Skillful Command Of The Hammer Over The Chisel

It is aptly said that “life is architecture & architecture is the mirror of life.” depicting the nomadic life are the Ajanta Caves.

Magnanimous & beautiful, the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra are breathtaking & illustrate the history in a visually enticing manner. Located merely 55 kms from Jalgaon city & 105 kms from Aurangabad these are prominently known as the world’s greatest historical monuments. Discovered in AD 1819 these caves are dated back to the 2^nd Century BC. These 30 rock-cut cave monuments boast of never seen before architecture. Out of the 30 caves in Ajanta 9, 10, 19, 26 and 29 are Chaitya-Grihas (in modern texts on Indian architecture, the term chaitya-griha is often used to denote an assembly or prayer hall that houses a stupa)and the rest are monasteries. Depicting the Jakarta tales these caves include paintings and sculptures that are considered to be masterpieces of Buddhist religious art. All the rock-cut caves have paintings on the verandahs, inner walls and ceilings, revealing some of the most beautiful masterpieces of world art.

There are also symbolic Buddhist mounds called Stupas, and cells for monks called Viharas. There are giant sculptures of Buddha's, Bodhisattvas (potential Buddha's), or Taras (female Buddhist divinities), as also Dwarapalas (doorkeepers).

All the paintings show heavy religious influence and are centric to the live of Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and Jatakas. The paintings are executed on a ground of mud-plaster in the tempera technique.