AJANTA CAVES
AT
AURANGABAD
Ajanta caves are located in
Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India. The Ajanta caves are one of
the places history and and culture enthusiasts will enjoy an excursion to. It
is believed that several Buddhist monks spent a significant amount of time at
the Ajanta caves during the monsoons as they were forbidden from travelling
during that particular period of the year. This was the time when the monks put
their creativity and time to use and painted the walls of the caves.
It was only in 1819, when Jon Smith, who belonged to the 28th Cavalry
accidentally chanced upon the horse-shoe shaped rock while hunting a tiger in
and around the Deccan Plateau region. The entrance to the cave like structures
intrigued the British official enough to make them cross the Waghora River in
the vicinity and reach the caves. Soon, archaeological experts excavated the
sites and the news of discovery of these caves spread like wild fire making it
an instant hit among European travelers.
Apart from the stunning paintings and sculptures, there were also huge
Buddhist mounds like stupas built, massive pillars intricately detailed
carvings on the ceilings and walls made big news, giving the Ajanta caves the
status of a heritage site.
It was soon studied that there were over 30 caves in
the cave complex out of which one part of the complex was developed during the
Satvahana period and the other was done during the Vakataka period. After
closely studying several of these artefacts, historians and archaeologists
speculated a connection between the Vakataka dynasty that ruled the region to
the Gupta dynasty of north India!
During the first phase of construction, the sanctuaries known as the
Chaitya-grihas were built in the canyons of the Waghora River. Caves 9, 10, 12
and 15 A were built in the first phase during the Satavahana dynasty. The
second period of construction was carried out during the rule of Emperor
Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. Close to 20 cave temples were simultaneously
built which resemble the modern day monasteries with a sanctum in the rear end
of the structure.
Towards the end of the reign of Harisena, these caves were abandoned and
eventually forgotten through the centuries. The dense forests were partly to be
blamed for camouflaging these caves. The Ajanta caves are home to paintings and
sculptures that depict heavy influence of Buddhist philosophy and religious
teachings of the Buddha. Various incidents from the life of Gautam Buddha and
the Jataka Tales are represented and recreated on the walls of these caves.
Scenes from the royal court of the respective eras are also painted.
Through his life, Buddha was against the idea of sculpting and painting
images of him. He preached that life was
a process through which one must overcome desire in order to attain salvation
or nirvana. However, after Buddha’s death, his followers who wanted to worship
him, decided to paint his images so that they had something to hold on to while
spreading the faith and teachings of the Buddha.
At the entrance of the first of Ajanta caves, you will be greeted by a
tall image of the Buddha. The doorway to the cave is decorated with auspicious
motifs and the cave has numerous sculptures and paintings of Bodhisattvas
Padmapani and Vajrapani; carvings of princesses, lovers, maids and dancing
girls; scenes depicting the Persian Embassy, Golden Geese, Pink Elephants and
Bull Fights. Though the caves are over 2,000 years old, the Buddha statues had
been added close 600 years later.
By Air
Aurangabad is the nearest Air point for Ajanta. It can be reached from
New Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay), international airport. Indian airlines as well
as Jet Airways have daily flight to Aurangabad from New Delhi and Mumbai.
By Train
Jalgaon is the best place to drop in for Ajanta if you like Rail
journey. It is centre point of all major railway stations of India and has
Bhusaval (Just 28kms from Jalgaon) as Second largest depot of railways in
entire Asia.
