AJANTA CAVES

MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

AJANTA CAVES REPRESENTS ONE OF THE MOST

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN ANCIENT

BUDDHIST ROCK-CUT ARCHITECTURE. AJANTA'S

ARTISTIC TRADITIONS REPRESENT AN IMPORTANT

AND RARE SPECIMEN OF ART, ARCHITECTURE,

PAINTING, AND THE SOCIO-CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS,

AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY INDIA.

THE CAVES CONTAIN PAINTINGS AND ROCK- CUT

SCULPTURES DESCRIBED AS AMONG THE FINEST

SURVIVING EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT INDIAN ART,

PARTICULARLY EXPRESSIVE PAINTINGS THAT CONVEY

EMOTIONS THROUGH GESTURE, POSE, AND SHAPE.

THE MAJORITY OF THESE WERE BUDDHIST

MONASTERIES, THOUGH SOME HAD PAINTINGS ON

THEM.
THESE CAVES ARE DIM ON THE INSIDE, AND DRAWINGS OF LAMPS AND TORCHES MAY HAVE BEEN

MADE. THE MAHAYANA SECT OF BUDDHISM CONSTRUCTED THESE. THE PAINTINGS DEPICTED STORIES

FROM THE JATAKAS AND BUDDHA'S LIFE. THE MOST FAMOUS PAINTING IS BODHISATTVA PADMAPANI.

THE MAIN COLORS USED WERE RED OCHRE, YELLOW OCHRE, BROWN OCHRE, LAMP BLACK, WHITE, AND
LAPIS, WHICH WERE IMPORTED FROM NORTHERN INDIA, CENTRAL ASIA, AND PERSIA. ALL OF THE

WALLS AND PILASTERS ARE COVERED WITH OVERLAPPING FIGURES THAT THE ARTISTS HAVE BROUGHT

TO LIFE WITH BRIGHT AND CONTRASTING COLORS. THE PAINTING METHODS USED AT AJANTA ARE

SIMILAR TO THE EUROPEAN FRESCO TECHNIQUE. THE PRIMARY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE PLASTER

LAYER WAS DRY WHEN IT WAS PAINTED. EVEN AFTER 1500 YEARS, THE COLORS REMAIN VIBRANT.

BECAUSE THE CAVES WERE DARK FROM THE INSIDE, THE MAJORITY OF THE AJANTA PAINTINGS WERE

DONE IN THE LIGHT OF TORCHES. THE COLORS USED IN THE PAINTINGS WERE MADE FROM PLANTS

AND MINERALS AND ARE STILL VIBRANT AFTER 1500 YEARS. AJANTA'S PAINTINGS ARE FAMOUS ALL

OVER THE WORLD. AJANTA IS A LOCATION WHERE MANY CAVES HAVE BEEN HOLLOWED OUT OF THE

HILLS OVER TIME.

 SHIVA
THE DESTROYER

SHIVA IS FREQUENTLY DEPICTED IN A YOGA

POSTURE. DEPENDING ON THE ARTISTIC

RENDITION, HE HAS A WHITE BODY AND A

BLUE FACE AND THROAT. HE POSSESSES A

THIRD EYE, WHICH STANDS FOR WISDOM AND

UNDERSTANDING. SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT

THE EXTRA EYE KEEPS HIS WILD ENERGY.

KAMA, THE LOVE DEITY, ONCE INTERRUPTED

SHIVA WHEN HE WAS DOING ADORATION.

IT IS STATED THAT KAMA WAS INSTANTLY CONSUMED BY FIRE WHEN SHIVA, IN A FIT OF RAGE,

UNCOVERED HIS THIRD EYE. SHIVA IS ALSO DEPICTED WITH A COBRA NECKLACE TO REPRESENT HIS

CONTROL OVER HAZARDOUS ANIMALS. THE SNAKE IS ALSO THOUGHT TO REPRESENT SHIVA'S

DESTRUCTIVE MIGHT. SHIVA DESTROYS TO MAKE ROOM FOR RECREATION, MUCH AS A SNAKE LOSES

ITS SKIN TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW SKIN. SHIVA IS ADDITIONALLY DEPICTED HOLDING A TRIDENT,

WHICH STANDS FOR THE THREE ROLES OF THE HINDU TRIAD. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT SHIVA IS

FREQUENTLY DEPICTED WEARING PLAIN CLOTHING AND HAVING SIMPLE BACKDROPS, IN CONTRAST

TO OTHER GODS WHO OFTEN HAVE OPULENT ATTIRE AND POSSESSIONS. NONETHELESS, AS THEIR

RELATIONSHIP IS EQUAL, HIS WIFE IS TYPICALLY DEPICTED STANDING AT HIS SIDE. SHIVA IS

PORTRAYED AS BEING A HAPPY AND CONTENT GOD DESPITE BEING THE DESTROYER.
IT IS THOUGHT THAT THE UNIVERSE'S CYCLE IS SYMBOLIZED BY HIS HALF-OPEN EYES. HE STARTS A

FRESH CYCLE OF CREATION WHEN HE OPENS HIS EYES. YET IF HE EVER SHUTS THEM, THE UNIVERSE

WILL COME TO AN END. SHIVA'S FOREHEAD IS COVERED IN THREE LINES OF ASHES. THEY ARE

CALLED THE VIGHUTI AND ARE MEANT TO REPRESENT SHIVA'S REVEALED GRANDEUR AND

IMMORTALITY. SHIVA IS FREQUENTLY SEEN DONNING ELEPHANT AND ANIMAL SKIN. PRIDE IS

SYMBOLIZED BY THE ELEPHANT HIDE, WHILE THE FLICKERING MIND IS REPRESENTED BY THE DEER

SKIN. SHIVA HAS OVERCOME BOTH VICES BY DONNING BOTH. SHIVA ALSO SPORTS A NECKLACE

MADE OF 108 BEADS CREATED FROM RUDRASKA TREE SEEDS. ALL THE ELEMENTS UTILIZED TO CREATE

THE PLANET ARE THOUGHT TO BE REPRESENTED BY THE BEADS. THE NECKLACE SERVES AS A SYMBOL

OF SHIVA'S STERN UPHOLDING OF LAW AND ORDER.

 SHIVA
THE COSMIC DANCER

SEVERAL SHAIVITE TEMPLES, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN

SOUTH INDIA, DEPICT NATARAJA, THE HINDU GOD

SHIVA IN HIS INCARNATION AS THE COSMIC DANCER

(SANSKRIT: "LORD OF THE DANCE"). IN THE MOST

TYPICAL STYLE OF ILLUSTRATION, SHIVA IS PICTURED

DANCING ON THE BACK OF A DWARF, SOMETIMES

CALLED APASMARA (A SYMBOL OF HUMAN IGNORANCE;

APASMARA MEANS "FORGETFULNESS" OR

"HEEDLESSNESS"), WITH FOUR ARMS AND FLYING

LOCKS. SHIVA'S FRONT RIGHT HAND IS IN THE ABHAYA

MUDRA, OR THE "FEAR-NOT" GESTURE, WHICH IS MADE

BY HOLDING THE PALM OUTWARD AND THE FINGERS

POINTING UP. HIS BACK LEFT HAND CARRIES AGNI

(FIRE), EITHER IN A VESSEL OR IN THE PALM OF THE

HAND. SHIVA'S BACK RIGHT HAND HOLDS THE DAMARU,

AN HOURGLASS-SHAPED DRUM.
AND THE FRONT LEFT HAND IS LIMP AND POINTING DOWNWARD TOWARD THE RAISED LEFT FOOT AS

IT IS CARRIED ACROSS HIS CHEST IN THE GAJAHASTA (ELEPHANT TRUNK) POSITION. SHIVA'S HAIR

IS VISIBLE IN MULTIPLE STRANDS, WITH FLOWERS, A SKULL, A CRESCENT MOON, AND THE IMAGE OF

GANGA INTERWOVEN THROUGHOUT (THE GANGES RIVER PERSONIFIED AS A GODDESS). THE

PRABHAMANDALA, A RING OF FLAMES, SURROUNDS HIS FIGURE. THIS DANCING STYLE, WHICH IS

THE MOST TYPICAL WAY NATARAJA IS REPRESENTED, IS KNOWN AS THE BHUJUNGATRASA (LITERALLY,

"TREMBLING OF THE SNAKE") IN CLASSICAL SANSKRIT DANCE TREATISES.

SHIVA IS PORTRAYED AS THE ORIGIN OF ALL MOTION IN THE COSMOS AND AS THE DEITY WHOSE

APOCALYPSE DANCE, SYMBOLIZED BY THE ARCH OF FLAMES, OCCURS WITH THE UNIVERSE'S

EVENTUAL DESTRUCTION AT THE END OF AN EON. ACCORDING TO LEGEND, KRISHNA PERFORMED

HIS CREATION DANCE IN CHIDAMBARAM, A SIGNIFICANT SHAIVA CENTER IN SOUTH INDIA, A

LOCATION ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH THE UNIVERSE'S AND THE HUMAN HEART'S CENTERS. SHIVA'S

FIVE ACTS (PANCHAKRITYA) ARE PORTRAYED BY THE DANCE'S HAND GESTURES: CREATION

(REPRESENTED BY THE DRUM), DEFENSE (REPRESENTED BY THE "FEAR-NOT" ATTITUDE OF THE

HAND), DESTRUCTION (REPRESENTED BY THE FIRE), EMBODIMENT (REPRESENTED BY THE FOOT

PLANTED ON THE GROUND), AND RELEASE (BY THE FOOT HELD ALOFT).