Ajanta Caves

The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre wall of rock [1]. The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities [1]. While vivid colours and mural wall paintings were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-paintings [1]. The Ajanta Caves are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval-era Chinese Buddhist travelers [1]. The caves are located in the rocky northern wall of the U-shaped gorge of the River Waghur, in the Deccan Plateau [1]. The Ajanta Caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct phases; first during the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, and second several centuries later [1].