Location: Maharashtra State Map
Ajanta Caves is a massive religious complex carved in the solid rock near a village of Adzhinta in Maharashtra State in India. Ajanta Caves consists of 30 caves cut in the cliffs of Vaghora canyons in a shape of a horseshoe. Inside the caves is a labyrinth covered by wall paintings, frescoes with many sculptures. Paintings represent scenes from Buddhist mythology, images of various gods as well as scenes from the everyday life of people who lived here. According to historians they were created from between 2nd century BC and 600 AD by Buddhist monks who came here seek solitude and quiet nature for meditation. First caves of this Buddhist monastery were created under patronage of Satavahana dynasty, while subsequent caves were carved with the help of monarchs from the Harish Vakataka dynasty.
For reasons that were not entirely clear and still debatable Buddhist monks left their homes at Ajanta Caves and soon they were abandoned and forgotten by subsequent generations. First Europeans saw these magnificent caves only in 1819 when British officer John Smith re- discovered them, while hunting tigers in the region. You still can see graffiti that he left on a column "John Smith, April 1819". In 1983 Ajanta Caves were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The caves are located in a basin about 4 km (as the crow flies) west
of the small town of Ajanta in the north of the Indian state of
Maharashtra. The nearest town with a train station, Jalgaon, is around
77 km away, but the caves are usually visited as part of a day tour
together with those of Ellora from the city of Aurangabad, which is
almost 100 km to the south. Public buses and taxis also run from there.
In a U-shaped valley cut steeply into the rock by the Waghora river,
which only carries water during and after the monsoon season, you will
find numerous large cave temples driven into the rock.
From the 2nd century BC to the end of the 7th century AD the valley
was inhabited by Buddhist monks. Most of the caves were built during the
Vakataka dynasty in the 5th century, although the representatives of the
Vakataka, as followers of Brahmanism, did not lend a hand themselves.
The builders were initially the monks themselves; later, the simple, but
perhaps also some of the more complicated work was done by trained and
paid stonemasons. According to the official census of the Archaeological
Survey of India, 29 large caves were dug into the rock; these were up to
30 m wide and deep (cave 4) and about 4 to 8 m high. For various reasons
(undecorated supports and architrave, aniconic stupa) it can be assumed
that cave 10 is the oldest of all caves of Ajanta and was built in the
2nd century BC. was created. The construction phases and chiseling times
vary between 1 and 5 years per cave, depending on the size and
decoration. In the 7th/8th In the 19th century, a wave of anti-Buddhist
hostility across India also reached this remote valley. The monks were
expelled; the caves fell into oblivion and over time were covered by the
weathering debris of the rock walls above.
In April 1819 a unit
of British Madras Army troops passed through the Ajanta Ghat. During a
tiger hunt, British cavalry officer John Smith explored the almost
inaccessible gorge and discovered the cave temples that had been
deserted for centuries (he left a short inscription in cave 10). More
caves were gradually uncovered.
Of the total of 29 caves, only four (Nos. 9, 10, 19 and 26) are purely cult caves (chaityas) as elongated halls. Most of the other caves are dwelling caves (viharas) with a cult image space for a Buddha figure, or even purely dwelling caves. The mixed dwelling caves with cult image space often consist of a transversal vestibule with columns and an adjoining columned hall with a gallery from which the cells branch off. The entrance side usually has a few windows. In the axis of the entrance there is a space for a floor-to-ceiling Buddha figure, separated by a support position, in some caves also with an anteroom. The square but also rectangular dwelling caves are often wider than deep, whereas the three-aisled, purely cult cave halls rounded in the rear area are rather narrow overall, but both deeper and higher than the dwelling caves - with them references to the older, but not preserved wooden construction are clear (e.g. in the rafters). When entering the mixed vihara caves, the eye is usually drawn to an opposite niche with a seated Buddha statue carved out of the rock; the eye-catcher in the chaitiya caves, on the other hand, is a stupa with a Buddha statue sometimes in front of it.
The most important caves were plastered with wall plaster depicting
scenes from the life of Buddha in mineral paints, which are most likely
based on court life at the time of their creation - the hairstyles,
clothes and jewelry of the women are particularly interesting here. In a
cave, two warriors pay homage to the Buddha, one in Chinese and the
other in Roman soldier's clothing - so there must have been a cultural
exchange between India and the Mediterranean at that time. Since the
Roman Empire also included the area of Mesopotamia at the time of its
maximum expansion, a connection there was possibly sufficient for
knowledge of Roman uniforms.
The painters mastered trompe-l'oeil
painting so well that in another scene a painted balcony seems to loom
towards the viewer.
cave 1
Cave No. 1 is a vihara with a forecourt, a front porch, a
main rectangular room of 35.7 × 27.6 m with a colonnade of 20 sculpted
supports, a cult image room with a front small front room in the central
axis. The 12 cell rooms lead off the side walls. The ceiling and side
walls are richly painted, with scenes from the life of the Buddha on the
side walls.
cave 2
Cave No. 2 is a vihara with a front porch,
a rectangular main room of 35.7 × 21.6 m with a portico of 12 columns,
from which 10 monks' cells branch off, a cult image room with a front,
small antechamber in the middle of the front. The cult image room for
the Buddha is flanked by two chapels, also separated by double columns.
One is dedicated to Shankhanidhiti-Padmanidhi, a deity who bestows
prosperity, the other Hariti-Panchika, who personifies motherhood. The
cave is already richly painted in the veranda.
cave 4
Cave 4
is a vihara, with a front porch, richly sculpted entrance, portico with
28 octagonal supports, 15 cells, left rough chapel and rough ceiling
with hanging rock. The anteroom to the cult image room with a Buddha
figure and Bodhisattvas on the side is furnished with large Bodhisattva
figures in half-relief. Cave 4 has no paintings.
cave 5
Cave 5
is unfinished and was supposed to be a vihara. Beyond the low porch, a
sculpted doorway leads to a rough-hewn room where the beginning of a
portico can be seen. The cave is also interesting because knowledge
about the technique of the builders can be gained here.
cave 6
Cave 6 is a double storey vihara. The ground floor directly behind a
relatively unadorned rock facade forms a pillar hall with 16 supports on
a T-shaped floor plan, 17 monk cells, anteroom to the cult image room
with a Buddha figure. A staircase leads to the upper floor to the right
of the entrance.
In contrast to the ground floor, the upper floor
has a veranda with side rooms opening onto the valley. Behind it is a
columned room with 12 pillars, a cult image room on the front side with
an anteroom and side chapels, each of which is marked by a double column
position.
cave 7
Cave No. 7 is a vihara, has two risalit-like
projections on columns instead of the gallery-like veranda, a
transversal vestibule with raised side rooms. The anteroom and the cult
image room with a central Buddha figure, lateral Bodhisattvas and
apsaras branch off directly from this transverse hall. The vihara offers
eight monastic cells.
cave 9
Cave No. 9 is a Chaitya hall,
i.e. a cult and worship building without residential functions. It forms
an elongated hall with a semicircular end and a barrel-shaped ceiling. A
flat-ceiling gallery is separated from the central hall by 22 octagonal
supports. The center and goal of the hall is a stupa in the rear end
zone.
cave 10
Cave No. 10 is a chaitya hall with octagonal
pillars to the half-barrel vaulted perimeter. It is higher and deeper
than the neighboring Chaitya Cave 9.
cave 11
Cave No. 11 is a
vihara located higher up, accessed by a staircase. Behind the 4-post
porch is the colonnade with four elegantly concave octagonal pillars and
cushion capitals. Six cells emanate from it. The Buddha figure can be
walked around in its cult image space.
cave 12
Cave No. 12 is
purely a dwelling cave with an unsupported, low central room from which
12 cells branch off. The cells and spaces between cells are decorated
with kudus.
cave 14
Cave No. 14 forms a double room, which is
divided into a front room and a back room by two supports. There is a
fountain in the back room.
cave 15
Cave No. 15 is a pillarless
room vihara with cult image room and nine cells. It is also used as a
visitor information office.
cave 16
Cave No. 16 is a vihara
accessible via a staircase flanked by two elephant reliefs. The
monastery is the largest of the Ajanta cave monasteries, measuring 19.5
× 22.25 × 4.6 m. It has a porch, a transversal porch and a colonnade
with 20 supports, a cult image room without an antechamber, other
chapels on either side and 14 cells.
cave 17
Cave No. 17 is a
vihara with a porch, a colonnade with 20 octagonal columns and rich
sculptural decoration, a cult image room with anteroom. In cave no. 17
particularly rich paintings have been preserved.
cave 19
Cave
#19 is a chaitya hall. The rock walls, which form a kind of forecourt in
front of the façade, are also richly sculpted. Inside, the capitals and
the architrave are decorated with reliefs. The vault imitates the
rafters of a wooden structure. A relief with a standing Buddha figure is
presented to the stupa.
cave 20
Cave No. 20 into a vihara with
veranda, central room, cult image room with anteroom and additional side
Buddha image on the front wall and four cells.
cave 21
Cave
No. 21 is a vihara with a porch, a colonnade with 12 supports, a cult
image room with anteroom and side antechambers to cells.
cave 23
Cave No. 23 is a vihara with a porch, 12-pillared ambulatory room, empty
cult-image room with antechamber, side chapels and 12 cells.
cave
24
Cave No. 24 was to be a vihara with a porch (completed), colonnade
room and cult image room with anteroom. The complex remained unfinished
and gives an idea of how the master builders proceeded.
cave 26
Cave No. 26 is a chaitya hall with a richly worked facade. A Buddha
figure is presented to the stupa. Capitals and architrave are richly
sculpted, large-format reliefs from the life of Buddha carved out of the
rock are on the side walls. The vault has a rafter structure that is not
functionally necessary, which refers to (non-preserved) wooden buildings
and causes a dramatic alternation of light and dark.
Despite the seclusion of Ajanta, tourism is increasingly threatening the paintings, some of which are around 2100 years old; in some caves, therefore, solid barriers were installed to protect the paintings from frequent, wanton destruction - in addition, many paintings were secured with plexiglass panes. Temporary high levels of humidity, caused by large numbers of visitors in the temples, have already irreversibly damaged the ceiling paintings in some caves. Flash photography is now prohibited in the dimly lit caves to protect the paintings from further deterioration. Photography with a tripod is also prohibited.