Two thousand two hundred years ago work began on an extensive series of
cave monuments in Maharashtra, India. Over a period of hundreds of
years, thirty one monuments were hewn piece by piece from the rock
face. Then, some speculate around the year 1000AD, they fell in to
disuse. Dense jungle grew around, hiding the caves away from
human eyes.
They Ajanta caves lay undisturbed for hundreds of years. Then, in
April 1819, during the time of the British Raj, an officer with the
unassuming name of John Smith came rediscovered a doorway to one of the
temples. He had been hunting tiger – something of which many would
disapprove today but his next step was disrespectful in the
extreme. He vandalised one of the walls with his name and the
date, something which is still visible today.
One can only imagine what went through Smith's head when he made his
find. Such a rediscovery did not remain secret for very long.
Soon, European and Indian tourists were thronging to the site – after
extensive tidying up. After all, the caves had been home to bat,
birds and larger animals for hundreds of years. The Ajanti Caves
had been returned to the world of the living.
The nearest human habitation is Ajinṭhā, a tiny village a few miles away
from the caves. The sanctuaries, which are known as
chaytia-girhas date from the second century before Christ. They
were used primarily as prayer halls and are similar to an extent to the
contemporary Roman designs of arch and column. However, these
sanctuaries were carved from the immense rock face of the caves, with
chisels and, indeed, bare hands.
The first caves were hewn from the bare rock at the time of The
Sātavāhana Empire which started around 230BC. The Sātavāhanas
brought peace to India after several foreign invasions and the decline
of the previous, Mauryan Empire. It is not without irony, then,
that they were rediscovered by a contemporary invader and representative
of a foreign empire.
Although there is widespread debate about the time at which the second
period of building took place most now agree that it was probably during
the reign of Harishena, from 460AD and over a period of around twenty
years. This architectural flowering saw the creation of twenty
temples which were used as monasteries.
There are paintings everywhere – literally. Every surface apart
from the floor is festooned with narrative paintings. Time has
taken a serious toll on these marvelous works with many parts simply
just fragments of what they were when first created. The stories
are almost wholly devoted to Jātakas – tales of the Buddha’s previous
lives. These 547 poems were painstakingly and lovingly painted on
to the walls by devotees.
They were created using an ancient method. The surface was
chiseled so it was rough and could hold plaster which was then spread
across the surface. Then the master painter would, while the
plaster was still wet, commence his work. The colors soaked in to
the plaster and so became a part of the surface. Although this
meant that it would not peel off as easily, perhaps not even the
painters foresaw the temples persevering for over two thousand years.
No one knows for sure when and why the caves were abandoned – whether it
was a gradual desertion of some event of political and social magnitude
took place which precipitated the neglect and final vacation of the
site.
Yet for hundreds of years the place remained forsaken, to be rediscovered that fateful day in 1819 by John Smith.
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