Ajanta Ellora CavesAttractions
Ajanta Caves - are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BC to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as “the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting”, which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period between 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghora (or Wagura), and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.
The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; indeed other survivals from the area of modern India are very few indeed, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is a highly local one, found only at a couple of nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.
Like other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta was a kind of college monastery, with a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably attached to specific caves for living. The layout of the site reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected via the exterior. The 7th-century travelling scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dinnaga, the celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived there in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement must have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have used Ajanta as a base to return to during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle. The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.
Ellora Caves - It is believed that the structures were carved between 350 AD to 700 AD and these are built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty, Well known for its monumental caves. There are 34 temples in total carved out of stone, which can be divided into three eras - Buddhist, Hindu and Jain. Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 “caves” – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history. It is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Hindu caves are a bit different from the Jain and Buddhist temples in creative vision and execution skills. Cave number 14 is a Shiva temple, depicting Him as a destroyer. The grand sculpture of Ravana attempting to lift mount Kailasa, the abode of Siva, with his full might is a landmark in Indian art.
The Kailasnath temple, which is in the 16th cave, is known for its audacious feats in architecture. It is said that nearly 200,000 tonnes of rock had been removed in carving out this temple taking nearly 100 years. Its area is twice the area of the Parthenon in Athens and is 11/2 times higher. Mural paintings are found in 5 caves at Ellora.
At Ellora, one can also have a glimpse of the channels (near Cave 32) through which the volcanic lava once flowed. These channels, due to overheating, have a characteristic brownish red colour.