Ajanta - Ajanta Tour

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Ajanta

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Introduction of Ajanta

AJANTA is world's greatest historical monument recognised by UNESCO located just 55kms from Jalgaon city and 105 kms from Aurangabad City of Maharashtra, India. There are 30 caves in Ajanta of which 9, 10, 19, 26 and 29 are chaitya-grihas and the rest are monasteries. These caves were discovered in AD 1819 and were built up in the earlier 2nd century BC-AD.

Most of the paintings in Ajanta are right from 2nd century BC-AD and some of them about the fifth century AD and continued for the next two centuries. All paintings shows heavy religious influence and centre around Buddha, Bodhisattvas, incidents from the life of Buddha and the Jatakas. The paintings are executed on a ground of mud-plaster in the tempera technique.


Buddha Sculpture

Tourist Attraction in Ajanta

The Ajanta Caves (75°40’ N; 20°30’ E) are situated at a distance of 107 km north of Aurangabad, the district headquarters. The caves attained the name from a nearby village named Ajanta located about 12 km. These caves were discovered by an Army Officer in the Madras Regiment of the British Army in 1819 during one of his hunting expeditions. Instantly the discovery became very famous and Ajanta attained a very important tourist destination in the world. The caves, famous for its murals, are the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting.

These caves are excavated in horse–shoe shaped bend of rock surface nearly 76 m in height overlooking a narrow stream known as Waghora. The location of this valley provided a calm and serene environment for the Buddhist monks who retreated at these secluded places during the rainy seasons. This retreat also provided them with enough time for furthering their religious pursuits through intellectual discourses for a considerably longer period. The caves were excavated in different periods (circa. 2nd century B.C. to 6th century A.D.) according to the necessity. Each cave was connected to the stream by a flight of steps, which are now almost obliterated, albeit traces of some could be noticed at some places.

In all, total 30 excavations were hewn out of rock which also include an unfinished one. Out of these, five (cave no. 9, 10, 19, 26, and 29) are chaityagrihas and the rest are viharas. In date and style also, these caves can be divided into two broad groups. The earliest excavations belong to the Hinayana phase of Buddhism of which similar examples could also be seen at Bhaja, Kondane, Pitalkhora, Nasik, etc. In total, 5 caves at Ajanta belong to this phase, viz., 9 & 10 which are chaityagrihas and 8, 12, 13, & 15A which are viharas. These caves are datable to the pre-Christian era, the earliest among them being Cave 10 dating from the second century B.C. The object of worship is a stupa here and these caves exhibit the imitation of wooden construction to the extent that the rafters and beams are also sculpted even though they are non-functional.


The world famous paintings at Ajanta also fall into two broad phases. The earliest is noticed in the form of fragmentary specimens in cave nos. 9 & 10, which are datable to second century B.C. The headgear and other ornaments of the images in these paintings resemble the bas-relief sculpture of Sanchi and Bharhut.

The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries. The specimen of these exemplary paintings of Vakataka period could be noticed in cave nos. 1, 2, 16 and 17. The variation in style and execution in these paintings also are noticed, mainly due to different authors of them. A decline in the execution is also noticed in some paintings as indicated by some rigid, mechanical and lifeless figures of Buddha in some later period paintings. The main theme of the paintings is the depiction of various Jataka stories, different incidents associated with the life of Buddha, and the contemporary events and social life also. The ceiling decoration invariably consists of decorative patterns, geometrical as well as floral.
 

Ajanta Caves

Ajanta Caves

Buddha Stupa Marc Shandro

Buddha Stupa Marc Shandro

Ajanta Cave Inside

Ajanta Cave Inside

Ajanta Caves Outside

Ajanta Caves Architecture

Ajanta Cave Inside

Ajanta Cave Inside

Muralsmarc Shandro

Ajanta Mural

Chaitya

Ajrock

How to get here

By Air
Currently Aurangabad is the nearest Air point for Ajanta. It can be reached from New Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay), international airport. Indian airlines as well as Jet Airways have daily flight to Aurangabad from New Delhi and Mumbai.

By Rail
Jalgaon is the best place to drop in for Ajanta if you like Rail journey. It is centre point of all major railway stations of India and has Bhusaval (Just 28kms from Jalgaon) as Second largest depot of railways in entire Asia.

By Road
Ajanta Caves roadways linking the caves with Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Shirdi, Nasik, Dhule, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Bijapur, and Aurangabad are just excellent. Regular as well as direct buses and taxis are available between Aurangabad and Ajanta Caves.

 

You will visit “Ajanta” during the below Tour of Rajasthan.

11 Days Golden Triangle and Ajanta Ellora Tour
11 Days / 10 Nights
Delhi - Agra - Fatehpur Sikri - Jaipur - Udaipur - Mumbai - Aurangabad - Ellora - Ajanta - Mumbai

 

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