Way back in 1819, a party of British army officers on a tiger hunt in the forest of western Deccan, suddenly spotted their prey, on the far side of a loop in the Waghora river. High up on the horseshoe- shaped cliff, the hunting party saw the tiger, silhouetted against the carved façade of a cave.

On investigating, the officers discovered a series of carved caves, each more dramatic than the other. Hewn painstakingly as monsoon retreats or varshavasas for Buddhist monks, the cave complex was continuously lived in from 200 BC to about AD650. There are thirty caves, including some unfinished ones. Of the Ajanta caves, five are chaityas or prayer halls and the rest are viharas or monasteries.

Hinayana and Mahayana

The Ajanta caves resolve themselves into two phases, separated from each other by a good four hundred years. These architectural phases coincide with the two schools of Buddhist thought, the older Hinayana school where the Buddha was represented only in symbols like the stupa, a set of footprints or a throne, and the later Mahayana sect which did not shy away from giving the Lord a human form.

Hinayana

Among the more prominent Hinayana caves are those numbered 9, 10 (both chaityas), 8, 12, 13 and 15 (all viharas). The sculpted figures in these caves are dressed and coiffed in a manner reminiscent of the stupas at Sanchi and Barhut, indicating that they date back to the first or second century BC.

Mahayana

The Mahayana monasteries include 1, 2, 16 and 17, while the chaityas are in caves 19 and 26. The caves, incidentally, are not numbered chronologically but in terms of access from the entrance. A terrqaced path of modern construction connects the caves, but in ancients times, each cave was accessed from the riverfront by individual staircases.

The sculptures and paintings in the caves detail the Buddha's life as well as the lives of the Buddha in his previous births, as related in the allegorical Jataka tales. You will also find in the caves a sort of illuminated history of the times - court scenes, street scenes, cameos of domestic life and even animal and bird studies come alive on these unlit walls.

The Vihara

Dating to the fifth century AD, this is one of the finest viharas at Ajanta and comprises a verandah and a hall bordered with cells. Above the left porch are friezes depicting the three Ominous Signs that changed the Buddha's life: a sick man, an old man and a corpse.

Pillars

Inside, twenty pillars with heavily decorated bracket- capitals support the hall ceiling. Every inch of this cave was originally painted, and in spite of the havoc caused by time and man to it, this remains one of the world's most treasured possessions of art.

The sanctum

The sanctum to the rear has a colossal image of the Buddha in the dharamachakra pravartana mudra or the preaching pose. What is amazing is the sculptor's skill conveys different moods of the Buddha - solemn and contemplative when seen from your left, joyful from the right and tranquil when viewed from the front.

This cave contains some of the best known paintings of Ajanta, with the masterpieces flanking the entrance to the shrine chamber. On the left is Padmapani, the compassionate Boddhisattva with a lotus in his brilliantly bejewelled headgear, is the Bodhhisattava Vajrapani.

The side walls

The side-walls antechamber are painted with murals showing two important episodes from the Buddha's life: the left wall narrates the story of Gautama being tempted by Mara just before he became the Buddha. The right wall depicts the miracle of Sravasti, where in order to confound heretics and disbelievers, the Buddha multiplied himself into thousand images.

The walls of the main hall are painted with representations of a large number of Jatakas, the stories of the previous births of Gautama Buddha.

Getting There

By Air : Chikalthana airport at Aurangabad (106 kms) is the nearest airfield and is directly linked to Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur.

By Rail : Aurangabad, the closest railhead, is directly connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, and Bhopal. Alternatively you could take a bus or taxi to Jalgaon (59 kms), a mainline junction from where you get faster express trains to Mumbai and Delhi.

By Road : Aurangabad is connected to all major cities and towns by good roads. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation runs ordinary and luxury buses from here to Mumbai (392 kms)