[BITList] THE AJANTA CAVES

Sat Aug 10 12:56:10 BST 2013

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 1000 AD, they fell in to 
disuse.  Dense jungle grew around, hiding the caves away from human eyes.*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamdavidlowry/4570596828/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamdavidlowry/4570596828/>
Image Credit Flickr User David S Lowry 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamdavidlowry/4570596828/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/452434892/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/452434892/>
Image Credit Flickr User danchitnis 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/452434892/>

The 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 tigers - something of which many would 
disapprove today but his next step wasdisrespectful in the extreme.  He 
vandalized one of the walls with his name and the date, something which 
is still visible today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/463320296/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/463320296/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qiv/3452191893/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/qiv/3452191893/>
Image Credit Flickr User qiv <http://www.flickr.com/photos/qiv/3452191893/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/449285260/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/449285260/>
Image Credit Flickr User danchitnis 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/449285260/>
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.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/454252333/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/454252333/>
Image Credit Flickr User danchitnis 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/454252333/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/453060351/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/453060351/>
Image Credit Flickr User danchitnis 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/453060351/>
The nearest human habitation is Ajin?ha, 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.
Image Credit Flickr User danchitnis 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/danchitnis/463320296/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agaylon/1667772898/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/agaylon/1667772898/>
Image Credit Flickr User Karmalize 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/agaylon/1667772898/>
The first caves were hewn from the bare rock at the time of The 
Satavahana Empire which started around 230BC.  The Satavahanas 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.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4465776134/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4465776134/>
Image Credit Flickr User srlasky 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4465776134/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4465779066/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4465779066/>
Image Credit Flickr User slrasky 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4465779066/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4397945681/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4397945681/>
Image Credit Flickr User srlasky 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/srlasky/4397945681/>
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.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redlinx/4242672275/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/redlinx/4242672275/>
Image Credit Flickr User kun0me 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/redlinx/4242672275/>
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indischer_Maler_um_600_001.jpg 
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indischer_Maler_um_600_001.jpg>
Image Credit Wikimedia 
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indischer_Maler_um_600_001.jpg>
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indischer_Maler_des_6._Jahrhunderts_001-2.jpg 
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indischer_Maler_des_6._Jahrhunderts_001-2.jpg>
Image Credit Wikimedia 
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indischer_Maler_des_6._Jahrhunderts_001-2.jpg>
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 Jatakas - tales of the Buddha's previous lives. These 
547 poems were painstakingly and lovingly
painted on to the walls by devotees.
Image Credit Flickr User kun0me 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/redlinx/4243433392/>
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.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nozomiiqel/3408584098/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/nozomiiqel/3408584098/>
Image Credit Flickr User nozomiiquel 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/nozomiiqel/3408584098/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nozomiiqel/3406097891/ 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/nozomiiqel/3406097891/>
Image Credit Flickr User nozmiiquel 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/nozomiiqel/3406097891/>
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.
Image Credit Flickr User tvangoethem 
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/tvangoethem/411009766/>
Yet for hundreds of years the place remained forsaken, to be 
rediscovered that fateful day in 1819 by John Smith.
*AMAZING, ISN'T IT?!!!*

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