A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c14.s3.5

c14.s3.5

The paintings appear to have rivalled those of Ajaṇṭā in variety of design, vigorous execution, and decorative quality, life being treated in both places with equal gaiety and hardly a trace of asceticism. Two of the Bāgh groups illustrate the performance of the *hallīsaka*, a kind of operetta or musical play, acted by a troupe of women led by a man. According to the books the female performers should number seven, eight, or ten. At Bāgh they are six in one case and seven in the other. They are represented as elaborately dressed, singing, and performing with much enjoyment on drums, cymbals, and other instruments. Our surprise at finding such gay scenes depicted on the walls of a Buddhist monastery may be lessened when we consider the nature of many of the sculptures at Mathurā (*ante*, pp. 134–41) and in the Aurangābād caves (*ante*, p. 178); but we do not know quite enough about the real nature of the later popular Buddhism in India to understand fully the significance of such frivolous sculptures and paintings.²