A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c14.s2.77
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c14.s2.77
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c14.s2.77
The representation in the left end of the verandah of the Buddhist Wheel of Life, commonly miscalled the Zodiac, is interesting rather as an illustration of popular Buddhist teaching in the sixth century than as a work of art. Similar pictures are still frequently exhibited in Tibetan monasteries and used by the Lamas for purposes of instruction. The dimensions of the Ajanṭā painting, now a mere fragment, are 8 feet 7 inches by 5 feet 1 inch.¹ The huge painting indicated in Burgess's Plate XIX is supposed to represent the legend of the landing of King Vijaya in Ceylon and his coronation as described in the Pāli chronicles. Painting No. LIV (Griffiths, Pl. 82) gives the story of Sibi Rājā, already mentioned (*ante*, p. 279).