Ajanta: An overview - Revision history

Jyoti: /* Caves 9 and 10 ‘rediscovered’ */

2022-09-15T07:39:33Z

‎Caves 9 and 10 ‘rediscovered’

Pdewan: /* GRAFFITI HAD COVERED PAINTINGS */

2017-02-12T19:57:53Z

‎GRAFFITI HAD COVERED PAINTINGS

Pdewan at 12:51, 7 November 2014

2014-11-07T12:51:23Z

Pdewan: /* An Introduction to Ajanta */

2014-07-29T20:04:14Z

‎An Introduction to Ajanta

Pdewan at 20:03, 29 July 2014

2014-07-29T20:03:03Z

Pdewan at 19:59, 29 July 2014

2014-07-29T19:59:41Z

Pdewan at 19:53, 29 July 2014

2014-07-29T19:53:28Z

Pdewan: /* BODHISATTVA KING IN A MOUNTAINEOUS LANDSCAPE */

2014-07-29T19:47:04Z

‎BODHISATTVA KING IN A MOUNTAINEOUS LANDSCAPE

Pdewan: /* Cave 26 Complex and Lower Wings */

2014-07-29T19:45:42Z

‎Cave 26 Complex and Lower Wings

Pdewan: /* Cave 1 */

2014-07-29T19:43:34Z

‎Cave 1

Show changes

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 Because, he says, that's just what they are. Despite extensive damage, the paintings in this bunch are more realistic and robust representations of ordinary people than the more stylized forms of Bodhisattvas in the latter period of Ajanta cave paintings. They date, as far as can be estimated, to 70-90 BCE (Before Common Era).
 ===GRAFFITI HAD COVERED PAINTINGS===
 The Ajanta caves were first discovered in the summer of 1819 by a British hunting party, after which many groups of scholars made their way to the remote jungles of Aurangabad in the Western Ghats to look at these 31 caves. The murals at Ajanta are believed to have been made in two distinct phases; most of the work from the second phase of construction at the height of the Gupta dynasty (such as those in caves one and two), were relatively well-preserved and became famous quickly. The earlier picture cycles, found for example in caves nine and ten, were smoke-blackened, fragmented and largely ignored by almost everybody but vandals.These ancient paintings, two millennia old, were found scribbled over by ugly graffiti.
 =See also=
 [[Ajanta: An overview]], detailed research on the Caves and the Art

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:57, 12 February 2017
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	===GRAFFITI HAD COVERED PAINTINGS===		===GRAFFITI HAD COVERED PAINTINGS===
	The Ajanta caves were first discovered in the summer of 1819 by a British hunting party, after which many groups of scholars made their way to the remote jungles of Aurangabad in the Western Ghats to look at these 31 caves. The murals at Ajanta are believed to have been made in two distinct phases; most of the work from the second phase of construction at the height of the Gupta dynasty (such as those in caves one and two), were relatively well-preserved and became famous quickly. The earlier picture cycles, found for example in caves nine and ten, were smoke-blackened, fragmented and largely ignored by almost everybody but vandals.These ancient paintings, two millennia old, were found scribbled over by ugly graffiti.		The Ajanta caves were first discovered in the summer of 1819 by a British hunting party, after which many groups of scholars made their way to the remote jungles of Aurangabad in the Western Ghats to look at these 31 caves. The murals at Ajanta are believed to have been made in two distinct phases; most of the work from the second phase of construction at the height of the Gupta dynasty (such as those in caves one and two), were relatively well-preserved and became famous quickly. The earlier picture cycles, found for example in caves nine and ten, were smoke-blackened, fragmented and largely ignored by almost everybody but vandals.These ancient paintings, two millennia old, were found scribbled over by ugly graffiti.
		+	=See also=
		+	[[Ajanta: An overview]], detailed research on the Caves and the Art
		+
		+	[[Ajanta Hills (or Inhyadri)]]
		+
		+	[[Ajanta Village]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:51, 7 November 2014
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	Ajanta presents the magnum opus of the Buddhist architectural tradition and presents a culmination of a continuous tradition from post Mauryan days in western and northern India. It magnificently amalgamates the designs and motifs of the north Indian structural temple tradition with the rock cut architectural traditions of western India. The artist-guilds working in various parts of the country seen to have visited and worked at Ajanta. These guilds eventually go back to their respective regions to germinate new lineages.		Ajanta presents the magnum opus of the Buddhist architectural tradition and presents a culmination of a continuous tradition from post Mauryan days in western and northern India. It magnificently amalgamates the designs and motifs of the north Indian structural temple tradition with the rock cut architectural traditions of western India. The artist-guilds working in various parts of the country seen to have visited and worked at Ajanta. These guilds eventually go back to their respective regions to germinate new lineages.
		+	=Caves 9 and 10 ‘rediscovered’=
		+	''' `Oldest Buddhist paintings found in Ajanta' '''
		+
		+	Shrabonti Bagchi [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=Oldest-Buddhist-paintings-found-in-Ajanta-07112014017017 The Times of India ] Nov 07 2014
		+
		+	In March 2014, historian and writer William Dalrymple, the author of such es teemed and popular works of historical non-fic tion as White Mughals, The Last Mughal, and City of Djinns, visited the famed Ajanta caves with his wife. They wandered into two lesser-known caves in the 31-cave complex numbers 9 and 10. [??? But ''many '' scholars have written about these caves. Indpaedia had posted Dr Walter M. Spink’s article in Dec 2013]
		+
		+	“I saw these extraordinary but unfamiliar paintings. I couldn't recall having seen their photographs anywhere, in any books on Ajanta,“ recalled Dalrymple during a talk organized by the Tasveer Foundation. “Although badly damaged, I could make out that these paintings were in a different style from the better known Ajanta paintings -more realistic and humanistic.“
		+
		+	It turned out that these murals were from an earlier epoch altogether: at least 600 years older than the more famous ones. To put that in perspective, Dalrymple added, “That is about the same time difference that exists between the monuments of Lodhi Gardens in Delhi and the skyscrapers of Gurgaon.“
		+
		+	What happened to these murals? Why is there so little record of them? Dalrymple set out to understand that, and his search led him to discover this vast treasury of paintings, which he says can arguably be called “the oldest Buddhist paintings anywhere in the world.“ According to his research, these two caves and their murals fell into obscurity largely because in the 1930s, the Nizam of Hydera bad sent a team of Italian restorers to make them ship-shape, and they , in all their wisdom, covered them with shellac, which attracted bat dung and other kinds of debris till everyone gave them up for lost.
		+
		+	Interestingly, Dalrymple also found that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) had re-discovered these paintings about a decade ago, and had been diligently at work restoring them with some accuracy led by a passionate restorer called Manager Singh but, in Dalrymple's words, “had not told a soul about this work!“ “When the Vatican restored the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, they invited the world's media to come take a look; there were frontpage photographs in all the leading newspapers.But the ASI kept completely quiet about finding the oldest representations of Indians anywhere.“
		+
		+	Because, he says, that's just what they are. Despite extensive damage, the paintings in this bunch are more realistic and robust representations of ordinary people than the more stylized forms of Bodhisattvas in the latter period of Ajanta cave paintings. They date, as far as can be estimated, to 70-90 BCE (Before Common Era).
		+	===GRAFFITI HAD COVERED PAINTINGS===
		+	The Ajanta caves were first discovered in the summer of 1819 by a British hunting party, after which many groups of scholars made their way to the remote jungles of Aurangabad in the Western Ghats to look at these 31 caves. The murals at Ajanta are believed to have been made in two distinct phases; most of the work from the second phase of construction at the height of the Gupta dynasty (such as those in caves one and two), were relatively well-preserved and became famous quickly. The earlier picture cycles, found for example in caves nine and ten, were smoke-blackened, fragmented and largely ignored by almost everybody but vandals.These ancient paintings, two millennia old, were found scribbled over by ugly graffiti.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 =An Introduction to Ajanta=
-Walter M. Spink
+By '''Walter M. Spink'''
 Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[File: Princess and Maid.jpg| Princess and Maid |frame|500px]]
-[[File: Ajanta untitled.jpg| |frame|500px]]
+[[File: Ajanta untitled1.jpg| |frame|500px]]
 [[File: Ajanta untitled2.jpg| |frame|500px]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:59, 29 July 2014
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		+	[[File: Princess and Maid.jpg\| Princess and Maid \|frame\|500px]]
		+	[[File: Ajanta untitled.jpg\| \|frame\|500px]]
		+	[[File: Ajanta untitled2.jpg\| \|frame\|500px]]
		+
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 |-
 |colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%">
-This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.<br/>You can help by converting these articles into an encyclopaedia-style entry,<br />deleting portions of the kind nor mally not used in encyclopaedia entries.<br/>Please also fill in missing details; put categories, headings and sub-headings;<br/>and combine this with other articles on exactly the same subject.<br/>
+This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.<br/></div>
-−
-Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly <br/>  on their online archival encyclopædia only after its formal launch.
-−
-See [[examples]] and a tutorial.</div>
 |}

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 Hall > rear wall > right of shrine-antechamber.
-==BODHISATTVA KING IN A MOUNTAINEOUS LANDSCAPE==
+==BODHISATTVA KING==
 Detail of Bodhisattva King's bust. Figure on the left is possibly a vassal king.
@@ Line 345: / Line 346: @@
 Ironically, it was only this abandonment-this ceding of the site to "the chirping of the birds and the chattering of the monkeys"(Ajanta Cave 26 inscription, verse 18)-that was responsible for its remarkable preservation.22 (fig.46) A few Sadhus, known from trident symbols that they left, lived at the site in later centuries, but otherwise it was waiting, with some concern, for that fateful day in 1819 when its rediscovery would begin.
-−
 ==ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER I==

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 The courtyard of this caityag¤ha saw extensions on the left and right with side chapels.
 The left walls of the right wing-chapel contains two carved panels representing the Litany Scene of Avalokite¿vara the right portion contains a cistern.
 The most significant innovation noticed in this cave, along with Cave 19, is the wealth of sculptural decoration, which covers every possible space, both in the exterior facade as well as in the interior.
 There are two significant inscriptions here. One on the right wall of the veranda, above the side-door, recording the gift of the temple of Sugata (Buddha) by the monk Buddhabhadra, a friend of Bhavv¢raja who was a minister of the king of A¿maka. Another is on the right wall of the courtyard's left-wing chapel that is attributed to the Ra¿jrak£jas.
+==Upper Left Wing (Cave 27)==
-−
-−
-''' Upper Left Wing (Cave 27) '''
-−
 Cave 27 is a "mahayana" vihara of late fifth century AD. It served as the Upper Left Wing of Cave 26 Complex. This cave is inaccessible.
+==Cave 28 ==
-−
-−
-''' Cave 28 '''
-−
 Cave 28 was going to be a "mahayana" vihara excavated in late fifth century AD. It is situated beyond Cave 27. Its pillars and veranda had somewhat been carved before abandoning. There are six roughly hewn pillars and two pilasters. This cave is inaccessible.
+==Cave 29 ==
-−
-−
-''' Cave 29 '''
-−
 Cave 29 was going to be a "Mahayana" caitya of late fifth century AD. It is located high up on the scarp between Caves 21 and 22. Only initial excavation of the great arch window and other portions have been carried out. This cave is inaccessible.