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Ajanta Caves - Aurangabad |
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The rock cut cave shrines of Ajanta offer unique blend of architecture, sculpture and paintings that speak volumes about Indian artistry flourishing at a time when half of the world civilization was living in darkness. These caves came into light only when a British Captain accidentally stumbled upon them, while on a hunting spree in the forest of Western Deccan. Today these splendid cut out of rocks by hand find an important place in the ancient Indian monumental heritage. There are a total of 30 caves found at Ajanta, dating back from 200 BC to 250 AD. Five of them are Chaitya Halls (prayer halls) while the rest are Viharas (monasteries) believed to be the monsoon retreat for Buddhist monks. The caves suggest an overall development of Buddhism.
Ajanta caves are divided into two distinct phases separated from one another by a time span of 400 years. The phases represent the two schools of Buddhist thoughts, the Hinayana School and the Mahayana sect. There are two Chaitya Halls (prayer halls) and four Viharas (monasteries) that coincide the Hinayana Phase and a group of four Chaitya Halls and eleven Viharas represent the Mahayana Phase. Ajanta caves are located in Maharashtra, and were about 100 km away from Aurangabad City.
It was during the supremacy of the Vakatas and Guptas, the caves representing the second phase were excavated. As per the inscriptions found in the caves, it is assumed that Varahadeva, the minister of the Vakataka King, Harishena, dedicated Cave 16 to the Buddhist sangha and cave 17 was the gift of the prince. An inscription in Cave 4 suggests that the image of Buddha, seen in the Cave, was the gift of some Abhayanandi who hailed from Mathura.
There are some very old paintings survived on the walls of Caves 9 and 10 that go back to the 2 nd century BC. The paintings representing the second group started in about the fifth century AD and continued for the next two centuries, as seen in the later caves. These paintings revealed a strong religious theme centered round Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and incidents from the life of Buddha and Jatakas.
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