Ajanta Caves (English)

The Ajanta Caves

It was the year 1819; the Sun was shining bright in the sky and a group of young British officers are walking through the forest on a hunt. They are joking and talking when one of them spots a tiger and the chase begins. The officers give chase. Their feet are pounding the ground and the tiger runs down a valley.

The British officers reach the bottom of the valley and find themselves confronted by rich vegetation. The valley is like paradise… there are monkeys swinging from the branches… birds singing… the rushing flow of the river. The officers are struck by the peace and beauty of the valley and investigate further.

Across a valley, they saw a line of rock ridged with watercourses and protected by a lush green cover. Their curiosity was aroused and they ventured to investigate. Little did they know that behind an innocent curtain of wild foliage lay a treasure beyond their wildest imagination.

These are the Ajanta caves, paying tribute to a glorious past and the invincible spirit of man. They are some of the finest examples of rock-cut temples in the world and, indeed, a pioneering endeavour in the whole of Asia.

The History
The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta, located in Maharashtra, were built from 200BC to 600AD almost 300 years after the death of The Buddha, when the reverence of its followers had reached its peak. These caves and their sculptures were developed over 800 years. For almost 1200 years then, they were abandoned and forgotten. Interestingly, its isolation contributed to its excellent preservation in which some of the remarkable paintings remain to this day.

Though initially conceptualized to house the monks, these caves eventually developed as a part of a highly sophisticated, graphically rich culture that evolved for over a thousand years.

Moving through the caves, one can actually experience the time warp and the evolution of story telling through the visual medium. Ajanta is a three-dimensional canvas, capturing the changing forms of art, culture, architecture, attires, jewelry, fashion, culinary rituals painted in the most earthen Indian colours.

About This Film
This documentary takes us back in time. We feel the peace and tranquility of the ancient monastery while we see breath taking images of painting and sculpture. Most of the caves are now closed to photography and the images you see here are rare. The film explores the historical, technological and ecstatic value of the caves and their sculptures and paintings.

The Ajanta Caves are listed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

Even before his birth, wise men had predicted that Suddhodhana’s son was destined for greatness. He would either grow up to become a mighty king--- or a holy man of wisdom, revered by the world. The King remained painfully conscious of this prediction. He was determined that Siddhartha should become a great king, and not a religious leader. So he shielded him from religious teachings, and protected him from the knowledge of human suffering.

Buddhism spread and blossomed even during the Buddha’s lifetime. His teachings about the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path were practical pointers to a righteous spiritual life, attracting people to the new faith.

The Ajanta paintings became famous all over the world. They were often compared to other styles, but it soon became clear that they represented an indigenous style and a unique vision. The artist at Ajanta added extra dimensions to their work, so that a sense of touch was implied, and the volume of the painted figure could be conveyed to the viewer.

It is difficult for the contemporary connoisseur to assess the combination of difficulty and heightened creativity that must have simultaneously hindered and goaded these ancient artists while creating their legacies of faith. While time and the elements have permitted only a percentage of their talent to be displayed, and the available raw materials and comparatively unsophisticated state of the art restrict their range in many ways, the breadth of their imagination is undeniably on show, deliberately and painstakingly preserved to reach out through the centuries.

There are twenty-nine Buddhist caves here. They were excavated from the hard, volcanic rock of the Sahyadri Mountains, to one side of a U-shaped ravine, above the Waghora River. The architects of these projects were so proficient that some of the caves they excavated reach almost a hundred feet into the rock.

Despite the uniqueness of material and location, builders of cave wonders such as the Ajanta surprisingly stuck to the rules of normal architectural practices. They generally conformed to conventional methods of building facades and interiors, so it would probably be inappropriate to classify them under a separate category.

Even though the mural found in the Ajanta caves are renowned, and attract visitors and connoisseurs from all over the world, the sculptures within the caves do not pale in comparison. They have their own status in the world of art, and are recognised and commended for their uniqueness and beauty. In fact, they are very much a part of the core concept of the caves themselves, and the architectural ingenuity of the artists who created them.

Among the oldest story-telling traditions, we find the Jataka tales, which were told by Buddhists to inspire people with moral values. The Jataka tales go back to the 3rd century B.C. Because of the limited literacy of the times, travelling storytellers known as Jataka bhanakas were selected and given the task of reaching the stories to every corner of the land and beyond. The Jataka Tales carried strong and inspiring messages of kindness, compassion, generosity, non-violence, self-sacrifice, charity and the need to abjure greed. The Jataka stories explain the concepts of karma and rebirth, and teach moral values.

Though the Jataka Tales are more than two thousand years old, they carry a message for us even today. This is the reason for their popularity, especially as stories for children. Their interesting stories and moral teachings are a positive source of inspiration for the young people of today.