Earth and Space News: Ajanta Caves Buddhist wall paintings

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Friday, January 18, 2019

Ancient Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings and Inscriptions in Ajanta Cave 10

Summary: The most ancient Ajanta cave wall paintings and Ajanta cave pillar and wall inscriptions occur in the most ancient excavation, Ajanta cave 10.

interior of Ajanta chaitya Cave 10; ; drawn on stone by English watercolourist T.C. (Thomas Colman) Dibdin (Oct. 22, 1810-Dec. 26, 1893) from sketch by Scottish architectural historian James Fergusson (Jan. 22, 1808-Jan. 9, 1886); J. Fergusson's Illustrations of the Rock-Cut Temples of India (1845), Plate III: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Perhaps the most accurate, the most ailing ancient Ajanta cave wall paintings appear in the two center-most, oldest cliffside excavations, Ajanta cave 9 and Ajanta cave 10, of the 30 Ajanta Caves.

Reminiscences, studies and traditions broker earliest Ajanta dates of the third or second century B.C., under Maurya (321-185 B.C.) and Satavahana (271 B.C.?-225 A.D.?) imperial patronage. Walter M. Spink, University of Michigan Professor Emeritus in the History of Art at Ann Arbor since 2000, considers Ajanta cave 10 older than cave 9. He discerns the 100.06- by 40.03-foot (30.5- by 12.2-meter) Ajanta cave 10 as roomier, simpler than the 59.84- by 26.38-foot (18.24- by 8.04-meter) Ajanta cave 9.

The eldest enumerations in the 30-cave complex in the horseshoe-shaped glen 249.34 feet (76 meters) above the horseshoe-bending Waghora River express physical location, not excavation date.

A fetching arched façade in front of ground-out steps fashioned from the near-vertical cliffs of the Sahyadri hills glen focuses viewer attention on Ajanta cave 10.

Ajanta cave 10, as one of two less and three more recent chaitya (from Sanskrit चैत्य, "funeral mound, pedestal, pile"), gathers architectural, painted and sculpted artistry. The 2,200-plus-year-old prayer hall harbors the most ancient artistic printing 7.46 miles (12 kilometers) from the Ajanta Caves' namesake village in central-north Maharashtra state, central-west India. It includes the Ajanta Caves' most ancient inscriptions in exterior and interior wall indications that identify their respective patrons in the 2,300-plus-year-old Brahmi script of Sanskrit.

Ajanta cave 10 juxtaposes the patronage judgments that "The façade is the gift of Vasisthiputra Katahadi" and "The wall is the gift of Kanhaka of Bahada."

The sculpted architectural plan of the basilica-like Ajanta cave 10 knows one central, long, nave-like, vaulted entry hall with pillared side aisles and a terminal apse.

Ajanta cave wall paintings led ancient artisans, merchants, monks and patrons along the u-like side lanes to the last of the Ajanta cave 10 sculpted pillars. Another most ancient inscription marks the nearest pillar to the Ajanta cave 10 apse (from Greek ἁψίς, hapsís, "arch") with the Ajanta Caves' most ancient graffiti. Its almost 200-year-old knife-carved notation names John K. Smith, 28th Cavalry Captain for the Madras presidency, the Ajanta Caves' first known European rediscoverer April 28, 1819.

Age, disrepair, geology, mistreatment, traffic, vandalism and weather obscure the Ajanta cave wall paintings in Ajanta cave 10 other than on the left and right walls.

The left wall presents king and retinue the bodhi (Ficus religiosa) tree and relic-preserving stupa (from Sanskrit स्तूप, "dome") of Buddha's (from Sanskrit बुद्ध, "awakened") enlightenment.

The right wall queues up Buddha, historically Siddhartha Gautama (624?-544 B.C.), in bodhisattva (from Sanskrit बोधि, "perfect knowledge" and सत्त्व, "essence") quests as Chaddanta and Sāma. Red-faced, red-footed, white-bodied Chaddanta removed six tusks for Sonuttara to relay to the elephant king's consort, Queen Chullasubhadda, who resented her first husband's other consort, Mahasubhadda. The goddess Bahusodari, swayed by filial piety and royal repentance, saved Prince Suvanna Sāma from King Piliyakkha of Benares' poisoned arrow and stopped his parents' blindness.

Ajanta cave 10, oldest of the Ajanta Caves, teams the most ailing ancient Ajanta cave wall paintings and Ajanta's most ancient cave pillar and wall inscriptions.

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

interior of Ajanta chaitya Cave 10; drawn on stone by English watercolourist T.C. (Thomas Colman) Dibdin (Oct. 22, 1810-Dec. 26, 1893) from sketch by Scottish architectural historian James Fergusson (Jan. 22, 1808-Jan. 9, 1886); J. Fergusson's Illustrations of the Rock-Cut Temples of India (1845), Plate III: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008543106/page/n16

Ajanta Cave 10's Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script, translated as "the facade is the gift of Vasisthiputra Katahadi" by Walter Spink; Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, central-west India; Sunday, Sep. 11, 2016, 11:31: Ms Sarah Welch, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Brahmi_script_inscription_at_the_Ajanta_Caves.jpg

For further information:

"Ajanta Caves." UNESCO > Culture > World Heritage Centre > The List > World Heritage List.
Available @ http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242

"Ajanta Caves Vulnerable to Landslides, Says Study." NDTV > India > News > August 6, 2014 15:50 IST.
Available @ https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ajanta-caves-vulnerable-to-landslides-says-study-616005

Bankar, M.V.; and N.P. Bhosle. November-December 2017. "Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants in Ajanta Region (MS) India." IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences Volume 12, Issue 6 Ver. II: 59-64.
Available @ http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jpbs/papers/Vol12-issue6/Version-2/I1206025964.pdf

Barrett, Douglas E.; and Basil Gray. 1963. Painting of India. Geneva, Switzerland: Skira, Treasures of Asia. Distributed in the United States by World Publishing Co., Cleveland OH.

Behl, Benoy K. 2005. The Ajanta Caves: Ancient Paintings of Buddhist India. London UK: Thames & Hudson.

Boyd, Ryan. 14 December 2018. "Sacred Sites: Ajanta Caves." Evolve + Ascend > Ancient Wisdom > Culture > Occult > Sacred Sites.
Available @ http://www.evolveandascend.com/2018/12/14/sacred-sites-ajanta-caves/

Boyle, Alan. 25 November 2013. "Religious Roots of Buddha's Birthplace Traced Back 2,600 Years." NBC News > Science News.
Available @ https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/religious-roots-buddhas-birthplace-traced-back-2-600-years-2D11648772

Burgess, J. (James). 1879. "Notes on the Bauddha Rock-Temples of Ajanta, Their Paintings and Sculptures, and on the Paintings of the Bagh Caves, Modern Bauddha Mythology, &c." Archaeological Society of Western India, no. 9. Bombay, India: Government Central Press.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/archaeologicals01indigoog/

Dalrymple, William. 15 August 2014. "The Ajanta Cave Murals: 'Nothing Less Than the Birth of Indian Art.'" The Guardian > Culture > Art & Design.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/15/mural-ajanta-caves-india-birth-indian-art

Fergusson, James. 1845. Illustrations of the Rock-Cut Temples of India: Text to Accompany the Folio Volume of Plates. London, England.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008483717/

Fergusson, James. 1845. Illustrations of the Rock-Cut Temples of India: Selected From the Best Examples of the Different Series of Caves at Ellora, Ajunta, Cuttack, Salsette, Karli, and Mahavellipore. Drawn on Stone by Mr. T.C. Dibdin, From Sketches Carefully Made on the Spot, With the Assistance of the Camera-Lucida, in the Years 1838-9. London, England: John Weale, M.DCCC.XLV.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008543106/

Fergusson, James; and Robert Gill. 1864. The Rock-Cut Temples of India; Illustrated by Seventy-Four Photographs Taken on the Spot by Major Gill. Described by James Fergusson. London, England: John Murray.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100206115
Available via Wikisource @ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Rock-cut_Temples_of_India

Fergusson, James; and James Burgess. 1880. The Cave Temples of India. London, England: W.H. Allen & Co.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cavetemplesofind00ferguoft/

Gill, Robert; and James Fergusson. 1864. One Hundred Stereoscopic Illustrations of Architecture and Natural History in Western India. Photographed by Major Gill and described by James Fergusson. London, England: Cundall, Downes & Co.

Gupte, R.S.; and B.D. Mahajan. 1962. Ajanta, Ellora and Aurangabad Caves. Bombay, India: D.B. Taraporevala Sons and Co.

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 January 2019. “Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings Ailing at World Heritage Centre Site.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/ajanta-cave-wall-paintings-ailing-at.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 January 2019. “Accurate, Ancient, Artistic Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings to Buddha.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2019/01/accurate-ancient-artistic-ajanta-cave.html

Pisani, Ludovico. 6 August 2013. "The Ajanta Cave Paintings." The Global Dispatches > Articles and Culture.
Available @ http://www.theglobaldispatches.com/articles/the-ajanta-cave-paintings

Singh, Rajesh. 2012. An Introduction to the Ajanta Caves: With Examples of Six Caves. Vadodara, India: Hari Sena Press Private Limited.

Singh, Rajesh Kumar. 2017. Ajanta Cave No. 1: Documented According to the Ajanta Corpus of Dieter Schlingloff (Photographic Compendium, Ajanta Narrative Painting). Vadodara, India: Hari Sena Press Private Limited.

Somathilake, Mahinda. June 2013. "Painted Jataka Stories of Ancient Sri Lanka." International Journal of Arts and Commerce 2(6): 139-150.
Available @ https://ijac.org.uk/images/frontImages/gallery/Vol._2_No._6/14.pdf

Spink, Walter M. 2018. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 1: The End of the Golden Age. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/1. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Spink, Walter M. 2018. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 2: Arguments about Ajanta. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/2. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Spink, Walter M. 2005. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 3: The Arrival of the Uninvited. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/3. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Spink, Walter M. 2008. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 4: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture - Year by Year. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/4. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Spink, Walter M. 2006. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 5: Cave by Cave. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/5. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Spink, Walter. 2017. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 7: Bagh, Dandin, Cells and Cell Doorways. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/7. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Spink, Walter M; and Naomichi Yaguchi. 2014. Ajanta: History and Development. Volume 6: Defining Features. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2 South Asia, Volume 18/6. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Uno, Tomoko; and Yoshiko Shimazdu. "Thermal Environment in Ajanta Caves." Archi-Cultural Translations through the Silk Road: 2nd International Conference, Mukogawa Women's University, Nishinomiya, Japan, July 14-16, 2012, Proceedings.
Available @ http://www.mukogawa-u.ac.jp/~iasu2012/pdf/iaSU2012_Proceedings_401.pdf

"World Heritage Sites - About Ajanta Caves 01 to 29." Archeological Survey of India > Monuments > World Heritage Site > Ajanta > About Caves.
Available @ https://web.archive.org/web/20120501151253/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_ajanta_caves.asp

Friday, January 11, 2019

Ajanta Cave Wall Paintings Ailing at World Heritage Centre Site

Summary: Environment and people affect the Ajanta cave wall paintings, World Heritage Centre site artistically archiving Buddha's appearance and Buddhism's appeal.

map of Ajanta Caves, located on horseshoe bend of Waghora River; Maharashtra, west-central India: nevil zaveri (thank U for 15M views:), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Environmental events, fragile finances and tourist traffic affect Ajanta cave wall paintings at a World Heritage Centre site that acts as an ancient, artistic, authentic account of Buddha's appearance and Buddhism's appeal.

The Buddhist Ajanta Caves and the Brahmanical Buddhist and Jainist Ellora caves 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) southward became a World Heritage Centre site Dec. 9, 1983. The Ajanta cave wall paintings conserve two construction and completion periods, from the second through first centuries B.C. and from the fourth through sixth centuries A.D. The World Heritage Centre division on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website details deteriorating Ajanta cave wall paintings between 1983 and 2003.

Sixteen publications enumerate erosional effects of animals, approach roads, artificial illumination, crumbling rocks, painting barricades, pedestrian footbridges, public facilities, rainfall leakages, stepped pathways, vandalism and viewpoints.

An ancient monastic community that finally figured 200 artisans, merchants and monks founded the Ajanta Caves after following the Waghora (from Sanskrit व्याघ्र, vyāghrá, "tiger") River.

The Sangha (from Sanskrit संघ, "multitude") monastics got up the near-perpendicular face of the riverside cliff above the horseshoe-bending Waghora by ground-out steps and grouped ladders. Modern approach, pedestrian and stepped pathways herded 450,000 tourists into and out of the 196.85-foot- (600-meter-) long, 1,500- to 2,100-year-old caves 1 through 30 in 2018. Installation of a drinking water center, guide and porter facilities, a post office and public amenities increases geologic instability from loose rocks and 30 landslide-susceptible spots.

The World Heritage Centre site reviews judge the artistic integrity and sustainability of the Ajanta cave wall paintings in jeopardy without replicated caves and restricted access.

Use between the second century B.C. and sixth century A.D., disuse since the seventh century and reuse since the late 20th century kindle irreversible, large-scale deterioration.

The climber-, shrub- and tree-rich Sahyadri hill forests around the Ajanta Caves lodge almondette, Anjan, asthma-plant, axlewood, babul and khair acacia, bel quince and ber buckthorn. The Ajanta teak-dominated woods maintain Bidi leaf, golden rain, Indian frankincense, Indian gooseberry, Indian kino, Indian sandalwood, lendi fan palm, mallow-leaved crossberry and marking nut trees. They net axis deer, black-naped hares, blue peafowl, boar, chinkara gazelles, false-vampire and Heath's bats, golden jackals, gray langurs, grey junglefowl, three-striped palm squirrels and tigers.

The crushable volcanic trap rock occupied by the Ajanta cave wall paintings occasions loosened ceilings, façades and pillars that oblige Sahyadri hill forest bats and invertebrates.

Bat excrement presents offensive odors, proliferates with invertebrate corpses on Ajanta cave wall paintings and prompts destabilizing construction of barricades, doors and lights and extermination schedules.

Grid entryways and grid windows and sun-screen curtains and interior illumination, polyvinyl acetate treatments and wall barricades respectively qualify as exterior and interior environmental stress controls. The World Heritage Periodic Reporting Exercise from 2003 reveals 100-visitor averages, beyond 40-visitor maximums, per individual cave tour counter-productively reaping invertebrate-attractive fungal growth and bat-attractive invertebrates. A study for the Archaeological Survey of India from 2011 suggests the construction-, garden-, rainfall-, traffic-, tree root-worn surrounding Sahyadri hills' susceptibility to Ajanta Caves-destructive landslides.

Tempests, traffic and turmoil threaten Ajanta cave wall paintings ailing at a World Heritage Centre site that perhaps tolerates less tenuously off-site replicas and on-site restrictions.

aerial view of part of the Sat Kund (Seven Pools) Waterfalls, source of the Ajanta Caves' horseshoe-bending Waghora Riverr; Wikimedia Commons page created Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2012, by Shaikh Munir (Munir2050) via UploadWizard from Friday, Oct. 15, 2004, 13:04, Sony Cybershot image: Shaikh Munir, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

map of Ajanta Caves, located on horseshoe bend of Waghora River; Maharashtra, west-central India: nevil zaveri (thank U for 15M views:), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevilzaveri/8392708642/

aerial view of part of the Sat Kund (Seven Pools) Waterfalls, source of the Ajanta Caves' horseshoe-bending Waghora River; Wikimedia Commons page created Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2012, by Shaikh Munir (Munir2050) via UploadWizard from Friday, Oct. 15, 2004, 13:04, Sony Cybershot image: Shaikh Munir, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ajanta_caves_8.JPG

For further information: