The dusky maiden fiddles with her pearls, primps her hair, moodily gazing at her reflection in the mirror. Is she waiting for her lover…or is she merely indulging in a spot of personal vanity? Ajanta Caves, carved out of a vertical cliff above the left bank of the Waghora River in Maharashtra, are located about 107km away from Aurangabad. They were brought back to the global gaze with their unexpected (re)discovery after almost three centuries by John Smith, a British army officer chasing a tiger on a hunt through a ravine in the jungles here in 1819. He was the first to vandalise the sacred site, known mostly only to locals at the time, by scratching his name and the date on the painting of a bodhisattva in Cave 10.

A number of large projects were commissioned to copy the paintings found in the Ajanta Caves in 1861 under the auspices of the newly formed Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). In 1845, Robert Gill an artist, was the first such to do this; these paintings were then shipped off to London along with his accompanying notes. In 1872 after a fire resulted in many of his works going up in flames, artist John Griffith was commissioned to do a fresh lot. If you are in London next check out some of Griffith’s works at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The artisanal splendour of the paintings and rock-cut sculptures in the Ajanta Caves is a banquet of delights for the arts connoisseur. You will be blown away by how beautifully preserved are some of the arts works. Still fresh and vibrant, they have defied the vagaries of the elements and the march of time. These form some of the most exemplary and significant records of India’s ancient art traditions.

The cave walls were illustrated with gorgeous mural paintings using the tempera technique; even the pillars, brackets, door jambs, shrines and facades became a canvas of sculptural splendour.

What you’ll find here are paintings illustrating the world of Buddha- his past lives and his rebirths, pictorial vignettes of the Jataka tales and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities. These caves used to serve as monsoon retreats for the Buddhist monks.

The 29 Buddhist caves were carved out between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC under the patronage of the Satvahanas. Caves 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15A mark the Hinayana phase of Buddhism. 

Under the patronage of the Vakataka dynasty, during the golden age of the Guptas (5th and 6th centuries CE), many more richly decorated caves were added to the original group. The second phase marks a change from the earlier one with the introduction of new pattern in layout as well as the centrality of Buddha image, both in sculpture as well as in paintings.

Most of the Ajanta caves from the early period of excavations served as viharas or assembly halls with attached tiny dorm cells cut into the walls. In the second phase they were monasteries with a cloister-like structure featuring a shrine at the rear end of the cave. At the centre would be a statue of Buddha, with the surrounding walls and pillars marked by reliefs and deities. The ceiling decoration featured geometrical and floral decorative patterns.

Ellora

The Ellora Caves, dating between the 6th and 11th centuries CE, are cut into the basalt rock face of Maharashtra’s Charanandari Hills. Just 100 km west of the Ajanta Caves, Ellora was found by Buddhist monks in the 8th or 9th centuries. The entire complex comprises a cavalcade of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples, but what is the centre of attraction here is the vertical rock-cut Kailasa Temple; built top down from the mountain, it took 10 generations of craftsmen to complete with not a decent pick axe or hand chisel in sight. Located in Cave 16 this astounding edifice of sculptural finesse the grand temple is the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world. Look for the figure of Ravana attempting to lift Mount Kailasa. 

The earliest caves (Caves 1–12), excavated between the 5th and 8th centuries, shed light on Mahayana Buddhism then prevalent in this region. The Hindu group of caves (Caves 13–29), including the renowned Kailasa temple (Cave 16), was excavated between the 7th and 10th centuries. The period between the 9th and 12th centuries witnessed the excavation of the Jain group of caves (Caves 30–34). They are noted for some fine paintings dedicated to the Digambara sect.

As identified by UNESCO 'the artistic traditions at Ajanta present an important and rare specimen of art, architecture, painting, and socio-cultural, religious and political history of contemporary society in India.' The Ellora Caves too are significant cultural and historical landmarks in the annals of India's art history.

Ajanta Caves Checklist

Cave 1: Check out the woman with a pearl necklace. Don’t miss the murals of the two Bodhisattvas, Padmapani and Vajrapani, on the rear walls near the main Buddha shrine.

Cave2: Mark the painting of ‘Thousand Buddhas’. Its ceilings and walls have scenes from the Jataka tales.

Cave 10: Arrival of the king (Aśoka) to worship the Bodhi tree, behind pillar numbers 3 to 9 ; elephant with six tusks. 

Cave 16: Set your sights on the famous Portrait of the Dying Princess of Sundari, Buddha's half-brother Nanda’s wife.

Cave 17: Look for the sultry, dark-skinned princess putting on her make-up and admiring herself in a mirror. When the torchlight catches her, her eyes and jewellery glow like pearls against the dark backdrop. Check out the elaborate ‘Coming of Sinhala’ painting. 

Cave 19: Seek out the sculpture of Buddha offering a begging bowl to his son Rahul; also the sculpture of Nagaraja and his wife.

Cave 26: Check out the beautiful sculpture of the Mahaparinirvana of Buddha.