Sunday, May 15, 2011

Ajanta Paintings-ugc


Ajanta Paintings-ugc
 In A.D 1817, some British soldiers chanced upon a collection of caves in a horseshoe shaped ravine close
to Aurangabad lying abandoned. This was when the an of Ajanta was exposed to the enthralled world. Started
in the second century BC and given up some time in the seventh century AD this complex of 29 chaitya and
vihara caves were chiselled into live rock and are host to some of the best preserved paintings and sculptures of the Gupta period. The themes of the paintings on ihe walls are religious in tone and center around Buddha. Bodhisattva.and the Jatakas. The depiction of the Jatakas and incidents from the life of Buddha (which offer visual representations of didactic themes to supplement the teachings of the elder monks to their pupils), offered the painter an unlimited scope. The paintings at Ajanta were mirrors of the contemporary life in the palace, court,town, village, hamlet and hermitage.

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