Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c5.s17.3

v1.c5.s17.3

THE identification of the principal figure of this subject with Vajrapāṇi,² as made by some scholars, is not very convincing, for the symbol held in his right hand is more like a half-blossomed lotus-flower with a delicate stalk projecting to the right of his thumb³ than the end of a *vajra*, the symbol for a thunderbolt. The identification is apparently based on the analogy of some of the Buddhist caves at Ellora,⁴ where figures of the Bodhisattvas Padmapāṇi and Vajrapāṇi are carved in the antechamber of *dvārapālas*, but the symbolic lotus-flower and *vajra* are each absolutely distinct there and do not leave room for doubt as in the present case. The figure may with greater certainty be identified with that of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara,⁵ for we notice the representation of a seated deity, who may be Amitābha, in the crown of the Bodhisattva. Avalokiteśvara has frequently been sculptured as a *dvāra-pāla* in Buddhist shrines,⁶ the image of Amitābha being the salient feature for his identification. He is the most esteemed Bodhisattva of the Mahāyāna pantheon, being styled Saṅgharatna, or the Jewel of the Order.