AJANTA CAVES
 

In Ajanta Cave1, through sheer grace rather than flamboyance. He exudes gentleness and kind of divine innocence. Clearly a fastidious prince, he is depicted delicately holding the fragile blue lotus, his head bent sideways as if the weight of his ornate, jewelled crown is too heavy for his head. His half closed eyes give me an air of meditation, almost of shyness.Detail of Bodhisattva Padmapani in Cave number 1, holding a lotus

A court scene in Cave number 1, possibly the storey of conversion of Nanda, a fellow prince like the Buddha, decided to join the Buddha's monastic order. His dilemma was leaving his wife Sundari and pleasures of princely life for one of austerity, sacrifice and disciplane.

It is in the female fingures in the paintings of Ajanta that one sees the true mastery of the artist. In Cave number 1 a magnificient array of colours, hairstyles, poses and costumes can be seen. In this paintings a woman leans against the wooden pillar of a mandap, or hall, and looks on at a group of female musicians accompanying a dancer.

In Cave 2, celing and wall paintings illustrate events associated with the Buddha's birth. A cameo of a woman at her toilet is universal favourite. For instance, is the scene of Buddha's birth showing his mother, Maya, standing in the place garden at Lumbini. Also in the same cave is the scene from the Mahajanaka Jataka, where the queen and her attendants tempt the shipwrecked price with all the art of this world. The princes is not moved, and the queen, a look of chagrin on her face, just cannot believe it. How can he withstand her oiled and coiledlocks, her dhoti in the latest fashionable stripes and all the firm bosoms and sinewy waists of her sensuous attendants?.

In Cave number 2 buddhist icons were sculpted according to a set of codified rules that used symbolic hand gestures and motifs such as the wheel, the deer, the throne and sacred Bodhi tree. Each represents a stage of the Buddha's life. This figure of the seated Buddha in the pose that depicts the teaching of the principles of the Middle Path is in the inner shrine of cave number 2.

 
In Cave number 2, on the side walls leading to the shrine is a series of seated Buddhas with varying hand gestures to depict the scene of Miracle of the Buddhas.

 
The ogress Hariti and her consort Kubers in Ajanta's Cave number 2. Hariti devoured little children until the Buddha hid her favourite child. She then realised the agony of motherswho had lost their children, and reformed.

 
In Cave Number 7, a sculptured frieze of miracle of Sravasti, when the Buddha multiplied himself a thousand times.

There are several chaitya grihas or prayer halls at Ajanta. The plan consists of a central nave with pillars, behind which is a circumambulatory passage. The hall is often apsidal in plan or with a curved back wall, possibly taken from a wooden design. Within the curved end a stone miniature stupa, or emblem of the Buddha, was carved to serve as the focal point of the prayer hall.

The Buddha is shown seated in padmasana, or lotus pose of meditation. He is often shown with his hair tied in a top knot surrounded by a halo of light, representing nirvana or enlightment.

Cave number 17 . At one end of the verandah is a scene identified by scholars as the scene from the Vishvantara Jataka, of a prince who gave away his belongings in alms. This scene provides intresting information of contemporary wooden architecture, costumes and a glimpse of courtly life.




Cave 19 at Ajanta is amongst the best surviving examples of a rock cut chaitya griha. The elegant porch is topped by the distinctive 'horseshoe' shaped window, which is flanked by yakshas or guardians, standing Buddha figures and elaborate decorative motifs.

Reaching There:

By Air:
Aurangabad is the nearest airport.

By Rail:
Aurangabad is the nearest railhead on South Central Railway. Mumbai - Aurangabad (via Manmad) 388 km (via Pune) - 400 km. Also Jalgaon (59 km from Aurangabad)

By Road:
Connected by Road.