Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c19.17

c19.17

Such is the conjectural sequence outlining the execution of this monastic retreat, which in its high time must have presented a scene of exceptional spiritual and artistic activity. Now silence broods over the whole valley, the rock face is animated only by the brilliant sunshine, and within the pillared halls are mere whispers and shadows. At its most flourishing period, Ajanta must have accommodated as many as two hundred monks, and supplementing the monastic establishment, throughout much of its history, there would have been a considerable community of artisans and craftsmen engaged in the work of quarrying out, sculpturing, and decorating with mural paintings its numerous and extensive galleries. Of the manner in which the works were executed or the personnel of those employed, whether some of them were artist-monks, or all were lay exponents of their various crafts, can only be a matter of conjecture. But, whatever the system, in this remote valley there existed for some two centuries a school of art of marked power, religious intensity and originality. So much so that it seems not improbable Ajanta was the the fountain head of a movement that influence Buddhist art in no little degree wherever that creed flourished, extending even as far as China and Japan.