Ajanta Caves

Ajanta Caves

Gupta Period, 3rd to 5th Century CE

        On a outing, in 1819, a British soldier accidently discovered the Ajanta caves.  The Caves were a shock to the British, and an eye - opener to the rest of the world. The English had convinced us and themselves that  the Indian civilisation was decadent and barbaric. It could not boast of any achievement either in science or in arts. 

         Ajanta Caves are a living testimony of our engineering, of our arts, and of our spiritualism.  Carved out of sheer rocks, at the bend of a river, the thirty caves took two hundred years to be finished. Each cave is a masterpiece of engineering. The intricate interrelationship between the 'Chaityas ' ( the prayer halls), and the 'Viharas ' ( the cells where the monks lived) is mind boggling.  Full of paintings and sculptures, the Ajanta artists have captured the minute details of the world around them. The tranquility, the serenity of the images embibes the place with great spirituality.  

Till the discovery of Ajanta one did not know the foundation of art of Asia. With its discovery, we have reached the basis of sacred art of Asia. Its style, its  iconography,  its colours and contours have travelled as far as Japan. To know Ajanta is to know Asian art.