Ellora & Ajanta

Ajanta & Ellora

Ajanta & Ellora
About 100 kilometers north from Aurangabad in Maharashtra is another sickle shaped hill. Hewn into temples and monasteries, this is Ellora.
Unlike Ajanta, Elloras shrines are not exclusively Buddhist. Here are temples of the Hindu and Jain faiths as well, chiseled into perfection between the 4th and 9th centuries A.D.
There are 34 of them, all hewn out of the sloping side of a low hill. The Buddhist shrines are relatively simple and austere. The Hindus Temple carved between the 7th and the 9th centuries are marvelously elaborate. We see in these an attempt to surpass earlier Buddhist achievements in architecture and sculpture.
The Kailasa is approximately twice the area of the Parthenon and one and a half times as much in height. Lavishly carved and sculptured with epic themes, no nobler monument exists of India’s genius, daring and skill.
The thirty rock-hewn caved at Ajanta, cut into the scarp of a cliff, are either chaityas (chapels) or viharas (monasteries). Most of these are constructed so that a flood of natural light pours into them at given times of day. Both the façade and the inside of the chambers faithfully reproduce the structural patterns known to those ancient builders.
On the walls are paintings, many still glowing with their original colors. On the outer walls are brilliantly executed sculptures. Here, ancient Indian are attained the zenith of its development and revealed a dynamic rhythm of life.
The Buddhist theme of Ajanta paintings depicts the pulsating world of many centuries ago. It recounts the life of Lord Buddha and tales of his previous earthly experiences. You see in them the elegant timber-built interiors of spacious places, halls peopled by bejeweled princes, and princesses’ retinues of attendants, mendicants and market places, celestial musicians and frapped foreign emissaries on unknown mission. War horses in colorful trappings, monkeys, peacocks and elephants and a host of other images dominate the world of these unknown artists. Read more....