THE AJANTA CAVES

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THE AJANTA CAVES
INDIA
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Little more than two hours from the old city of
Aurangabad are the famous Caves of Ajanta,
Thirty-two grottos that are not natural but had
been cut in hills for thousands of years by
workers who had only used cinzéis and hammers.
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General view of the place
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The oldest cave traces to the second century
before Christ. Some of them are Viharas
(convents) or monasteries, great chambers with
small rooms that lead off the main room and it
was where they lived as monks. Some of these
rooms have beds of cut rock, with a cushion in
which monks could rest their heads.
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Plate in the entrance of the caves
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The caves of Ajanta
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One of the entrances of the caves
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It is surprising to think that the great masters
who had created these wonders used only small
tools of work. Still they had thus bequeathed us
something universal and magical that we can
contemplate today. The centuries seem like small
water drops in the Walls of these caves.
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One of the entrances
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Two elephants in one of the doors
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Rio Vaghora
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Sculptured in the volcanic basalt rock, the
craftsmen had been meticulously cinzelando the
rock little by little, cutting the columns in
strategic places and creating some rooms inside
of the rock. The walls and ceilings had been
wonderfully decorated and had created colorful
paintings with plaster applications .
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32 caves are excavated in the rock
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Some caves are monasteries
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• In the central section (where a Christian
  church would have its altar) might be a great
  statue of Buddha. Remember that these temples of
  rock had been cut many centuries before the
  Christian cathedrals, which can lead us to
  speculate whether they had been the inspiration
  for the great architects of the Medieval Age, and
  not the Greek and Roman classic temples.

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A great reclined Buddha
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Interior
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• Sculptured in the volcanic basalt rock, the
  craftsmen had been meticulously cinzelando the
  rock little by little, cutting the columns in
  strategic places and creating some rooms inside
  of the rock.

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The remaining portion of the caves are Chaityas
or temples, very similar to Christian cathedrals,
with ceilings abobodados with cross-ribbed
wooden beams, and with decorated pillars of
rocks.
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A Hindu family admires the work of its ancestor
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The majority of paintings are more than 1500
years old. Ten centuries before the birth of
Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the European
Renaissance, these unknown artists already knew
how to use perspective, depth and realism in
their paintings. The expressions and emotions
captured in the faces of the painting are so real
that today, after some centuries, they can still
be admired.
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frescos in the walls
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• The walls and ceilings had been wonderfully
  decorated and had created colorful paintings with
  plaster applications.

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well conserved wall
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Guard who takes care of of the entrance
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