Ajanta
Caves ars situated in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra
State in India (106 kilometers away from the city of Aurangabad).
The nearest towns are Jalgaon (60 kilometers away) and Bhusawal
(70 kilometers away). Along the bottom of the ravine runs
the river Waghur, a mountain stream. The monastic complex
of Ajanta consists of several viharas (monastic halls of residence)
and chaitya-grihas (stupa monument halls) cut into the mountain
scarp in two phases. The first phase is mistakenly called
the Hinayana phase (referring to the Lesser Vehicle tradition
of Buddhism, when the Buddha was revered symbolically). Actually,
Hinayana – a derogative term for Sthaviravada – does not object
to Buddha statues. At Ajanta, cave numbers 9, 10, 12, 13,
and 15A (the last one was re-discovered in 1956, and is still
not officially numbered) were excavated during this phase.
These excavations have enshrined the Buddha in the form of
the stupa, or mound. There are 29 caves (as officially numbered
by the Archaeological Survey of India), excavated in the south
side of the precipitous scarp made by the cutting of the ravine.
They vary from 35 to 110 ft. in elevation above the bed of
the stream. Paintings on the walls of Ajanta illustrate the
life of Prince Gautama Buddha. Ajanta, is located hundred
KM from Aurangabad district in the state of Maharashtra of
India, conjures before one's vision, a dream of beauty- of
caves, hidden in the midst of a lonely glen with a streamlet
flowing down below, caves that were scooped out into the heart
of the rock so that the pious Buddhist monk, out on mission
to spread the tenets of Buddhism could dwell and pray, caves
that the followers of Lord Buddha, embellished with architectural
details with a skillful command of the hammer over the chisel,
with sculpture of highest craftsmanship and above all, with
the paintings of infinite charm.
According to the Buddhist traditions, these former Buddhas
were revered even in the historical Buddha's lifetime. By
the time king Ashoka, their cult was widespread and was patronized
by Ashoka. Later, when the stupas were constructed and beautified,
the carvings were executed in a symbolic way. An inspired
sculptor began to carve images of Buddha himself and within
the few generations, all the Buddhist sects took to worshipping
images. The universe of Mahayana contains numerous Bodhisattava,
the chief of whom is Avalokitesvara with attributes of compassion.
He is also called Padmapani or the lotus bearer. The Manjushri
with a naked sword in one hand, stimulates the understanding.
The sterner Bodhisattava who is a foe of the sin and evil
and bearing a thunderbolt in the hand is Vajrapani. The future
Buddha, Maitreya will take birth to save the world. A few
paintings which survive on the walls of Caves 9 and 10 go
back to the 2nd century BC-AD. The second group of the paintings
started in about the fifth century AD and continued for the
next two centuries as, noticeable in later caves. The themes
are intensely religious in tone and centre round Buddha, Bodhisattvas,
incidents from the life of Buddha and the Jatakas. The paintings
are executed on a ground of mud-plaster in the tempera technique.
According to the older conceptions, the Buddha wrought many
deeds of kindness and mercy in a long series of transmigration
as a Bodhisattava, before achieving his final birth as the
sage of sakyas. Incidentally they contain the scenes of semi-mythological
history, the royal court and popular life of the ancient times,
as told in romances and plays. Some pictures recall the Greek
and Roman compositions and proportions, few late resemble
to Chinese manners to some extent. But majority belongs to
a phase which is purely Indian as they are found no where
else. These monuments were constructed during two different
periods of time separated by a long interval of four centuries.
The older ones were the product of last to centuries before
Christ and belongs to Hinayana period of Buddhism in later
part of 2nd century AD when Buddhism was divided into two
sections, after the conduct of the fourth general council
under another great king, Kanishka. At Ajanta, the paintings
on the walls, illustrate the events in the life of prince
Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism and in the more popular
Jataka stories pertaining to Buddha's previous incarnation.
The caves including the unfinished ones are thirty in number,
of which five (9, 10, 19, 26 and 29) are chaitya-grihas and
the rest are sangharamas or viharas (monasteries). After centuries
of oblivion, these caves were discovered in AD 1819.They fall
into two distinct phases with a break of nearly four centuries
between them. All the caves of the earlier phase date between
2nd century BC-AD. The caves of the second phase were excavated
during the supremacy of the Vakatakas and Guptas. According
to inscriptions, Varahadeva, the minister of the Vakataka
king, Harishena (c. 475-500 AD), dedicated Cave 16 to the
Buddhist sangha while Cave 17 was the gift of the prince,
a feudatory. An inscription records that- Buddha image in
Cave 4 was the gift of some Abhayanandi who hailed from Mathura.
The new feature of Mahayana Buddhism was the concept of future
Buddha's. The Buddha, himself probably thought that he was
the last of the long succession of earlier Buddha's who lived
before him.
