Vignettes of Ajanta & Ellora

And while he inscribed his name and the date on the walls of the cave (still visible, at a level higher than usual human height - given he stood on several feet of rubble that had accumulated over the ages) - John Smith unlocked a world that had lain forgotten for over 14 centuries.

The Ajanta Caves today hold a mirror to the Golden Age of the subcontinent that lured travelers and conquerors alike.

These Buddhist architectural wonders are dated to have been built between 200 BC and 700 CE in two prominent phases, whilst they were abandoned between the second and after the 7th century, with the evolution of religious predominance to Hinduism.

Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese traveller is said to have mentioned the marvels of Ajanta in his account of India around the 7th century though he may have never really visited the caves himself and his writing is based on accounts heard from fellow travelers.

The caves have been known far and wide for their remarkable 'dry frescos' (which technically aren't frescos at all, but are created with the application of mud plaster on the rock, followed by a wash of lime that allowed it to dry before local pigments are applied.)

There are primarily two kinds of caves that served the purpose of teaching of the emerging Buddhist principles of life.

Through living, worship and formal education, the caves served the purpose of propagating Buddhism and were built as either Chaitya Grihas (temples) or Viharas (monasteries).

With forty years of painstaking research in situ, Walter M Spink further argues that while it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period, from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, his work over the years has revealed that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE during the reign of Emperor Harisena of the Vakataka dynasty. There was a sudden halt of building and use almost immediately after Harisena's death.

Archeologists have unearthed evidence, based on stylistic representations of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas as well as architectural details, that some caves were transformed from their first avatar after the earliest excavations, when the process of carving began again.

Ajanta is best known for its paintings, which embody incredible grace, elegance and a refined quality of form. These paintings predate evidence of western art by centuries yet remain strong influences in Indian art today as well.

With their discovery in times of British India, they played their part in reinforcing the rising nationalist sentiment and inspired the work of artists such as Nandalal Bose and Rabindranath Tagore.

The sculptural details at Ajanta, while often overshadowed by the legacy of the paintings, are exemplary markers of the time. The intricate carving techniques employed are considered fairly rare for the period.

Both in painting and sculpture, one finds reflections and depictions of Buddha and the bodhisattvas, derived from Jatakamalas – famous work in both Sanskrit and Buddhist literature. The works bring to life numerous stories of the Buddha in his previous births and the deeds he accomplished in those incarnations.

In addition, one can find elaborate details of everyday life in the times of painting and excavation, depictions of all classes, the cycles of life, places and spaces like courts and forests, succinct representations of everything from costume to utensils, myths of the time as well as of war and conflict.

The painted ceilings in Ajanta are mostly pattern driven, depicting elements from nature such as fruits, leaves, flowers, plants and animals.

Upon the discovery of Ajanta and the interest it drew worldwide from this revelation, James Burgess was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society from 1844 to 1863 to make copies of some of these paintings and these were exhibited at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866. Major Robert Gill was also responsible for subsequent copies.

Cave 1, completely covered in sculptural detail is often referred to as the Emperor’s cave. It is understood to have been excavated under the reign of the Vakatakas who were contemporaries of the Gupta rulers.

The Bodhisattva Padmapani and Avalokitesvara Vajrapani are two landmark paintings that have been rooted in collective consciousness forming ideas about exemplary Indian aesthetic and being ‘poster’ images for Ajanta over the years. These are both found in Cave 1.

Spink mentions that “the paintings in cave 1 commissioned by Harisena himself concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life”

Mysteries abound: the yoking of the sacred and the profane; the adjacency of the naked and the robed; the division of the art activity between the ceilings and the wall murals into geometric design and figurative narration, and so on,” Swaminathan - Ajanta Paintings, A Layman’s Guide (published by Sudharsanam).

Unlike building up, stone by stone, Ellora’s caves have been shaped into viharas and temples by chiselling top down, from often, a monolithic rock.

The site lies in an area of volcanic activity, created by layers of basalt formations. A sharp vertical edge to the rock face allowed for chiselling of the caves (rock hewing) and finer grain of the reddish brown rock enabled intricate sculpting techniques.

Unlike Ajanta, the Ellora caves were never lost to the world and find mention in multiple travel accounts over the years. There are 34 caves in all, that are products of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain philosophies stylistically

Built between the 5th century and 10th century, the temples, viharas and mathas served each religion and its need and represent the evolution of religious inclinations of the rulers of the region over time.

The excavations began at a time when Buddhism was slowly paving way for Hinduism under the Chalukya and the Rashtrakuta emperors of the South West, whilst by the 10th century there was a shift from Shaivism (Hinduism centred around Lord Shiva) to the Digambara sect of Jainism.

Some accounts do suggest however, the Hindu caves having preceded the Buddhist caves. Irrespective, coexistence of the three kinds of rock-cut caves echoes the tolerant sentiments of the time.

Cave 16, is a Hindu cave known as the Kailasa temple, which is heralded as the cynosure of Ellora, if at all it is possible to pinpoint one.
Touted as the largest monolithic excavation in the world, the temple was started by King Krishna I (757–773) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty.

It is designed to mirror Mount Kailash, which is considered to be the home of Lord Shiva and was once covered in white plaster to suggest the snowy mountain range of the Himalayas that Kailash forms a part of.

Being a Shiva temple, the complex boasts of a Nandi bull that flanks the entrance of the temple whilst the inner sanctum houses the Lingam.

The temple architecture, though carved out of a single rock, can be seen echoed in later day versions of Dravidian temples of the South, built even centuries later. Pattadkal, a site not far from both Ajanta and Ellora was often used for temple architecture training.

The temple within Cave 16 seems similar in form, language and study in proportions to Virupaksha Temple at Pattadkal.

Sculptural details depict Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities on either side of the inner shrine while the sculptural highlight is often the image of Ravana attempting to lift Mount Kailash.

While this may seem like an extraordinary feat suggested by the mythologies surrounding the image, the rock-cut temple itself boasts of an awe-inspiring effort of over a 100 years it took to complete the complex.

The Vishwakarma Cave (no.10) is the highlight of the Buddhist caves at Ellora. Carved out as a Chaitya Vihara, it is flanked by grandiose columns on either side of the cave leading up to the Stupa/Chaitya that stands three stories tall in the center. The roof is vaulted and chiselled smooth.

The stupa is a votive chamber used in early Buddhism at a time when the depictions of Buddha were not yet defined or considered the norm. However, in cave 10, a 15 foot sculpture of Buddha in vyakhyana mudra (teaching posture) is incorporated within the front section of the stupa foregrounded by the image of a carved Bodhi tree.

The cave derives its name from the Vishwakarma caste that traditionally included carpenters, as the Chaitya Vihara exhibits imitation of wooden construction of rafters and beams (rock, chiselled to look like wood).

The monumentality and finesse of these rock-cut caves can only be described in words that may not do justice to the experience of actually visiting the two sites. Often clubbed on tourist itineraries as well found mentioned in pairs, the histories of the caves is intertwined, as with all of the 900 odd caves that are found in Western India.

Archeologists and art historians have spent lifetimes deciphering the worlds these depict and those that they were once a part of. The caves are like windows to the Golden Age of India and perhaps resonate the feelings that the world outside may have felt, when the tales of this land reached far and wide.

The sheer delight of encountering these rock-cut wonders is indescribable and they set a benchmark in Indian aesthetic macrocosms that are often found hard to match, especially in contemporary architectures for living, religious worship and teaching.