of Nanda, and the story of Siddhartha and Yasodhara.[87][119]
One of four frescos Sibi Jataka: the king The Bodhisattva of The
for the Mahajanaka undergoes the compassion Vajrapani[121][124]
Jataka tale: the king traditional rituals for Padmapani with
announces his renunciants. He lotus[121][123]
abdication to receives a
become an ceremonial
ascetic.[120] bath.[121][122]
Kinnara with Ajanta Cave 1 Group

kachchapa veena, of foreigners on the
part of Bodhisattva ceiling
Padmapani painting
in Cave 1.[125]
Cave 2
Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the

paintings that have been preserved on its
walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar
to Cave 1 and is in a better state of
preservation. This cave is best known for
its feminine focus, intricate rock carvings
and paint artwork yet it is incomplete and
lacks consistency.[126][127] One of the 5th-
century frescos in this cave also shows
children at a school, with those in the front Outside view and main hall with shrine, Cave 2.
rows paying attention to the teacher, while
those in the back row are shown distracted
and acting.[128]
Cave 2 (35.7 m × 21.6 m)[114] was started in the 460s, but mostly carved between 475 and 477 CE, probably
sponsored and influenced by a woman closely related to emperor Harisena.[129] It has a porch quite different from
Cave 1. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with
designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends.[130]
The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding
a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is
parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The
colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved
and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human,
animal, vegetative, and semi-divine motifs.[130] Major carvings include that of
goddess Hariti. She is a Buddhist deity who originally was the demoness of
smallpox and a child eater, who the Buddha converted into a guardian goddess
of fertility, easy child birth and one who protects babies.[127][128]
Colonnades with high-reliefs in the
The paintings on the ceilings and walls of Cave 2 have been widely published.
veranda
They depict the Hamsa, Vidhurapandita, Ruru, Kshanti Jataka tales and the
Purna Avadhana. Other frescos show the miracle of Sravasti, Ashtabhaya
Avalokitesvara and the dream of Maya.[86][87] Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasise kingship, those in
cave 2 show many noble and powerful women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an
unknown woman.[58] The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On
either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.
Cave 2 fresco above A scene from The artworks of The Miracle of

the right door shows Vidurapandita Cave 2 are known Sravasti[132]
Buddha in Tushita Jataka: the birth of for their feminine
heaven[131] the Buddha[131] focus, such as these
two females[126]
Cave 3
Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of
work and soon abandoned.[133]
This is an incomplete monastery and only the preliminary excavations of pillared veranda exist. The cave was one
of the last projects to start at the site. Its date could be ascribed to circa 477 CE[134], just before the sudden death of
Emperor Harisena. The work stopped after the scooping out of a rough entrance of the hall.
Cave 4
Cave 4, a Vihara, was sponsored by

Mathura, likely not a noble or courtly
official, rather a wealthy devotee.[135] This
is the largest vihara in the inaugural group,
which suggests he had immense wealth and
influence without being a state official. It is
placed at a significantly higher level,
possibly because the artists realized that
the rock quality at the lower and same level Exterior view and interior hall of Cave 4
of other caves was poor and they had a
better chance of a major vihara at an upper
location. Another likely possibility is that the planners wanted to carve into the rock another large cistern to the left
courtside for more residents, mirroring the right, a plan implied by the height of the forward cells on the left
side.[135]
The Archaeological Survey of India dates it to the 6th century

CE.[114] Spink, in contrast, dates this cave's inauguration a century
earlier, to about 463 CE, based on construction style and other
inscriptions.[135] Cave 4 shows evidence of a dramatic collapse of its
ceiling in the central hall, likely in the 6th century, something caused
by the vastness of the cave and geological flaws in the rock. Later, the
artists attempted to overcome this geological flaw by raising the
height of the ceiling through deeper excavation of the embedded
basalt lava.[136]
The cave has a squarish plan,

Ajanta hall door (left) and cave pillars
houses a colossal image of the
Buddha in preaching pose
flanked by bodhisattvas and
celestial nymphs hovering above. It consists, of a verandah, a hypostylar hall,
sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. This monastery
is the largest among the Ajanta caves and it measures nearly 970 square
metres (10,400 sq ft) (35m × 28m).[114] The door frame is exquisitely sculpted
flanking to the right is carved Bodhisattva as reliever of Eight Great Perils. The
Cave 4: The Buddha in a preaching
rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of litany of Avalokiteśvara. The pose flanked by bodhisattvas
cave's ceiling collapse likely affected its overall plan, caused it being left
incomplete. Only the Buddha's statue and the major sculptures were
completed, and except for what the sponsor considered most important elements all other elements inside the cave
were never painted.[136]
Cave 5
Cave 5, an unfinished excavation was planned as a monastery (10.32 × 16.8 m). Cave 5 is devoid of sculpture and
architectural elements except the door frame. The ornate carvings on the frame has female figures with mythical
makara creatures found in ancient and medieval era Indian arts.[114] The cave's construction was likely initiated
about 465 CE but abandoned because the rock has geological flaws. The construction was resumed in 475 CE after
Asmakas restarted work at the Ajanta caves, but abandoned again as the artists and sponsor redesigned and
focussed on an expanded Cave 6 that abuts Cave 5.[137]
Cave 6
Cave 6 is two-storey
monastery (16.85 × 18.07
m). It consists of a
sanctum, a hall on both
levels. The lower level is
pillared and has attached
cells. The upper hall also
has subsidiary cells. The A view of the entrance and two storeys (left), upper-level hall, and artwork on sanctum's door frame
sanctums on both level
feature a Buddha in the
teaching posture. Elsewhere, the Buddha is shown in different mudras. The lower level walls depict the Miracle of
Sravasti and the Temptation of Mara legends.[114][138] Only the lower floor of cave 6 was finished. The unfinished
upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha.[133]
The lower level of Cave 6 likely was the earliest excavation in the second stage of construction.[72] This stage
marked the Mahayana theme and Vakataka renaissance period of Ajanta reconstruction that started about four
centuries after the earlier Hinayana theme construction.[72][139] The upper storey was not envisioned in the
beginning, it was added as an afterthought, likely around the time when the architects and artists abandoned
further work on the geologically-flawed rock of Cave 5 immediately next to it. Both lower and upper Cave 6 show
crude experimentation and construction errors.[140] The cave work was most likely in progress between 460 and
470 CE, and it is the first that shows attendant Bodhisattvas.[141] The upper cave construction probably began in
465, progressed swiftly, and much deeper into the rock than the lower level.[142]
The walls and sanctum's door frame of the both levels are intricately carved. These show themes such as makaras
and other mythical creatures, apsaras, elephants in different stages of activity, females in waving or welcoming
gesture. The upper level of Cave 6 is significant in that it shows a devotee in a kneeling posture at the Buddha's
feet, an indication of devotional worship practices by the 5th century.[138][143] The colossal Buddha of the shrine
has an elaborate throne back, but was hastily finished in 477/478 CE, when king Harisena died.[144] The shrine
antechamber of the cave features an unfinished sculptural group of the Six Buddhas of the Past, of which only five
statues were carved.[144] This idea may have been influenced from those in Bagh Caves of Madhya Pradesh.[145]
The most intact Painting showing the Buddha in the upper

painting in Cave 6: Mahayana level, deer below and
Buddha seated in devotional worship to apsaras above
dharma-chakra- the Buddha[138][143] (artificial
mudra[146] lighting)[147][148]
Cave 7
Cave 7 is also a monastery (15.55 × 31.25 m) but

a single storey. It consists of a sanctum, a hall
with octagonal pillars, and eight small rooms
for monks. The sanctum Buddha is shown in
preaching posture. There are many art panels
narrating Buddhist themes, including those of
the Buddha with Nagamuchalinda and Miracle
of Sravasti.[114]
External view of Cave 7, and inside shrine
Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos.
The veranda has eight pillars of two types. One
has an octagonal base with amalaka and lotus capital. The other lacks a distinctly shaped base, features an
octagonal shaft instead with a plain capital.[149] The veranda opens into an antechamber. On the left side in this
antechamber are seated or standing sculptures such as those of 25 carved seated Buddhas in various postures and
facial expressions, while on the right side are 58 seated Buddha reliefs in different postures, all placed on lotus.[149]
These Buddhas and others on the inner walls of the antechamber are a sculptural depiction of the Miracle of
Sravasti in Buddhist theology.[150] The bottom row shows two Nagas (serpents with hoods) holding the blooming
lotus stalk.[149] The antechamber leads to the sanctum through a door frame. On this frame are carved two females
standing on makaras (mythical sea creatures). Inside the sanctum is the Buddha sitting on a lion throne in cross
legged posture, surrounded by other Bodhisattva figures, two attendants with chauris and flying apsaras
above.[149]
Perhaps because of faults in the rock, Cave 7 was never taken very deep into the cliff. It consists only of the two
porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.[151] The cave artwork
likely underwent revisions and refurbishments over time. The first version was complete by about 469 CE, the
myriad Buddhas added and painted a few years later between 476 and 478 CE.[152]
Cave 7 plan (Robert Cave 7: Buddhas on Buddhas on the The shallow corridor
Gill sketch, the antechamber left antechamber's right before the shrine
1850) [153] wall (James Burgess wall[150]
sketch, 1880)[150]
Cave 8
Cave 8 is another unfinished monastery (15.24 × 24.64 m). For many decades in the 20th-century, this cave was
used as a storage and generator room.[154] It is at the river level with easy access, relatively lower than other caves,
and according to Archaeological Survey of India it is possibly one of the earliest monasteries. Much of its front is
damaged, likely from a landslide.[114] The cave excavation proved difficult and probably abandoned after a
geological fault consisting of a mineral layer proved disruptive to stable carvings.[154][155]
Spink, in contrast, states that Cave 8 is perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an
"afterthought". It may well be the oldest Mahayana monastery excavated in India, according to Spink.[151] The
External view of Cave 8, with plan. Cave 8 is small, and located at the lowest level in Ajanta, just below the walkway between
Caves 7 and 9.
statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted,
but only traces remain.[151]
Cave 9
Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya or worship halls from

the 2nd to 1st century BCE – the first period of
construction, though both were reworked upon the end of
the second period of construction in the 5th century CE.
Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m)[114] is smaller than Cave 10

(30.5 m × 12.2 m),[114] but more complex.[156] This has led
Spink to the view that Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the
1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later.
The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also
date from the second period. These were commissioned by
individuals.[157] Cave 9 arch has remnant profile that Entrance to the Cave 9 worship hall. Right: An 1878 sketch.
suggests that it likely had wooden fittings.[156]
The cave has a distinct apsidal shape, nave, aisle and an

apse with an icon, architecture, and plan that reminds one of the cathedrals built in Europe many centuries later.
The aisle has a row of 23 pillars. The ceiling is vaulted. The stupa is at the center of the apse, with a
circumambulation path around it. The stupa sits on a high cylindrical base. On the left wall of the cave are votaries
approaching the stupa, which suggests a devotional tradition.[158][159]
According to Spink, the paintings in this cave, including the intrusive standing Buddhas on the pillars, were added
in the 5th century.[160] Above the pillars and also behind the stupa are colorful paintings of the Buddha with
Padmapani and Vajrapani next to him, they wear jewels and necklaces, while yogis, citizens and Buddhist bhikshu
are shown approaching the Buddha with garlands and offerings, with men wearing dhoti and turbans wrapped
around their heads.[161] On the walls are friezes of Jataka tales, but likely from the Hinayana phase of early
construction. Some of the panels and reliefs inside as well as outside Cave 10 do not make narrative sense, but are
related to Buddhist legends. This lack of narrative flow may be because these were added by different monks and
official donors in the 5th century wherever empty space was available.[159] This devotionalism and the worship hall
character of this cave is the likely reason why four additional shrinelets 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D were added between
Cave 9 and 10.[159]
Buddha statue on The apsidal hall with Pillar paintings Cave 9: fresco with
the porch of Cave 9 plain hemispherical Buddhas in orange
stupa at apse's robes and protected
center[161] by chatra umbrellas
Cave 10
Cave 10, a vast prayer hall or Chaitya, is dated to

about the 1st century BCE, together with the nearby
vihara cave No 12.[163][164] These two caves are thus
among the earliest of the Ajanta complex.[163] It has
a large central apsidal hall with a row of 39 octagonal
pillars, a nave separating its aisle and stupa at the
end for worship. The stupa has a pradakshina patha
(circumambulatory path).[114][164]
[162]
Exterior view and interior hall of Cave 10
This cave is significant because its scale confirms the
influence of Buddhism in South Asia by the 1st
century BCE and its continued though declining
influence in India through the 5th century CE.[164] Further, the cave includes a number of inscriptions where parts
of the cave are "gifts of prasada" by different individuals, which in turn suggests that the cave was sponsored as a
community effort rather than a single king or one elite official.[164] Cave 10 is also historically important because in
April 1819, a British Army officer John Smith saw its arch and introduced his discovery to the attention of the
Western audience.[114]
Chronology
Several others caves were also built in Western India around the same period under royal sponsorship.[163] It is
thought that the chronology of these early Chaitya Caves is as follows: first Cave 9 at Kondivite Caves and then
Cave 12 at the Bhaja Caves, which both predate Cave 10 of Ajanta.[165] Then, after Cave 10 of Ajanta, in
chronological order: Cave 3 at Pitalkhora, Cave 1 at Kondana Caves, Cave 9 at Ajanta, which, with its more ornate
designs, may have been built about a century later,[163] Cave 18 at Nasik Caves, and Cave 7 at Bedse Caves, to
finally culminate with the "final perfection" of the Great Chaitya at Karla Caves.[165]
Inscription
Cave 10 features a Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script that is archaeologically important.[114] The inscription is
the oldest of the Ajanta site, the Brahmi letters being paleographically dated to circa the 2nd century BCE.[166] It
reads:[note 2]
𑀯𑀲𑀺 𑀣𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢𑀲 𑀓𑀝𑀳𑀸 𑀤𑀺𑀦𑁄 𑀖𑀭𑀫𑀼𑀔 𑀤𑀸𑀦𑀁
Vasithiputasa Kaṭahādino gharamukha dānaṁ
"The gift of a cave-façade by Vasisthiputra" Katahadi."
— Inscription of Cave No.10.[163][167]
Paintings
The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period,
many from an incomplete programme of modernisation in the second
period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images for votive
purposes, around the 479–480 CE, nearly all Buddhas and many with
donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting
Ajanta Cave 10 dedicatory inscription
the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are
tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these
(including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many
different artists are visible. The paintings are numerous and from two periods, many narrating the Jataka tales in a
clockwise sequence.[168] Both Hinayana and Mahayana stage paintings are discernable, though the former are
more faded and begrimed with early centuries of Hinayana worship.[169] Of interest here is the Saddanta Jataka
tale – the fable about six tusked elephant, and the Shyama Jataka – the story about the man who dedicates his life
serving his blind parents.[164][170][171] According to Stella Kramrisch, the oldest layer of the Cave 10 paintings date
from about 100 BCE, and the principles behind their composition are analogous to those from the same era at
Sanchi and Amaravati.[171]
Cave 10, condition in The Buddha in long, Later painting with Paintings of Buddhas
1839[172] heavy robe, a design devotional figures, and Bodhisattvas on
derived from the art on pillars and ceiling the arches
of Gandhara[173]
Caves 11
Cave 11 is a monastery (19.87 × 17.35 m) from

the later 5th century.[114] The cave veranda has
pillars with octagonal shafts and square bases.
The ceiling of the veranda shows evidence of
floral designs and eroded reliefs. Only the
center panel is discernible wherein the Buddha
is seen with votaries lining up to pray before
him.[174] Inside, the cave consists of a hall with Outside view of Cave 11: Buddha with a kneeling devotee[174]
a long rock bench opening into six rooms.
Similar stone benches are found in Nasik
Caves.[174] Another pillared verandah ends in a sanctum with seated Buddha against an incomplete stupa, and has
four cells.
The cave has a few paintings showing Bodhisattvas and the Buddha.[114] Of these, the Padmapani, a couple
gathered to pray, a pair of peafowl, and a female figure painting have survived in the best condition. The sanctum
of this cave may be among the last structures built at Ajanta because it features a circumambulation path around
the seated Buddha.[174]
Caves 12
According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Cave

12 is an early stage Hinayana (Theravada) monastery
(14.9 × 17.82 m) from the 2nd to 1st century BCE. Spink
however only dates it to the 1st century BCE.[175]
The cave is damaged with its front wall completely

collapsed. Its three sides inside have twelve cells, each
with two stone beds.[114][176] Cave 12 hall, with monk cells. Each cell has two stone beds.[174]
Cave 13, 14, 15, 15A
Cave 13 is another small monastery from the early period, consisting of a hall with seven cells, each also with two
stone beds, all carved out of the rock. Each cell has rock-cut beds for the monks. In contrast to ASI's estimate,
Gupte and Mahajan date both these caves about two to three centuries later, between 1st and 2nd-century CE.[176]
Cave 14 is another unfinished monastery (13.43 × 19.28 m) but carved above Cave 13. The entrance door frame
shows sala bhanjikas.[114]
Cave 15 is a more complete monastery (19.62 × 15.98 m) with evidence that it had paintings. The cave consists of
an eight-celled hall ending in a sanctum, an antechamber and a verandah with pillars. The reliefs show the
Buddha, while the sanctum Buddha is shown seated in the Simhasana posture.[114] Cave 15 door frame has
carvings of pigeons eating grain.[176]
Cave 15A is the smallest cave with a hall and one cell on each side. Its entrance is located just to the right of the
elephant-decorated entrance to Cave 16.[177] It is an ancient Hinayana cave with three cells opening around a
minuscule central hall.[177] The doors are decorated with a rail and arch pattern.[177] It had an inscription in an
ancient script, which has been lost.[114][177]
Cave 13 Cave 14 Cave 15
Cave 15A Interior of cave 15A[178]
Cave 16
Entrance stairs to the single-storey Cave 16, with stone elephants and front with pillars (left). Inside hall with seated Buddha statue
(right).[179]
Cave 16 occupies a prime position near the middle of site, and was sponsored by Varahadeva, minister of Vakataka
king Harishena (r. c. 475 – c. 500 CE). He devoted it to the community of monks, with an inscription that expresses
his wish, may "the entire world (...) enter that peaceful and noble state free from sorrow and disease" and affirming
his devotion to the Buddhist faith: "regarding the sacred law as his only companion, (he was) extremely devoted to
the Buddha, the teacher of the world".[180][181] He was, states Spink, probably someone who revered both the
Buddha and the Hindu gods, as he proclaims his Hindu heritage in an inscription in the nearby Ghatotkacha
Cave.[105] The 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuan Zang described the cave as the entrance to the site.[180]
Cave 16 (19.5 m × 22.25 m × 4.6 m)[114] influenced the architecture of the entire site. Spink and other scholars call
it the "crucial cave" that helps trace the chronology of the second and closing stages of the entire cave complex's
construction.[182][183] Cave 16 is a Mahayana monastery and has the standard arrangement of a main doorway, two
windows, and two aisle doorways.[184] The veranda of this monastery is 19.5 m × 3 m, while the main hall is almost
a perfect square with 19.5 m side.[185]
The paintings in Cave 16 are numerous. Narratives include various

Inscription of Varāhadēva
Jataka tales such as Hasti, Mahaummagga and the Sutasoma
fables. Other frescos depict the conversion of Nanda, miracle of
Sravasti, Sujata's offering, Asita's visit, the dream of Maya, the
Trapusha and Bhallika story, and the ploughing festival.[87][186]
The Hasti Jataka frescos tell the story of a Bodhisattva elephant
who learns of a large group of people starving, then tells them to go
below a cliff where they could find food. The elephant proceeds to
sacrifice himself by jumping off that cliff thereby becoming food so
that the people can survive.[185][note 3] These frescos are found
immediately to the left of entrance, in the front corridor and the
narrative follows a clockwise direction.[185]
The Mahaummagga Jataka frescos are found on the left wall of the
corridor, which narrates the story of a child Bodhisattva.[189] Cave 16 inscription of Varāhadēva, with translation
Thereafter, in the left corridor is the legend surrounding the
conversion of Nanda – the half brother of the Buddha. The story
depicted is one of the two major versions of the Nanda legend in the Buddhist tradition, one where Nanda wants to
lead a sensuous life with the girl he had just wed and the Buddha takes him to heaven and later hell to show the
spiritual dangers of a sensual life.[189] After the Nanda-related frescos, the cave presents Manushi Buddhas,
followed by flying votaries with offerings to worship the Buddha and the Buddha seated in teaching asana and
dharma chakra mudra.[190]
The right wall of the corridor show the scenes from the life of the Buddha.[191][192] These include Sujata offering
food to the Buddha with a begging bowl in white dress, Tapussa and Bhalluka next to the Buddha after they
offering wheat and honey to the Buddha as monk, the future Buddha sitting alone under a tree, and the Buddha at
a ploughing festival.[192] One mural shows Buddha's parents trying to dissuade him from becoming a monk.
Another shows the Buddha at the palace surrounded by men in dhoti and women in sari as his behavior presents
the four signs that he is likely to renounce.[191][192] On this side of the corridor are also paintings that show the
future Buddha as a baby with sage Asita with rishi-like looks.[191][192] According to Spink, some of the Cave 16
paintings were left incomplete.[193]
The conversion of Palace scene fresco, The Buddha in Manushi Buddhas

sensuality-driven right corridor of Cave asceticism stage, painting in Cave
Nanda to Buddhism, 16[191] getting sweet milk- 16[192]
left corridor[194] rice from Sujata[192]
Cave 16: king paying

homage to the
Buddha
Cave 17
Cave 17 (34.5 m × 25.63 m)[114] along

with Cave 16 with two great stone
elephants at the entrance and Cave 26
with sleeping Buddha, were some of
the many caves sponsored by the
Hindu Vakataka prime minister
Varahadeva.[196] Cave 17 had
additional donors such as the local
king Upendragupta, as evidenced by
the inscription therein.[197] Cave 17: exterior view and inside hall with seated Buddha statue[195]
The cave features a large and most

sophisticated vihara design, along with some of the best-preserved and well-known paintings of all the caves.
While Cave 16 is known for depicting the life stories of the Buddha, the Cave 17 paintings has attracted much
attention for extolling human virtues by narrating the Jataka tales.[198] The narration includes attention to details
and a realism which Stella Kramrisch calls "lavish elegance" accomplished by efficient craftsmen. The ancient
artists, states Kramrisch, tried to show wind passing over a crop by showing it bending in waves, and a similar
profusion of rhythmic sequences that unroll story after story, visually presenting the metaphysical.[199]
The Cave 17 monastery includes a colonnaded porch, a number of

Inscription of Cave 17
pillars each with a distinct style, a peristyle design for the interior
hall, a shrine antechamber located deep in the cave, larger windows
and doors for more light, along with extensive integrated carvings of
Indian gods and goddesses.[200] The hall of this monastery is a
380.53 square metres (4,096.0 sq ft) square, with 20 pillars.[198] The
grand scale of the carving also introduced errors of taking out too
much rock to shape the walls, states Spink, which led to the cave
being splayed out toward the rear.[201]
Cave 17 has one long inscription by king Upendragupta, in which he

explains that he has "expended abundant wealth" on building this
vihara, bringing much satisfaction to the devotees.[202] Altogether,
Upendragupta is known to have sponsored at least 5 of the caves in
Ajanta. He may have spent too much wealth on religious pursuits Inscription of Cave 17, with translation
however, as he was ultimately defeated by the attacks of the
Asmaka.[202]
Cave 17 has thirty major murals. The paintings of Cave 17 depict Buddha in various forms and postures – Vipasyi,
Sikhi, Visvbhu, Krakuchchanda, Kanakamuni, Kashyapa and Sakyamuni. Also depicted are Avalokitesvara, the
story of Udayin and Gupta, the story of Nalagiri, the Wheel of life, a panel celebrating various ancient Indian
musicians and a panel that tells of Prince Simhala's expedition to Sri Lanka.[203][204] The narrative frescos depict
the various Jataka tales such as the Shaddanta, Hasti, Hamsa, Vessantara, Sutasoma, Mahakapi (in two versions),
Sarabhamiga, Machchha, Matiposaka, Shyama, Mahisha, Valahassa, Sibi, Ruru and Nigrodamiga
Jatakas.[85][87][205] The depictions weave in the norms of the early 1st millennium culture and the society. They
show themes as diverse as a shipwreck, a princess applying makeup, lovers in scenes of dalliance, and a wine
drinking scene of a couple with the woman and man amorously seated. Some frescos attempt to show the key
characters from various parts of a Jataka tale by co-depicting animals and attendants in the same scene.[87][97]
Vessantara Jataka: Shaddanta Jataka: Painting depicting The Buddha in Cave

the story of the six-tusked elephant "Darpana Sundari", a 17 sanctum
generous king giving away his lady with a mirror[206]
Vessantara[198] tusks [198]
Musician with Alapini

Vina (far left), next to
Indra.
Cave 18
Cave 18 is a small rectangular space (3.38 × 11.66 m) with two octagonal pillars and it joins into another cell. Its
role is unclear.[114]
Cave 19 is a worship hall (chaitya

griha, 16.05 × 7.09 m) datable to
the fifth century CE. The hall
shows painted Buddha, depicted in
different postures.[114][207] This
worship hall is now visited through
what was previously a carved
room. The presence of this room
before the hall suggests that the
original plan included a mandala Entrance façade and inside worship hall, Cave 19, sponsored by king Upendragupta.[207]
style courtyard for devotees to
gather and wait, an entrance and
facade to this courtyard, all of whose ruins are now lost to history.[208] Cave 19 is one of the caves known for its
sculpture. It includes Naga figures with a serpent canopy protecting the Buddha, similar to those found for
spiritual icons in the ancient Jain and Hindu traditions. It includes Yaksha dvarapala (guardian) images on the
side of its vatayana (arches), flying couples, sitting Buddha, standing Buddhas and evidence that its ceiling was
once painted.[208]
Cave 19 drew upon on the plan and experimentation in Cave 9.[209] It made a major departure from the earlier
Hinayana tradition, by carving a Buddha into the stupa, a decision that states Spink must have come from "the
highest levels" in the 5th-century Mahayana Buddhist establishment because the king and dynasty that built this
cave was from the Shaivism Hindu tradition. Cave 19 excavation and stupa was likely in place by 467 CE, and its
finishing and artistic work continued into the early 470s, but it too was an incomplete cave when it was dedicated
in 471 CE.[210]
The entrance facade of the Cave 19 worship hall is ornate. Two round pillars with fluted floral patterns and carved
garlands support a porch. Its capital is an inverted lotus connecting to an amalaka. To its left is standing Buddha
in varada hasta mudra with a devotee prostrating at his feet. On right is a relief of woman with one hand holding a
pitcher and other touching her chin.[208][211] Above is a seated Buddha in meditating mudra. Towards the right of
the entrance is the "Mother and Child" sculpture.[212][note 4] A figure with begging bowl is the Buddha, watching
him are his wife and son.[208][211]
The worship hall is apsidal, with 15 pillars dividing it into two side aisles and one nave. The round pillars have
floral reliefs and a fluted shaft topped with Buddha in its capitals. Next, to the Buddha in the capitals are elephants,
horses and flying apsara friezes found elsewhere in India, reflecting the style of the Gupta Empire artwork.[215]
According to Sharma, the similarities at the Karla Caves Great Chaitya, built in the 2nd century CE, suggest that
Cave 19 may have been modeled after it.[216]
The walls and the ceiling of the side aisles inside the worship hall are covered with paintings. These show the
Buddha, flowers, and in the left aisle the "Mother and Child" legend again.[215]
Cave 19 plan Nagaraja in The nave has 15 Buddha paintings in

suggests that it once ardhaparyanka pillars with Buddha the side aisle of
had a courtyard and asana, with his wife reliefs[215] Cave 19[215]
additional holding lotus and
artwork[208] wearing
mangalasutra[208]
Cave 20
Cave 20 is a monastery hall (16.2 × 17.91 m) from the

5th century. Its construction, states Spink, was
started in the 460s by king Upendragupta, with his
expressed desire "to make the great tree of religious
merit grow".[217] The work on Cave 20 was pursued
in parallel with other caves. Cave 20 has exquisite
detailing, states Spink, but it was relatively lower on
priority than Caves 17 and 19.[218] The work on Cave Cave 20: exterior, and main shrine with pillars
20 was intermittently stopped and then continued in
the following decade.[218]
The vihara consists of a sanctum, four cells for monks and a pillared verandah with two stone cut windows for
light. Prior to entering the main hall, on the left of veranda are two Buddhas carved above the window and side cell.
The ceiling of the main hall has remnants of painting.[219] The sanctum Buddha is in preaching posture. The cave is
known for the sculpture showing seven Buddhas with attendants on its lintel.[114] The cave has a dedicatory
Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script in its verandah, and it calls the cave as a mandapa.[220][221]
Many of the figural and ornamental carvings in Cave 20 are similar to Cave 19, and to a lesser degree to those
found in Cave 17. This may be because the same architects and artisans were responsible for the evolution of the
three caves. The door frames in Cave 20 are quasi-structural, something unique at the Ajanta site.[222] The
decorations are also innovative in Cave 20, such as one showing the Buddha seated against two pillows and "a
richly laden mango tree behind him", states Spink.[222]
The Buddha on Lion The sanctum has

throne two Nagarajas on the
side as guardians.
Caves 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25
Cave 21, 22, 23 and 24 are all monasteries,

representing the final phases of Ajanta's
construction. Cave 21 is a hall (28.56 × 28.03
m) with twelve rock cut rooms for monks, a
sanctum, twelve pillared and pilastered
verandah. The carvings on the pilaster include
those of animals and flowers. The pillars
feature reliefs of apsaras, Nagaraja and Cave 21: exterior, and inside hall
Nagarani, as well as devotees bowing with the
namaste mudra. The hall shows evidence that it
used to be completely painted. The sanctum Buddha is shown in preaching posture.[223][224]
Cave 22 is a small vihara (12.72 × 11.58 m) with a narrow veranda and four unfinished cells. It is excavated at a
higher level and has to be reached by a flight of steps. Inside, the Buddha is seated in pralamba-padasana. The
painted figures in Cave 22 show Manushi-Buddhas with Maitreya.[114][223][225] A pilaster on the left side of the
Cave 22 veranda has a Sanskrit prose inscription. It is damaged in parts, and the legible parts state that this is a
"meritorious gift of a mandapa by Jayata", calling Jayata's family as "a great Upasaka", and ending the inscription
with "may the merit of this be for excellent knowledge to all sentient beings, beginning with father and
mother".[226]
Cave 23 is also unfinished, consisting of a hall (28.32 × 22.52 m) but a design similar to Cave 21. The cave differs in
its pillar decorations and the naga doorkeepers.[114][223][227]
Cave 24 is like Cave 21, unfinished but much larger. It features the second largest monastery hall (29.3 × 29.3 m)
after Cave 4. The cave 24 monastery has been important to scholarly studies of the site because it shows how
multiple crews of workers completed their objectives in parallel.[228] The cell construction began as soon as the
aisle had been excavated and while the main hall and sanctum were under construction.[229] The construction of
Cave 24 was planned in 467 CE, but likely

started in 475 CE, with support from
Buddhabhadra, then abruptly ended in 477
with the sponsor king Harisena's death.[230]
Cave 24 is significant in having one of the most

complex capitals on a pillar at the Ajanta site,
an indication of how the artists excelled and
continuously improved their sophistication as Exterior, and unfinished inside of Cave 24.
they worked with the rock inside the cave.[231]
The artists carved fourteen complex miniature
figures on the central panel of the right center porch pillar, while working in dim light in a cramped cave
space.[232] The medallion reliefs in Cave 24 similarly show loving couples and anthropomorphic arts, rather than
flowers of earlier construction.[232] Cave 24's sanctum has a seated Buddha in pralamba-padasana.[114][223][233]
Cave 25 is a monastery. Its hall (11.37 × 12.24 m) is similar to other monasteries, but has no sanctum, includes an
enclosed courtyard and is excavated at an upper level.[114][223]
The Buddha of Cave Cave 22: inside hall Cave 23: inside hall Sophisticated pillars
21 of Cave 24 with
embedded loving
couples; evidence of
parallel work[232]
Cave 26 is a worship hall (chaityagriha, 25.34 ×

11.52 m) similar in plan to Cave 19. It is much
larger and with elements of a vihara design. An
inscription states that a monk Buddhabhadra
and his friend minister serving king of Asmaka
gifted this vast cave.[234][235] The inscription
includes a vision statement and the aim to
make "a memorial on the mountain that will
Cave 26: entrance and interior of hall
endure for as long as the moon and the sun
continue", translates Walter Spink.[236] It is
likely that the builders focussed on sculpture, rather than paintings, in Cave 26 because they believed stone
sculpture will far more endure than paintings on the wall.[236]
The cave drew upon the experiences in building Cave 10, with attached wings similar to the ancient Cave 12
Hinayana-style vihara.[235][237] The Cave 26 complex has two upper stories and it shows evidence that four wings
of the cave were planned, but these were abandoned and only the carved Buddhas on the right and left wall were
completed.[238][239]
The sculptures in Cave 26 are elaborate and more intricate. It is among the last caves excavated, and an inscription
suggests late 5th or early 6th century according to ASI. The cave consists of an apsidal hall with side aisles for
circumambulation (pradikshana). This path is full of carved Buddhist legends, three depictions of the Miracle of
Sravasti in the right ambulatory side of the aisle, and seated Buddhas in various mudra. Many of these were added
later by devotees, and therefore are intrusive to the aims of the original planners.[240] The artwork begins on the
wall of the aisle, immediately the left side of entrance. The major artworks include the Mahaparinirvana of Buddha
(reclining Buddha) on the wall, followed by the legend called the "Temptations by Mara". The temptations include
the seduction by Mara's daughters who are depicted below the meditating Buddha. They are shown scantly dressed
and in seductive postures, while on both the left and right side of the Buddha are armies of Mara attempting to
distract him with noise and threaten him with violence. In the top right corner is the image of a dejected Mara
frustrated by his failure to disturb the resolve or focus of the ascetic Buddha.[114][234]
At the center of the apse is a rock-cut stupa. The stupa has an image of the Buddha on its front, 18 panels on its
base, 18 panels above these, a three tiered torana above him, and apsaras are carved on the anda (hemispherical
egg) stupa.[234] On top of the dagoba is a nine-tiered harmika, a symbolism for the nine saṃsāra (Buddhism)
heavens in Mahayana cosmology. The walls, pillars, brackets and the triforium are extensively carved with
Buddhist themes. Many of the wall reliefs and images in this cave were badly damaged, and have been restored as a
part of the site conservation efforts.[241]
Between cave 26 and its left wing, there is an inscription by a courtier of Rashtrakuta Nanaraj (who is mentioned in
the Multai and Sangaloda plates), from late 7th or early 8th century. It is the last inscription in Ajanta.[242]
Cave 26 plan as The sculptured Temptation of the Cave 26, left aisle
completed. The dagoba (stupa) in the Buddha; the wall:
etchings suggest the worship hall. It has daughters of Mara Mahaparinirvana of
original plan was 36 carved carved below are Buddha, or Dying
more ambitious.[243] panels.[244] trying to seduce him. Buddha[245]
Mara is on the top
right.[244]
Caves 27, 28 and 29
Left: Cave 27, to the left of Cave 26. Middle: Cave 28, further beyond Cave 27, at the westernmost end of the Ajanta complex.
Right: Cave 29, high up between caves 20 and 21.
Cave 27 is a monastery and it may have been planned as an attachment to Cave 26. Its two storeys are damaged,
with the upper level partially collapsed. Its plan is similar to other monasteries. Cave 28 is an unfinished
monastery, partially excavated, at the westernmost end of the Ajanta complex and barely accessible.[114]
Cave 29 is an unfinished monastery at the highest level of the Ajanta complex, apparently unnoticed when the
initial numbering system was established, and physically located between Caves 20 and 21.[114]
Cave 30
In 1956, a landslide covered the footpath leading to Cave 16. In the attempts to clear and restore the walkway, a
small aperture and votive stupa were noticed in the debris by the workers, in a location near the stream
bed.[246][247] Further tracing and excavations led to a previously unknown Hinayana monastery cave dated to the
2nd and 1st century BCE.[248][249] Cave 30 may actually be the oldest cave of the Ajanta complex.[246] It is a 3.66
m × 3.66 m cave with three cells, each with two stone beds and stone pillows on the side of each cell. The cell door
lintels show lotus and garland carvings. The cave has two inscriptions in an unknown script. It also has a platform
on its veranda with a fine view of the river ravine below and the forest cover. According to Gupte and Mahajan, this
cave may have been closed at some point with large carefully carved pieces as it distracted the entrance view of
Cave 16.[248]
Other infrastructure
Over 80% of the Ajanta caves were vihara (temporary traveler residences, monasteries). The designers and
artisans who built these caves included facilities for collecting donations and storing grains and food for the
visitors and monks. Many of the caves include large repositories cut into the floor. The largest storage spaces are
found, states Spink, in the "very commodious recesses in the shrines of both Ajanta Cave Lower 6 and Cave 11".
These caves were probably chosen because of their relative convenience and the security they offered due to their
higher level. The choice of integrating covered vaults cut into the floor may have been driven by the need to provide
sleeping space and logistical ease.[250][note 5]
Recent excavations
A burnt-brick vihara monastery facing the caves on the right bank of the river
Waghora has been recently excavated.[106][107] It has a number of cells facing a
central courtyard, in which a stupa was established.[106][108] A coin of the
Western Satraps ruler Visvasena (ruled 293–304 CE) as well as a gold coin of
the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II (ruled 402-450 CE) were found in the
excavations, giving further numismatic confirmation for the dating of the
caves.[106] A terracotta plaque of Mahishasuramardini was also found, which
was possibly under worship by the artisans.[106][107] The vihara brick monastery facing
the caves at Ajanta. The cells were
built around a stupa set on a central
platform.[106]
Buddhist vihara cell Coin of Western Coin of Byzantine Terracotta plaque of

structure at the Satrap Visvasena Theodosius II (402– Hindu goddess
recently excavated (293–304), found in 450), found in the Mahishasuramardini
brick monastery at the excavations at excavations at the found on the site
Ajanta the monastery monastery
Copies of the paintings

The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and
a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete
understanding of the works. A number of attempts to copy the Ajanta
paintings began in the 19th century for European and Japanese museums.
Some of these works have later been lost in natural and fire disasters. In 1846
for example, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras Presidency and a
painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to make copies of the
frescos on the cave walls.[251] Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844
to 1863. He made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were
destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on
display.[252] Gill returned to the site, and recommenced his labours, a detail: original left, copy by Lady
Herringham (1915) right
replicating the murals until his death in 1875.
Another attempt was made in 1872 when

the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths to work with his students
to make copies of Ajanta paintings, again for shipping to England. They
worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many
of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in
London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in
1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred of the paintings in storage in a
wing of the museum. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets,
though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some
3 by 6 metres (9.8 ft × 19.7 ft). A conservation project was undertaken on
about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria.[254]
Dancing girl in Ajanta fresco; a 2012 Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with
photograph (left) and Robert Gill's "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the
19th-century copy[253] deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent
cleaning by the ASI.[255]
A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a
group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose.
The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the
earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state
of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors
Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham
expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.[257]
Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a
camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy,
were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the
British Library),[258][259] then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who
took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani
(published 1930–1955).[251]
Some slightly creative copies of Ajanta

frescos, especially the painting of the
Adoration of the Buddha from the shrine
antechamber of Cave 17, were
commissioned by Thomas Holbein
Hendley (1847–1917) for the decoration of
the walls of the hall of the Albert Hall
Museum, Jaipur, India.[260] He had the Copy of an Ajanta painting, in
work painted by a local artist variously Musée Guimet, Paris. Part of a
Reproduction of The Adoration of
named Murli or Murali.[260] The museum mural probably relating the
the Buddha, cave 17, Albert Hall
was opened to the public in 1887. This conversion of Nanda, Cave 1.[256]
Museum, Jaipur, India
work is otherwise presented as
characteristic of the end of the 19th
century.[261]
Another attempt to make copies of the murals was made by the Japanese artist Arai Kampō (荒井寛方:1878–1945)
after being invited by Rabindranath Tagore to India to teach Japanese painting techniques.[262] He worked on
making copies with tracings on Japanese paper from 1916 to 1918 and his work was conserved at Tokyo Imperial
University until the materials perished during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.[263]
Significance
Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta
Ajanta arts predominantly show natives. Left: people discussing the king's renunciation; Right: sadhus or brahmakayikas heading
to a temple, five women chatting in a market square, children playing a board game near a banana tree.[264]
The Ajanta cave arts are a window into the culture, society and religiosity of the native population of India between
the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE. Different scholars have variously interpreted them from the perspective
of gender studies, history, sociology, and the anthropology of South Asia.[265][266] The dress, the jewelry, the
gender relations, the social activities depicted showcase at least a lifestyle of the royalty and elite,[267] and in others
definitely the costumes of the common man, monks and rishi depicted therein. They shine "light on life in India"
around mid 1st millennium CE.[268][269]
The Ajanta artworks provide a contrast between the spiritual life of monks who had given up all materialistic
possessions versus the sensual life of those it considered materialistic, luxurious, symbols of wealth, leisurely and
high fashion. Many frescos show scenes from shops, festivals, jesters at processions, palaces and performance art
pavilions. These friezes share themes and details of those found in Bharhut, Sanchi, Amaravati, Ellora, Bagh,
Aihole, Badami and other archaeological sites in India. Ajanta caves contributes to visual and descriptive sense of
the ancient and early medieval Indian culture and artistic traditions, particularly those around the Gupta Empire
era period.[269][270]
The early colonial era description of Ajanta caves was largely orientalist
and critical, inconsistent with the Victorian values and stereotyping. Orientalism and Ajanta Caves
According to William Dalrymple, the themes and arts in the Ajanta In the early nineteenth century, when
Europeans first visited the Ajanta caves,
caves were puzzling to the 19th-century Orientalists. Lacking the Asian they had no literary precedents through
cultural heritage and framework that sees "nothing odd in the which to determine what they saw. Thus
juxtaposition of monk and dancing girl", and with no knowledge of they saw very little beyond hunting
Jataka Tales or equivalent Indian fables, they could not comprehend scenes, domestic scenes, seraglio scenes,
it.[272] They projected their own views and assumptions, calling it Welsh wigs, Hampton court beauties,
elephants and horses, an Abyssinian black
something that lacks reason and rationale, something that is prince, shields and spears, and statues
meaningless crude representation of royalty and foreigners with that they called 'Buddha' because of the
mysticism and sensuousness.[273][274] The 19th-century views and curly hair.
interpretations of the Ajanta Caves were conditioned by ideas and
assumptions in the colonial mind, saw what they wanted to – Richard Cohen
see.[275][274][276] Beyond Enlightenment: Buddhism,

Religion, Modernity[271]
To many who are unaware of the premises of Indian religions in
general, and Buddhism in particular, the significance of Ajanta Caves
has been like rest of Indian art. According to Richard Cohen, Ajanta
Caves to them has been yet another example of "worship this stock, or that stone, or monstrous idol".[275] In
contrast, to the Indian mind and the larger Buddhist community, it is everything that art ought to be, the religious
and the secular, the spiritual and the social fused to enlightened perfection.[277]
According to Walter Spink – one of the most respected Art historians on Ajanta, these caves were by 475 CE a
much-revered site to the Indians, with throngs of "travelers, pilgrims, monks and traders". The site was vastly
transformed into its current form in just 20 years, between early 460 CE to early 480 CE, by regional architects
and artisans. This accomplishment, states Spink, makes Ajanta, "one of the most remarkable creative achievements
in man's history".[278]
Foreigners in the paintings of Ajanta
The Ajanta Caves painting are a significant source of socio-economic information in ancient India, particularly in
relation to the interactions of India with foreign cultures at the time most of the paintings were made, in the 5th
century CE. According to Indian historian Haroon Khan Sherwani: "The paintings at Ajanta clearly demonstrate
the cosmopolitan character of Buddhism, which opened its way to men of all races, Greek, Persian, Saka, Pahlava,
Kushan and Huna".[279] Depictions of foreigners abound: according to Spink, "Ajanta’s paintings are filled with
such foreign types." They have sometimes been a source of misinterpretation as in the so-called "Persian Embassy
Scene". These foreigners may reflect the Sassanian merchants, visitors and the flourishing trade routes of the
day.[280]
The so-called "Persian Embassy Scene"
Cave 1, for example, shows a mural fresco with characters with foreigner faces or dresses, the so-called "Persian
Embassy Scene".[281] This scene[282] is located at the right of the entrance door upon entering the hall.[281]
According to Spink, James Fergusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that this scene
corresponded to the Persian ambassador in 625 CE to the court of the Hindu Chalukya king Pulakeshin II.[283] An
alternate theory has been that the fresco represents a Hindu ambassador visiting the Persian king Khusrau II in
625 CE, a theory that Fergusson disagreed with.[281][284] These assumptions by colonial British era art historians,
state Spink and other scholars, has been responsible for wrongly dating this painting to the 7th century, when in
fact this reflects an incomplete Harisena-era painting

of a Jataka tale (the Mahasudarsana jataka, in which
the enthroned king is actually the Buddha in one of
his previous lives as King) with the representation of
trade between India and distant lands such as
Sassanian near East that was common by the 5th
century.[283][285][286]
Upper part of the so-called "Persian Embassy Scene", with detail
International trade, growth of Buddhism of the foreigners.
Cave 1 has several frescos with characters with

foreigners' faces or dresses. Similar depictions are found in the paintings of
Cave 17. Such murals, states Pia Brancaccio, suggest a prosperous and
multicultural society in 5th-century India active in international trade.[287]
These also suggest that this trade was economically important enough to the
Deccan region that the artists chose to include it with precision.[287]
Additional evidence of international trade includes the use of the blue lapis
lazuli pigment to depict foreigners in the Ajanta paintings, which must have
been imported from Afghanistan or Iran. It also suggests, states Branacaccio,
that the Buddhist monastic world was closely connected with trading guilds
and the court culture in this period.[287] A small number of scenes show
A foreigner in Sasanian dress
foreigners drinking wine in Caves 1 and 2.[note 6] Some show foreign Near East
drinking wine, on the ceiling of the
kings with wine and their retinue which presumably add to the "general regal central hall of Cave 1, likely a
emphasis" of the cave.[285] According to Brancaccio, the Ajanta paintings show generic scene from an object
a variety of colorful, delicate textiles and women making cotton. Textile imported from Central Asia (460–
probably was one of the major exports to foreign lands, along with gems. These 480 CE)[287][288]
were exported first through the Red Sea, and later through the Persian Gulf,
thereby bringing a period of economic and cultural exchange between the
Indians, the Sasanian Empire and the Persian merchants before Islam was founded in the Arabian peninsula.[291]
While scholars generally agree that these murals confirm trade and cultural
connections between India and Sassanian west, their specific significance and
interpretation varies.[287][285] Brancaccio, for example, suggests that the ship
and jars in them probably reflect foreign ships carrying wine imported to
India. In contrast, Schlinghoff interprets the jars to be holding water, and
ships shown as Indian ships used in international trade.[287]
Similar depictions are found in the paintings of Cave 17, but this time in direct
relation to the worship of the Buddha. In Cave 17, a painting of the Buddha
descending from the Trayastrimsa Heaven shows he being attended by many
Cave 17: many foreigners are
foreigners. Many foreigners in this painting are thus shown as listeners to the
included as devotees attending the
Buddha's descent from
Buddhist Dharma.[293] The ethnic diversity is depicted in the painting in the
Trayastrimsa Heaven[287][note 7]
clothes (kaftans, Sasanian helmets, round caps), hairdos and skin colors. In
the Visvantara Jataka of Cave 17, according to Brancaccio, the scene probably
shows a servant from Central Asia holding a foreign metal ewer, while a dark-
complexioned servant holds a cup to an amorous couple. In another painting in Cave 17, relating to the conversion
of Nanda, a man possibly from northeast Africa appears as a servant.[287] These representations show, states
Brancaccio, that the artists were familiar with people of Sogdia, Central Asia, Persia and possibly East
Africa.[287][note 8] Another hypothesis is offered by Upadhya, who states that the artists who built Ajanta caves
"very probably included foreigners".[295]
Cave 2, ceiling: Cave 1, ceiling: A servant from Cave 17: foreigners

foreigners sharing a another Persian-style Central Asia, Cave attending the
drink of wine[296] foreign group, one of 17.[287] Buddha[297]
the four such groups
(one now missing) at
the center of each
quadrant of the
ceiling[285]
Cave 17: foreigners Lady in blue dress

on horses attending with tiara, of possible
the Buddha[297] "Persan origin"."[298]
Impact on later painting and other arts

The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet[299] and Sri
Lanka.[300] Some influences from Ajanta have also suggested in the Kizil Caves of the Tarim Basin, in particular in
early caves such as the Peacock Cave.[301]
The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists with examples from ancient India to
follow. Nandalal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his
unique style.[302] Abanindranath Tagore and Syed Thajudeen also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.
Anna Pavlova's ballet Ajanta's Frescoes was inspired by her visit to Ajanta, choreographed by Ivan Clustine, with
music by Nikolai Tcherepnin[303] (one report says Mikhail Fokine in 1923).[304] and premiered at Covent Garden
in 1923.
See also
Barabar Caves
Dambulla cave temple
Notes
1. The precise number varies according to whether or not some barely-started excavations, such as cave 15A,
are counted. The Archaeological Survey of India say "In all, total 30 excavations were hewn out of rock which
also include an unfinished one",[2] UNESCO and Spink "about 30". The controversies over the end date of
excavation are covered below.
2. The inscription has been connected to the Satavahana ruler Vasishthiputra Pulumavi (c. 170 CE), who is also
known for inscription at the Nasik Caves, although there are disagreements since he is very posterior to the 1st
century BCE.
3. Similar morals and virtue-defining fables are also found in Jainism and Hinduism, in texts such as the
Panchatantra. The antiquity of these tales has been a subject of scholarly debate. The pictorial narrative in
Ajanta Caves attests to their influence by the 5th century.[187] In some cases such as the Sibi and Hasti Jataka,
the Ajanta friezes more closely match the version of the same fables found in Hindu or Jain texts, suggesting a
common root and shared heritage.[188]
4. The "Mother and Child" theme is found in other caves, such as in the painting of Cave 17. These show the
father Buddha with a begging bowl, with his son and wife looking up to him. Some show a towering figure of
the Buddha looking below, with a small inset with the mother and child looking up. These images are
interpreted as they offering food to him, or alternatively as the Buddha giving his son the begging bowl as his
inheritance. The artwork signifies the belief that human values and spirituality is highest exchange across
human generations.[213][214]
5. Granaries and kitchens were commonly integrated as infrastructures near major temples and monasteries in
India. They are also found embedded into the design elsewhere such as the Bagh monuments.[250]
6. In Cave 1, there are also four "foreign" bacchanalian groups (one now missing) at the middle of each quadrant
of the elaborate ceiling painting.[285] Cave 2 shows two foreigners, possibly from Central Asia, sharing wine.
These scenes, interprets Brancaccio, show what are probably foreign ewers from Sogdia or Persia were used
to consume imported wines. A text from the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea era states that silverware vessels
and wine was one of the main products imported for kings of Barygaza.[287] Sassanian bowls dated to about
400 CE have been discovered in other parts of the Indian subcontinent.[289] A copper plate in the Kanheri
caves near Mumbai indicates that foreigners were active in trade in the city of Kalyan in the 5th century
CE.[290]
7. Actual photograph are available on Google.[292]
8. The expansion of Buddhism into Gandhara and Central Asia began during the 1st millennium BCE. Some early
Buddhist worship halls in western India included Yavanas (Greeks) as donors.[287] Inscriptions recording such
donations are found at Karla Caves, Pandavleni Caves or Manmodi Caves.[294][293]
References
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31. Nagaraju 1981, pp. 98–103
32. Spink 2009, p. 2.
33. The UNESCO World Heritage List website (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242) for example says "The 29 caves
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all we know of Harisena he was a Hindu; (...)."
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44. Spink 2005a, p. 7.

45. Auctores Varii (2016). Ajanta Dipinta - Painted Ajanta Vol. 1 e 2: Studio sulla tecnica e sulla conservazione del
sito rupestre indiano - Studies on the techniques and the conservation of the indian rock art site (https://books.
google.com/books?id=fS34CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59). Gangemi Editore. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-8849274905.
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48. Cohen 2006a, pp. 77–78.
49. Spink 2007, pp. 139 and 3 (quote): "Going down into the ravine where the caves were cut, he scratched his
inscription (John Smith, 28th Cavalry, 28th April, 1819) across the innocent chest of a painted Buddha image
on the thirteenth pillar on the right in Cave 10..."
50. Upadhya 1994, p. 3.
51. Gordon 2011, pp. 231–234.
52. Cohen 2006a, pp. 51–58.
53. "Ajanta cave paintings of Nizam era lie in a state of neglect" (https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderab
ad/2018/jul/03/ajanta-cave-paintings-of-nizam-era-lie-in-a-state-of-neglect-1837405.html).
54. Cohen 2006a, p. 51.
55. Cohen (2006a), chapter 2 discusses the history and future of visitors to Ajanta.
56. "Tourist centre to house replicas of Ajanta caves" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120809232804/http://articles.t
imesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-05/pune/33048793_1_caves-ellora-centre), The Times of India, 5 August
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57. "horizontally bedded alternate flows of massive and amygdular lava" is a technical description quoted by
Cohen (2006a), p. 37
58. Spink 2007, pp. 13–14.
59. Spink 2007, p. 28.
60. Spink 2009, p. 10.
61. Michell 2009, p. 340.
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63. Spink 2007, pp. 5, 15, 32–33, 80, 249.
64. Spink 2007, pp. 5, 15, 32–33, 80, 126–130, 249–259.
65. Spink 2007, pp. 73–85, 100–104, 182.
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67. Spink 2007, p. 148.
68. Michell 2009, pp. 335–343.
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72. Upadhya 1994, pp. 7–8, 10.
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78. Bellows, Keith (2008). Sacred Places of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Most Peaceful and Powerful
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81. Spink 2007, pp. 12–13.
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07. Spink 2007, pp. 9, 237–238.
08. Gupte & Mahajan 1962, pp. 101–102.
09. Spink 2009, pp. 26–27, 47–48.
10. Spink 2009, pp. 26–27, 34–35, 47–48, 56.
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12. Mother and Child, Cave 19 (http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ic/id/6726),
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14. Yazdani, G (1961). The early history of the Deccan, Vol. 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=_D9uAAAAMA
AJ). Oxford University Press. p. 766.
15. Gupte & Mahajan 1962, pp. 102–103.
16. Sharma, Ramesh Chandra (1994). Bharhut Sculptures (https://books.google.com/books?id=pIiOsQSUbBwC&p
g=PA51). Abhinav Publications. p. 51. ISBN 978-8170173083.
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19. Gupte & Mahajan 1962, p. 103.
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26. Gupte & Mahajan 1962, p. 259.
27. Spink 2007, pp. 290–303.
28. Spink 2007, pp. 308–309.
29. Spink 2009, pp. 18 footnote 5.
30. Spink 2009, pp. 31–32, 60.
31. Spink 2009, pp. 243–244.
32. Spink 2014, pp. 37–38, 42.
33. Spink 2007, pp. 304–311.
34. Gupte & Mahajan 1962, pp. 104–106.
35. Spink 2009, pp. 9–10.
36. Spink 2014, p. 34 with footnote 30.
37. Spink 2014, pp. 44, 50–51, 56–64 with footnotes.
38. Spink 2014, pp. 64–65, 88–96 with footnotes.
39. Singh, Rajesh Kumar (2012). "The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta". South Asian
Studies. 28 (1): 37–68. doi:10.1080/02666030.2012.659906 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F02666030.2012.65990
6). S2CID 161425050 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:161425050).
40. Spink 2014, pp. 53–57, 33–42, Figures on 88–96 (plus cover page), 311–324.
41. Spink 2014, pp. 311–339, Figures on 88–93, with footnotes.
42. Spink 2006, p. 336.
43. Spink 2009, pp. xvii, 29–30.
44. Gupte & Mahajan 1962, pp. 105–106.
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46. Le, Huu Phuoc (2010). Buddhist Architecture (https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&pg=PA112).
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47. A view of Cave 30, photographed by Walter Spink (http://vmis.in/upload/Assets/Archive/379/1.jpg)
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49. Walter Spink (1966), Ajantā and Ghatotkacha: A Preliminary Analysis (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629225),
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51. Upadhya 1994, pp. 2–3.
52. Gordon 2011, pp. 234–238; Conserving the copies of the Ajanta cave paintings at the V&A
53. Detail from this painting in the V&A (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115444/copy-of-painting-inside-the-oil-
painting-gill-robert/)
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81. Spink 2007, p. 29.
82. Visible on Streetview here (https://goo.gl/maps/HkfX4qK5wm82)
83. Spink 2009, p. 132.
84. Jas. Fergusson (1879), On the Identification of the Portrait of Chosroes II among the Paintings in the Caves at
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38 (1): 5–28. doi:10.2307/3250094 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3250094). JSTOR 3250094 (https://www.jstor.o
rg/stable/3250094).
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9004185258.
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doi:10.1017/s0261340900011656 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs0261340900011656).
s.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA86). BRILL. p. 86. ISBN 978-9004185258.
s.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C). BRILL. pp. 83–87 with footnotes. ISBN 978-9004185258.
92. here (https://books.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA305), or full view (https://goo.gl/maps/zvhsn
X2JaZ32)
s.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA81). BRILL. p. 81 and Note 27. ISBN 978-9004185258.
94. Bhandarkar, D. R. (1989). Some Aspects of Ancient Indian Culture (https://books.google.com/books?id=gUAvu
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95. Upadhya 1994, p. 135.
s.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA307). BRILL. p. 307. ISBN 978-9004185258.
s.google.com/books?id=m_4pXm7dD78C&pg=PA305). BRILL. p. 305. ISBN 9789004185258.
98. "The central figure is of colossal size and, whether it represents the Bodhisattva Padmapani or Prince
Siddhartha, it bears the marks of both high rank and great spiritual stature. (...) The handmaid in long blue
velvet coat and high embroidered cap appears, from her features, to be of Persian origin..."Encyclopedia Of
World Art Vol. 1 (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.462549/page/n113/mode/2up). New-York, Toronto,
London: McGRAW-HILL. 1959. p. 165.
99. The Imprint of Ajanta in Tibetan Art, Eva Fernanadez del Campo Barbadillo, Buddhist Himalaya: A Journal of
Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods, Vol. IX No. I & II (1998) (http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-B
H/bh117550.htm)
00. [The Imperial Guptas: Cultural history, Volume 2 of The Imperial Guptas, Parmeshwari Lal Gupta,
Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, 1979 p. 221]
01. Rowland, Benjamin (1975). The art of Central Asia (https://archive.org/details/artofcentralasia00rowl/page/156/
mode/2up). New York, Crown. p. 156.
02. Vasudev Sharan Agrawal, Kala aur Sanskriti, 1952, p. 282–299
03. Robert H. Stacy, India in Russian Literature (Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1985, p.92.
04. Lakshmi Shreeram (21 January 2020). "The Pavlova Project: A unique exhibition presents the life and work of
legendary ballerina through her costumes" (https://www.firstpost.com/living/the-pavlova-project-a-unique-exhibi
tion-presents-the-life-and-work-of-legendary-ballerina-through-her-costumes-7928291.html). Firstpost.
Retrieved 21 March 2021.
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External links
Ajanta Caves Bibliography (http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-978
0195393521-0192.xml), Akira Shimada (2014), Oxford University Press
The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta (https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2012.659906)

The Greatest Ancient Picture Gallery. William Dalrymple, New York Review of Books (23 Oct 2014) (http://ww
w.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/oct/23/greatest-ancient-picture-gallery)
Ajanta Caves in UNESCO List (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242/)
Google Streetview Tours of each Cave of Ajanta (https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/m0_z7)
Inscriptions with Translations: Ajanta Caves (http://www.profcohen.net/publications/ajanta-inscriptions-1.pdf),
Richard Cohen
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6/15/2021 Ajanta Caves - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 20°33′12″N 75°42′01″E

They are universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious

The caves consist of 36 identifiable foundations,[8] some of them discovered

Caves of the first (Satavahana) period

Caves of the later, or Vākāṭaka, period

According to Spink, the construction activity at the incomplete Ajanta Caves

Sites and monasteries

Cave 12 plan: an Cave 1 plan, a Cave 6: a two-storey Cave 16: a

Hamsa jâtaka, cave 17: the Cave 13

Spink's chronology and cave history

Hindu and Buddhist sponsorship

— Walter Spink, Ajanta: History and Development, Cave by Cave,[105]

Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horseshoe-

dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left,

Kinnara with Ajanta Cave 1 Group

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the

Cave 2 fresco above A scene from The artworks of The Miracle of

Cave 4, a Vihara, was sponsored by

The Archaeological Survey of India dates it to the 6th century

The cave has a squarish plan,

The most intact Painting showing the Buddha in the upper

Cave 7 is also a monastery (15.55 × 31.25 m) but

Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya or worship halls from

Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m)[114] is smaller than Cave 10

The cave has a distinct apsidal shape, nave, aisle and an

Cave 10, a vast prayer hall or Chaitya, is dated to

𑀯𑀲𑀺 𑀣𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢𑀲 𑀓𑀝𑀳𑀸 𑀤𑀺𑀦𑁄 𑀖𑀭𑀫𑀼𑀔 𑀤𑀸𑀦𑀁

Vasithiputasa Kaṭahādino gharamukha dānaṁ

"The gift of a cave-façade by Vasisthiputra" Katahadi."

— Inscription of Cave No.10.[163][167]

Cave 11 is a monastery (19.87 × 17.35 m) from

According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Cave

The cave is damaged with its front wall completely

Cave 13, 14, 15, 15A

Cave 13 Cave 14 Cave 15

Cave 15A Interior of cave 15A[178]

The paintings in Cave 16 are numerous. Narratives include various

The conversion of Palace scene fresco, The Buddha in Manushi Buddhas

Cave 16: king paying

Cave 17 (34.5 m × 25.63 m)[114] along

The cave features a large and most

The Cave 17 monastery includes a colonnaded porch, a number of

Cave 17 has one long inscription by king Upendragupta, in which he

Vessantara Jataka: Shaddanta Jataka: Painting depicting The Buddha in Cave

Musician with Alapini

Cave 19 (5th century CE)

Cave 19 is a worship hall (chaitya

Cave 19 plan Nagaraja in The nave has 15 Buddha paintings in

Cave 20 is a monastery hall (16.2 × 17.91 m) from the

The Buddha on Lion The sanctum has

Caves 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25

Cave 21, 22, 23 and 24 are all monasteries,

Cave 24 was planned in 467 CE, but likely

Cave 24 is significant in having one of the most

Cave 26 (5th century CE)

Cave 26 is a worship hall (chaityagriha, 25.34 ×

Caves 27, 28 and 29

Buddhist vihara cell Coin of Western Coin of Byzantine Terracotta plaque of

Copies of the paintings

Another attempt was made in 1872 when

Some slightly creative copies of Ajanta

Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta

see.[275][274][276] Beyond Enlightenment: Buddhism,