The Ajanta Caves
An introduction and brief history
Overlooking a narrow gorge of the River Waghora in Aurangabad district of the western Indian state of Maharashtra lies the Buddhist monastic complex known as the Ajanta Caves. The complex consists of thirty caves cut into the living rock of the almost vertical escarpment that overlooks and follows the horseshoe curve of the river at that point. Five of the thirty caves are chaityas or halls for worship and meditation; the remaining are viharas or residence halls for the monks. Each cave was once connected to the river by stairs cut into the cliffside. Many of the caves are richly carved; some are covered with paintings which still miraculously survive, though in a severely degraded state. The surrounding hills are covered with dry, deciduous forest, which enhances the quiet and seclusion of this remarkable complex.
The earliest of the caves are more than two thousand years old, dating back to 100 BCE or earlier; all the remaining caves, without exception, were excavated during the fifth century CE, during the reign of the Vakataka emperor, Harisena (c. 462-477 CE).
Views of the cave complex and the Waghora river gorge.
For ease of reference, archaeologists have numbered the caves 1 to 30 in serial order (the numbering does not reflect their chronology), and we shall refer to them in the same way. A few more caves were discovered later; these caves were given a number suffixed with a letter of the alphabet, for example Cave 15A, which was found between Caves 15 and 16.
VIHARA
A vihara, or monastic residence, usually consisted of cells arranged in a square around a large central space. The roof was usually flat, sometimes supported by rows of pillars and plastered and elaborately painted. There was often a sanctuary at the end with an image of the Buddha.
Cave 4 is the largest vihara in Ajanta. The cave was excavated in the early 460s. It was never finished, as is evident from its rough, unfinished roof. At the far end of the cave is the sanctuary, in which rests an enormous statue of the Buddha. Behind the pillars that support the roof runs a corridor connecting the cells meant for the monks. These are not visible in the photograph. An inscription in the cave states that it was the religious donation of Mathura, son of Abhayanandin and Skandhavasu of the Karvateya gotra.
CHAITYA
The chaitya, or halls for collective worship, are quite different. They are long, rectangular halls with an apsidal end and a vaulted roof, carved to emulate the timbered ceilings of the period. There is a shrine in the form of a stupa in the apse, and the central space is usually surrounded by a continuous aisle which makes possible the circumambulation of the shrine. A chaitya can be recognised by its facade which often included a horseshoe-shaped window.
Caves 19 and 26 are both magnificent examples of chaityas.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AJANTA CAVES
The history of the Ajanta caves is closely related to the growth and spread of Buddhism in India.
Buddhism arose as a faith in the sixth century BCE, in the area of the Middle Ganges in eastern India. It was here, particularly in the kingdom of Magadha, that the Buddha first preached and taught his four noble truths, and established his Sangha or community of monks and lay followers. After the Buddha’s death (c. 543 BCE), his teachings were consolidated and continued to be disseminated by the monks with royal patronage and support. But the new faith truly came into its own a few centuries later, under the Mauryan dynasty, particularly Ashoka, emperor of Magadha from c.268 BCE until his death in 232 BCE. Under his patronage, Buddhism spread all across the Indian subcontinent and as far south as Sri Lanka.
The Mauryan dynasty came to a sudden end in 185 BCE, when the last Mauryan king was assassinated by his commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Shunga, who established himself as emperor of Magadha and ruled a large and expanding empire till his death in 149 BCE. Pushyamitra and his succesors were openly opposed to Buddhism. Shunga rule also saw the rise of monotheistic Vaishnavite sects in the region, which further challenged the teachings of the Buddha. However, Buddhism found refuge and continued to flourish in Sri Lanka and in the north-west of the subcontinent under Indo-Greek rulers such as Menander.
The Pahlavas and Shakas (100 BCE-75 CE) succeeded the Indo-Greeks in the north-west and soon took control of the western coast of India as well; like the Indo-Greeks, they too supported Buddhism. Under the patronage of the western Shaka Satraps the first examples of Buddhist rock-cut architecture appeared in the hills of the Western Ghats. These include the earlier of the rock-cut caves of Ajanta, as well as the caves at Kurla, Junnar and Nashik. By the end of the 2nd century CE, some six hundred rock-cut shrines and viharas had been constructed in western India (Spink, 1992).
The early caves
The earliest of the Ajanta caves are the vihara caves 8, 12, 13 and 15A, and the chaitya caves 9 and 10. These were excavated from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE, a period coinciding with Satavahana rule, by Hinayana or Theravadin followers of Buddhism.
Inscriptions in these caves indicate that they were paid for by local Buddhists or wealthy travellers “eager to acquire religious merit as well as praise from contemporaries” (Spink, 1992).
For instance, an inscription (Cohen, 2006; p. 295) incised on the entrance arch of Cave 10 states in three lines:
vasithiputas kata
hadino gharamukha
danamThe gharamukha (fronting arch of the facade) is the gift of Vasisthiputa Katahadi.
The inscription is in Prakrit (Burgess and Pandit, 1881, p.67), in a Mauryan script that dates back to the first half of the second century BCE (Burgess, 1883; p.45).
Another inscription (Cohen, 2006; pps.296-97) in Cave 10 states in a single line:
kanhakasa bahadasa danam bhiti
The wall is a gift of Kanhaka of Bahada
In the centuries following the excavation of these early caves, Hindu rulers took over the surrounding lands. Under their rule, patronage for Buddhism ceased, and with it, at least for the time being, the excavation of more Buddhist caves in the region. The Chinese pilgrim Faxian, who travelled through the region around 400 CE, states that though the caves were still being used by Buddhist monks at the time, Buddhism was no longer practised in the surounding villages (Spink, 1992).
The Vakataka caves
Excavations in Ajanta resumed in the latter half of the 5th century CE, during the reign of Harisena, the greatest of the Vakataka rulers of the Deccan. Harisena succeeded his father Devasena in 462 CE, inheriting an already large empire which he further extended through conquest. At the time of his death, in 477 CE, the Vakataka empire extended across all of central India “from the eastern to the western sea” (Spink, 1992). Under his patronage, Ajanta came back to life. The traditional view is the excavations, carving and painting of these later caves continued over a period of two centuries. But art historian Walter Spink, known for his pathbreaking work on Ajanta, argues that “this great later phase of work at Ajanta represents a sudden burgeoning of pious activity under the sponsorship of Harisena and the elite of his empire during a period of scarcely more than a decade and a half (c. 462-77).” (Spink, 1991).
One of the most beautiful of the caves of this period is Cave 26. A large and elaborately carved chaitya, work on its excavation began sometime during the early years of Harisena’s reign. An inscription over the right side door of the cave states that Bhikshu Buddhabhadra, in honour of his friend Bhaviraja, who had been a “minister of the magnanimous king Asmaka”, and in honour of his father and mother, had this temple built to the Buddha (Burgess and Pandit, 1881; pp. 78-79). The Asmaka kings were feudatories of the Vakatakas, and ruled the territory that lay just south of the Ajanta region.
Cave 26: Bhikshu Buddhabhadra’s chaityagriha.
Decline and obscurity
Despite their sponsorship of the Ajanta caves, by c.468 CE the relationship between the Asmakas and the local ruler of the Ajanta region (ancient Rishika) had begun to sour. In 471 CE, the excavations at Ajanta came to a sudden halt. This, says Spink (1991) was due to the outbreak of war between the Asmakas and Upendragupta, the king of Rishika. By 475 CE, the Asmakas had gained control of the region and work began again on cave 26 and its associated and adjoining viharas. Though the caves of the local king were left unfinished or abandoned, Ajanta regained its earlier vigour.
But in 477 CE, Harisena died — as Spink says, “very suddenly”. In the year after the emperor’s unexpected death, continues Spink, “the majority of the patrons at the site, as if in a state of shock, abandoned their overall excavation programs, rushing their images to completion in order to make such merit as they could.” Only Buddhabhadra, “with his close connections to the Asmaka court, was able to continue his cave in a more or less normal way.” (Spink, 1991). By 478 CE, all work by the original patrons of the site had stopped completely.
The next two years saw “frenzied and helter-skelter activity” at the site as all those who could added “intrusive images” in or upon or around the original, abandoned caves (Spink, 1991).
By 480 CE, even this vestigial activity came to an end. Harisena’s son and successor was overthrown by the warlike Asmakas, who took over the region completely. Under their rule, the great and glorious Vakataka empire soon disintegrated. With its end came the end of Ajanta — the once glorious cave complex was abandoned and, in time, forgotten.
REDISCOVERY
For the next thirteen centuries, the Ajanta caves remained hidden in the forest that soon took over. They were ‘found’ again in 1819 by a young British officer belonging to the 28th Cavalry. Local lore relates how the officer, called John Smith, while hunting tigers in the region, was shown the caves by a shepherd boy who led him to the entrance of Cave 10. Smith, realising that he had made a momentous discovery, scratched his name and the date on a mural of a Bodhisattva in the cave. He damaged the mural irretrievably — but, more importantly for him, ensured that he would forever be remembered as the one who ‘discovered’ these caves!
There was soon a flurry of interest around the caves, which attracted interest from around the world not only for their architecture and spectacular location, but also for the remarkable murals and sculptures within. Several efforts were made to ensure the preservation of this extraordinary site. At the time, the caves fell in the territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who made well-intentioned attempts to restore the paintings and showcase the caves. Unfortunately, these efforts ultimately resulted in their further deterioration and damage.
Today the caves are under the care of the Archeological Survey of India and have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are also a popular tourist destination —which unfortunately and inevitably is causing further deterioration of the site. Though regulations to control this deterioration — such as limiting the number of visitors in a cave at any one point in time, requesting that shoes not be worn inside a cave, prohibiting flash photography and the use of electric torches and phone torches to view the paintings — are in place, they are not followed or enforced at all. Rather, even the official ASI guides and cave attendants openly flout the regulations. If this disregard for the site continues, it won’t be long before we lose this remarkable site.
MURALS FROM THE CAVES
Left: The figure of Bodhisattva Padmapani, from a panel in Cave 1, is perhaps the most famous and best-known of the Ajanta paintings. I could not imagine that one day I would actually see this incredible representation of the Bodhisattva with my own eyes.
Right: An apsara, flying through the air to worship the Buddha; Cave 17. This delicate and detailed painting is one of my favourites. In its present, highly damaged state, it is not immediately or easily visible. I walked up and down the caves till I found it — despite the humid heat, it was worth the trek. Notice how her hair ornament and necklace are swaying in the wind as she flies through the air.
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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
Burgess, JAS. “Ajanta Caves: The Earlier Caves” in Report on the Buddhist Cave Temples and Their Inscriptions. Archaeological Survey of Western India, 1883. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35775/page/n193
Burgess, JAS, and Pandit, Bhagwanlal Indraji. “Inscriptions in the Ajanta Caves.” Inscriptions From the Cave Temples of Western India with Descriptive Notes, &c. Archaeological Survey of Western India, 1881. https://archive.org/details/inscriptionsfro00indrgoog/page/n147/mode/2up
Cohen, Richard S. “Ajanta’s Inscriptions” in Ajanta: History and Development, Volume 2 Arguments about Ajanta by Walter M. Spink, 2006. pp. 273–339
Huxley, Julian. “The rock-cut temples of India preceded stone buildings.” The Architectural Review, 9 September 1956. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-rock-cut-temples-in-india-preceded-stone-building
Lamotte, Etienne, Sara Webb-Boin, and Jean Dantinne. History of Indian Buddhism : From the Origins to the Śaka Era. Louvain-la-Neuve: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste, 1988.
Spink, Walter M. “The Archaeology of Ajaṇṭā.” Ars Orientalis 21 (1991): 67–94. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4629414.
Spink, Walter M. “The Caves at AJANTA.” Archaeology 45, no. 6 (1992): 52–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41766316.
Having recently visited the Ajanta ( or Ajintha ) caves I found your article putting a lot of the turbulent history in place for me with great clarity. Thank you for this.
Hi Rohini, I enjoyed reading your article. It brought back memories of my visit there a few years ago. I hope you write your next piece on Ellora, which I also visited. Interesting to know the interplay of art, history and religion!