LOST for a THOUSAND YEARS - The mysterious Ajanta Caves - Wonders of Ancient India, Ep. 5

The Ajanta Caves are a group of 30 Buddhist rock-cut monuments dating from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD. Located about 100 km from the city of Aurangabad in eastern Maharashtra, they contain some of the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian paintings, depicting several episodes of the life of the Buddha and other Buddhist legends. The Ajanta Caves are spectacularly located on one side of a deep river gorge, which helped to hide them from sight for over a thousand years, until their rediscovery in the early 19th century. In 1819, a young British cavalry officer named John Smith was on a tiger hunt along the Bhagora river, when he spotted the dark mouth of a cave on the opposite side of a 75 meters high, nearly vertical cliff. Opening his way through the thick jungle, he finally reached and entered the cave. By the flickering light of his torch, what he saw was not the lair of some wild animal, but a great vaulted colonnade hall covered in faded paintings. News of Smith's discovery spread quickly, and numerous expeditions followed, painstakingly mapping and documenting the caves and their beautiful frescoes over the course of many decades. A total of five prayer halls or chaitiyas and 25 viharas or monasteries were slowly uncovered and cleared of rubble and vegetation after centuries of oblivion, revealing for the first time in well over a thousand years hundreds of painted scenes and sculptures, portrayed in a vivid naturalistic style, showing remarkable affinities with classical Greek and Roman art. These paintings, most of which date to the late 5th century CE, are the last surviving remnants of what may be considered as the golden age of Indian painting. Unlike the flatter art of later Indian miniature painting, the Ajanta frescoes show a mastery of perspective and foreshortening, a liveliness, elegance, and use of color unrivaled in the ancient world, except for the frescoes of Pompeii and a few rare surviving examples of Hellenistic painting in Greece and Rome. The scenes depicted cover a broad variety of subjects, from courtly scenes, hunts, and battles, to scenes of ascetic renunciation and the episodes of the life of the Buddha. Most famous and beautiful of all are two astonishing images of the bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani, shown with the eyes half-closed on the threshold of enlightenment. Even today, the colors of these murals glow with a brilliant intensity in the gloomy interior of the caves, displaying a huge palette of colors, from lizard green to topaz yellow and the delicate blue of Afghan lapis lazuli. Where one would expect scenes of lonely self-sacrifice and the renunciation of earthly pleasures, one finds instead vivid representations of civilized and courtly life, a prosperous and multicultural society full of riches and pleasures and beauty, with people, men and women, richly dressed and adorned with jewels, playing, dancing, and enjoying music. These paintings represent the fullness of life in all its manifestations that accompany the endless cycles of reincarnation. There is therefore no contradiction nor clear boundary or separation between the images of richly dressed princes and sensual dancing girls, wild and domesticated animals, and the austere images of meditating monks and Buddhist saints. These are all different aspects of the great cycle of life. Thus, an elephant in cave 10 is reborn as the queen of Varanasi, yet remains essentially the same soul and is portrayed with the same grace and individuality as the other human characters. The colorful cast of characters portrayed on the walls and ceilings of these caves shows just how complex and multicultural the Indian society of the time was. Recognizable among the crowds are many foreigners, including Persians, Arabs, Chinese, Ethiopians, and possibly even Greeks, each with their own distinctive attire, hairstyles, and skin tones. The message of the Buddha was not restricted to just one caste or tribe, but was universal and meant to be spread to the ends of the earth. Unfortunately, since the time of their discovery in 1819, the original murals have continued to deteriorate due to overtourism and the consequences of some poor 20th-century restorations. Kept in the near-complete darkness to help their preservation, these masterpieces of ancient art are extremely challenging to photograph, with only a handful of truly high-quality reproductions of the paintings existing today in any published form. Many of the paintings are in dire need of restoration, having perhaps irremediably darkened and yellowed to the point that many of the scenes are no longer legible and much of the original pigments and colors have disappeared. This is particularly evident when comparing the current state of the paintings with early 19th and 20th-century photographs and watercolors. Besides their faded paintings, the Ajanta caves are also famous for their rich sculptural decoration. The larger chaityas, or Buddhist prayer halls, are often richly decorated with colossal sculptures of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, amidst delicate animal phrases and other vegetal compositions. These sculptures, too, were originally brightly painted, but only traces of the painted decoration now remain. The earliest caves are little more than individual cells cut from the hard basalt rock of the cliff. These small cells, frequently containing inscriptions, likely served as shelters for the monks during the monsoon season. During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, these small cells evolved into veritable monasteries, or viharas, consisting of large colonnaded halls with numerous smaller cells on the sides used for prayer and meditation. Large prayer halls also appeared, vast cathedral-like chambers, usually divided into three naves by rows of columns, with rounded apse and stupa and circumambulatory passage opposite the entrance. These chaityas are immediately recognizable from the outside by their large arched or keyhole-shaped entrance, whose curved ceilings imitate timber constructions. The Ajanta caves, numbered 1 to 30, are all carved on one side of the horseshoe-shaped gorge of the Wagora river. The caves were not originally connected by walkways as they are today, but were only individually accessible from the river below. A fortified gate provided access from the river to one of the earliest groups of caves, located at the lowest level of Ajanta. Caves 8 to 15 date from the 2nd to the 1st century BC and comprise five viharas or monasteries and two prayer halls. The viharas all follow a similar plan, consisting of a large square or rectangular hall on whose sides open monk cells with stone beds. Decoration is limited to geometric design patterns and maurya-style arches imitating wooden canopies over the doorways. Cave 10 may be the earliest chaitya at the site and consists of a large central apsidal hall with 39 octagonal pillars and a simple stupa at the end. The dark opening of this cave was the first to be noticed in 1819 by John Smith, who left his name on one of the pillars. The simple interior of this cave is similar to that of the great chaityas of the Bhaja and Betse caves, although lacking much of the exterior ornamentation. This suggests a similar date of construction, in the 2nd or early 1st century BCE. The paintings in cave 10 may also date to this early period, being thus some of the earliest surviving examples of ancient Indian art of their kind. Cave 9 is a smaller but more elaborate chaitya, with an elegantly decorated façade leading into a pillared hall with 23 pillars and a simple stupa placed at the center of the apse. With a length of 18 meters, this cave is smaller than the 30 meters long cave 10, and the style of its decoration suggests a slightly later date of construction. Possibly during the late 1st century BCE. The paintings in this cave were mostly added in the 5th century CE and include images of praying monks and other scenes from the Buddhist Jataka tales, describing various episodes in the life of the Buddha. The site of Ajanta seems to have been largely abandoned during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. A second phase of construction began in the 5th and 6th centuries, when most of the later Buddhist caves were constructed. Excavation of the caves began by cutting a narrow tunnel at the ceiling level, which was then expanded downwards and outwards as evidenced in some of the incomplete caves, such as caves 21 to 24. Decoration of the pillars, roof and of the lateral shrines proceeded in parallel, with the paintings being added last on top of a plaster preparation. Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horseshoe-shaped escarpment and presents a deeply recessed facade with six pillars and two pilasters. These lead into a square hole nearly 12 meters long by 12 meters wide, supported by 12 pillars. The paintings of cave 1 cover the entirety of the walls and ceilings, containing various stories from the Buddhist Jatakas, inspired by the Buddha's previous lives and incarnations. The two most famous paintings in this cave, and perhaps in the whole set of the 30 Ajanta caves, are two life-size figures of the Bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani, guides and protectors of the Buddha. Other famous paintings relate to the conversion of Nanda, the temptation of Mara, the miracle of Sravasti, and other courtly and palace scenes. The ceiling, too, is painted in exquisite detail, with a profusion of legendary and mythical creatures among floral motifs. A striking bacchanalian scene occupies the center of the ceiling, portraying foreigners from the north of India, dressed in what appear to be Persian or European costumes. A little farther along, cave 2 is similar to cave 1, and contains paintings of comparable quality on the walls and ceilings. Most famous among its paintings is a representation of the miracle of Sravasti, in which the Buddha manifested himself in a thousand different forms to silence the skeptics who did not believe his words. Cave 4 is a huge vihara, the largest of the Ajanta caves, measuring over 35 by 28 meters. The vast ceiling is almost miraculously supported by a total of just 24 pillars. Some large cracks that formed in the ceiling were probably the reason why this cave was abandoned and its painted decoration never completed. It still contains a very ornate shrine with an enthroned Buddha flanked by bodhisattvas and a richly decorated doorway. Cave 6 is a pillared hall on two levels, containing many decorated shrines and votive sculptures, with only traces remaining of the original painted decoration. The second floor is the most richly ornated, with a deeply recessed shrine flanked by bodhisattva figures and colossal seated Buddha statues in the lotus pose, still retaining some of the original colors. The beautiful veranda with floated columns on the second floor affords magnificent views of the Wagora river and the gorge below. Cave 7 is also a monastery preceded by an elegant porch with floated columns and cushioned capitals. It contains a beautifully decorated shrine with a seated colossal Buddha statue on a lion throne, amidst other fine Buddhist carvings from the late 5th century CE. The next important cave is cave 16, which is entered through a gateway flanked by two elephants. It contains numerous paintings in a poor state of preservation, showing scenes from the life of the Buddha. Nearby cave 17 contains some very well-preserved paintings in the veranda and in the interior of the cave. The paintings of the veranda depict lively palace and courtly scenes, with dancers, musicians and loving couples. One of the most refined paintings is that of a flying apsara painted on the wall of the veranda to the right of the doorway. The paintings of the interior depict more episodes from the life of the Buddha, drawn from the Jataka tales and other Buddhist legends, organized in 30 major murals. A short walk takes to cave 19. This is a small chaitya, only 16 meters long, notable for its richly decorated façade and exterior decoration, now partially hidden by conservation works. This type of chaitya, dating to the late 5th century CE, contrasts sharply with the far more simpler design and ornamentation of the chaityas of the first phase, such as caves 9 and 10, with their austere and mostly undecorated interior. Cave 20 is a monastery, possibly associated with the prayer hall in cave 19, containing some exquisite sculptural ornamentation and a sanctum framed by two elegant fluted columns, in which is a colossal seated Buddha statue on a lion throne. Located in one of the most panoramic spots along the cliff face, caves 21 to 23 are all viharas, each consisting of a large pillar hall with smaller shrines and individual monks' cells placed along the walls. The shrines are often beautifully decorated with statues and other Buddhist sculptures, and were once entirely painted. Both the ornamentation of the pillars and the quality of the carvings are among the finest of the Ajanta caves, and include some colossal seated images of the Buddha carved entirely from the hard basalt rock. Cave 24 is a partially finished cave, featuring the largest vihara after cave 4. This enormous hall was never completed and still contains huge lumps of rock, bearing evidence of the pickaxes and chisels used to hollow out the chamber and the sculptural decoration of the walls and ceilings. Cave 26, at the westernmost end of the cliff, is the most elaborate chaitya at the site of the Ajanta caves. It is a vast cave, 25 meters long by 11.5 meters wide, divided into three naves by rows of elegantly sculptured columns. It contains some of the most intricate sculptures at Ellora and virtually no painted decoration, perhaps because the builders believed that stone sculptures would endure longer than paintings on the walls. The circumambulatory passage along the nave is filled with sitting Buddha sculptures and scenes from the Buddhist legends depicted below the meditating Buddhas. One of the major artworks is a colossal reclining Buddha sculpture, which occupies most of the left wall of the cave. The monolithic stupa at the end of the apse has a colossal image of the Buddha on the front and more decorated panels on its sides. This cave may have been also one of the latest to be built at Ajanta in the late 5th or early 6th century CE. The next three caves, number 27 to 29, are unfinished excavations and barely accessible from the top of the cliff. They include a large two-story monastery, which has partially collapsed, and an unfinished Chaitya cave of which only the opening of the entrance arch is visible high up between caves 20 and 21. No more caves would be carved at Ajanta and by the 7th century CE the site lay largely abandoned, following a decline in the popularity of Buddhism throughout India. Unlike Ellora, where most of the earlier Buddhist caves and monasteries were either adapted or converted into Hindu and Jain temples in the following centuries, the abandonment of Ajanta as a religious and pilgrimage site allowed for its survival and preservation as an intact Buddhist site throughout the tumultuous history of the Rashtrakuta period and the later Muslim conquest of India. It would take another thousand years for the Ajanta paintings to see once again the light of day and be rescued from centuries of oblivion. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the Ajanta caves are now at risk from overtourism and the effects of misguided restorations that have caused nearly irreparable damage to the original paintings. In the harsh tropical climate of this part of India it may be just a matter of time before these priceless artistic treasures disappear forever, making the task of documenting and creating digital copies of the paintings every day more urgent.