Ajanta (An Old and Rare Book)

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THE CAVES AT AJANTA ARE EXCAVATED IN THE SEMI-circular scarp of a steep rock, about 76 m high, T overlooking a narrow sinuous gorge (pl. I), through which flows the stream Waghora descending at the head of the ravine beyond Cave 28 in a waterfall of seven leaps, known as Satkund. From Cave 16 the visitor can have a convenient view of the waterfall. It is not known under whose initiative and patronage the nucleus of these monastic aeries sprouted, but behind the selection of the spot was at work an artistic mind, keenly appreciative of the beauties of nature. The caves, excavated for the use of the monks during their retreat in the rainy season (varshavasa), when the valley was, as it is even now, at its best in verdant beauty, with the stream attaining its utmost breadth and volume, were laid amidst idyllic surroundings, completely shut off from the distractions of the mundane world. This natural beauty, coupled with a perfect seclusion, contributed to the serenity and calm contemplation of the monks and was not an inconsiderable factor in promo-ting inspiration in the artist.

The caves are cut out of the amygdaloid trap rock. Extending over 550 m they are aligned in a horseshoe form. Their general arrangement was not pre-planned, as they sprang up sporadically in different periods. Their floor-levels are most ununiform, the lowest being Cave 8 and the highest Cave 29. A terraced path of modern construction connects most of the caves, but in ancient times individual stairways linked the stream with each cave. Most of the stairs have disappeared with the collapse of the front of the caves, only a few, as those of Caves 16 and 17, having partly survived.

The caves, including the unfinished ones, are thirty in number, of which five (9, 10, 19, 26 and 29) are chaityagrihas (sanctuary) and the rest sangharamas or viharas (monastery). They resolve themselves into two distinct phases of Buddhist rock-cut architecture, separated from each other by an interval of about four centuries. The earlier group, comprising six excavations, is an offshoot of the same Buddhist movement which produced caves at several other places in the Deccan, like Bhaja, Kondane, Pitalkhora, Nasik, etc. Of the six early caves at Ajanta, two, 9 and 10, are chaityagrihas and four, 8, 12, 13 and 15 A, monasteries. The chaityagrihas are each characterized by a vaulted ceiling, the exterior façade being dominated by a huge horseshoe-shaped window, known as chaitya-window, over the doorway. Internally they are divided by colonnades into a central nave, an apse and side-aisles, the latter continuing behind the apse and, thus, providing for circumambulation. At the centre of the apse stands the object of worship in the form of a chaitya or stupa, also hewn out of the live rock; figures of Buddha are absent, as the Buddhists were still labouring under the convention of not representing the Master in his bodily form. The most striking feature about the chaitya grihas is the servile imitation of wooden construction, including the general contour and essential details. The rock-cutter went to the extent of using wooden beams and rafters even though they were non-functional. The plan of the monasteries consists of an astylar hall, meant for congregation, with a range of cells on three sides, serving as the dwelling-apartments for monks. All these caves are pre-Christian in date, the earliest to be excavated being Cave 10, dating from the second century BC.

After a quiescence of about four centuries excavation was revived on a much more ambitious scale. The most prolific phase of this movement synchronized with the supremacy of the Vakatakas, the contemporaries of the Imperial Guptas of north India, the two families being matrimonially related. Indeed, some of the finest caves, along with the paintings, owe their origin to the munificence of the officials and feudatories of the Vakatakas of Vatsagulma (modern Basim, District Akola, Maharashtra). Thus, Varahadeva, the minister of the Vakataka king Harishena (circa AD 475-500), dedicated Cave 16 to the Buddhist sangha, while Cave 17 was the gift of a prince (who subjugated Asmaka), feudatory to the same king. The most vigorous period of architectural and artistic activity seems to have coincided with the second half of the fifth century AD and the first half of the sixth century AD. There was a considerable dec-line in the creative impulse from the seventh cetury, though Hiuen Tsang, the celebrated Chinese pilgrim, who visited India in the first half of the seventh century AD, has left a graphic description of the flourishing Buddhist establishment here. 'In the east of this country (i.e. Mo-ha-la-ch'a Maharashtra) was a mountain range, ridges one above another in suc-cession, tiers of peaks and sheer summits. Here was a monastery the base of which was in a dark defile, and its lofty halls and deep chambers were quarried in the cliff and rested on the peak, its tiers of halls and storeyed terraces had the cliff on their back and faced the ravine. This monastery had been built by the Achelo (Achara) of West India... Within the establishment was a large temple above 100 feet high in which was a stone image of the Buddha above seventy feet high; the image was surmounted by a tier of seven canopies unattached and unsupported, each canopy separated from the one above it by the space of three feet. The walls of this temple had depicted on them the incidents of the Buddha's career as Bodhisattva, including the circumstances of his attaining bodhi and the omens attending his final passing away, all great and small were here delineated. Outside the gate of the monastery, on either side north and south, was a stone elephant... The P'usa Ch'enna or Dinnaga stayed much in this monastery." It is interesting to note that an inscription in Cave 26, as-signed to a period between AD 450 and 525 on palaeographical grounds, refers to the building of a 'rocky house' (sailagriha) for the Teacher (Buddha) by Sthavira Achala. Among the monasteries of Ajanta, Cave 16 alone preserves two stone elephants guarding the base of its stairway.

A fragmentary Rashtrakuta record of uncertain purpose, inscribed on the right wall of the landing to the left of the court of Cave 26, proves the use of the caves even during the eighth-ninth centuries.

During the second phase of excavation, after the initial stage of experiment in Cave 11, the general layout of the monasteries was standardized, though each one of them presents some interesting and individual features. Of the three chaityagrihas of this period, Cave 29 is unfinished. The other two, 19 and 26, are designed on the plan of the earlier chaityagrihas with the significant difference that the interior is treated with luxuriant carvings and the figure of Buddha appears on the central stupaaniconism having by now given way to iconism. A profusion of the figures of Buddha can be seen both on the façade and in the interior. The plan of the monasteries, however, shows greater innovations, the most important of which is the introduction of a shrinechamber, containing a colossal image of Buddha in the back wall opposite the doorway the monasteries, thus, serving the dual purpose of monastic dwelling and sanctuary. Sometimes subsidiary shrines are scooped out not only on the back side of the hall but also on other sides.