Ajanta is to a hundred km of Aurangabad by a good road.
It is in a wooded rock circus, true furnace during several months of the year, which were found at the 19th century, during a shooting party, says one, by British soldiers, about thirty caves excavated with cliff blank which had been, one millenium before, occupied by Buddhist monastic communities. Their realization is spread out over a long period, in fact as of the first century before our era (Shatavahana dynasty) and continued, with periods of less activity, until the 5-7th centuries, which saw reigning in the area the dynasty of Vakataka, contemporainedes Gupta of north.
What
makes the exceptional reputation of Ajanta, it is less architecture, to tell
the truth summary, of these caves, which the murals of which several are papered.
These dark and nonenlightened caves being, it is necessary to secure, as of
the entry, the services of an authorized guide which will be made a pleasure
of lighting you and to announce you part of interesting paintings. With defect,
you have all the chances not to locate large thing. And to be more precise
still, the ideal would be to have at home a work on paintings of Ajanta to
prepare so that one will see... and reconsulter it with the return. Indeed,
on the spot, one keeps the general impression which is needed much time to
penetrate the mysteries of this place. It is said that the most famous caves
are the 1, 2, 16, 17, 19 and 26.
The caves are attached to two groups, according
to the time of their realization, which is marked in the styles observed.
Oldest, typical of the art of Buddhism of Hinayana (Small Vehicle), do not
represent the person of the Buddha that by symbols, as one also sees it in
Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh). Most recent point out the art of Buddhism Mahayana
(Large Vehicle), in which the image of the Buddha upright preaching or sitted
meditating is very usual.
In all the cases, the digging of these decorated caves required many gifts of patrons to be concluded by semi-skilled workers.
Except paintings, one will pay attention to the some sculptures, like the decorative elements (barrels and capitals) of the pillars compartmentalizing the caves.