Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c5.s6: A Palace Scene : Not Identified

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c5.s6

Language: English

A Palace Scene : Not Identified

*This scene is painted on the left wall of the front aisle. The fresco is much damaged, and as the colour and drawing of some portions are faint, the outline of the middle part only of the fresco has been traced by Mr. Syed Ahmad and is reproduced here. The description given below relates to the delineation of the complete scene on the rock wall.*

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ON the extreme left of the painting is a dark-green gateway, in which a blurred pale-brown figure may be noticed. Beyond this gate we see a portico, in which a male figure with ugly features is prominent. Below him is a female dwarf, with a long trunk and short legs, carrying a tray of sweets or flowers. Close to these two deformed figures is a young maid of extraordinary elegance and beauty holding a *chaurī*. Her body is poised in a most graceful manner, the curve of the waist-line and the positions of the hands being extremely artistic. It is interesting to note that the painter has aimed at enhancing the artistic effect by introducing contradictory elements in his composition—grouping a most handsome figure side by side with ugly and stunted creatures.

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Beyond the portico is the royal chamber, where a *Nāga*² king and queen are seated on a throne, and a musical performance with dance is going on in front of them. To indicate that he is a *Nāga* king, the artist has painted a halo of seven cobra hoods over his head, while the queen’s head is overshadowed by one hood only. The features of the king are refined, and among his rich jewellery the design of the gold chain, worn between a pearl and sapphire necklace and long strings of large pearls, is very effective. The features of the queen are not so beautiful, but her pose is extremely graceful, the curves and long sweeps of brush-lines intermingling in perfect rhythm. The attitude of the king and queen betrays dalliance, but this, according to the notions of those days, seems to have been permissible in chambers where only private attendants could be present. The delineation of woman in scenes where she appears in public is on the contrary extremely modest; for instance, in the subject, ‘Padmapāṇi’ (Plate XXIV), the dark princess has turned her face to one side, just as an Indian woman of the present day will do when appearing in public.

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² *Nāgas* are spirits dwelling in ant-hills, wells, pools, and lakes. They generally appear in the form of a serpent, but sometimes they assume human shape. They are easily moved to anger but worthy of being propitiated, and their general inclination is for the welfare of man, especially in connexion with their power over the element of water.

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Behind the queen is a female dancer of pink complexion whose features, in the effort of keeping rhythm, show strain; the eyes are bulging and eyebrows raised. The position of her hands may appear somewhat extraordinary, but Indian dancing-girls often assume such attitudes. Close to this dancer is a female figure of greyish complexion, carrying a pair of small sticks in her right hand and a tray of flowers in her left.

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The principal dancer is in the middle, near the feet of the queen. She has raised one hand and one foot and poised herself in a most charming manner. The drawing conveys lightness of movement combined with artistic feeling. She is dressed in a jacket of blue silk (?); the blue colour is extremely fresh. Her bangles and coiffure have also been painted with great care.

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Above this dancer is a musician with a reddish complexion, holding a pair of cymbals in her hands. Behind her at some distance is the figure of a male servant who is watching the dance from behind a pillar. The tense expression of his face indicates that he is closely following the steps of the dancers. To the right of the musician holding the cymbals, between the pillars, three more figures may be seen, the most prominent of them being that shown sitting. She is wearing a long robe of blue-striped silk, figures of oxen and ducks appearing in the texture of the blue stripes. The floral design of the cloth of the bodice of the woman who is standing at the right hand of the latter figure is equally interesting. It is a thin brocade, like Benares material. The third figure of this group is a woman with a pale complexion, who while watching the dancer has twisted her finger in a curious way.

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The episode seems to have been continued farther to the right, but, the fresco being damaged, only a few figures can be made out. In the middle was a throne, only one foot of which can now be traced. Near the throne is a woman of red complexion who has elaborate ornaments round her wrist. The manner in which she is looking up at the figure on the throne (now destroyed) is extremely sweet. To the left of the throne the remnants of several other figures may be traced. First there is a head, the features of which show great excitement—

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In Brahmanical legend and Buddhist lore they are also delineated as anchorites and kings, dwelling in a world styled the *Nāgaloka*, which although contiguous to the human world is invisible. For further particulars see J. Ph. Vogel’s *Indian Serpent-Lore* (1926), or Moritz Winternitz’s *Der Sarpabali, ein altindischer Schlangencult*, *Mitteil. der anthropol. Gesellschaft in Wien*, vol. xviii (1888).

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teeth exposed, eyes bulging, and eyebrows raised. Close to this is another head belonging to a figure with a grey complexion. Above these heads is the figure of a dancing-girl, who has placed her hand on her hip in the approved fashion of the Indian dancing-girls. Her complexion is pale-brown; and although she is wearing elaborate jewellery round her waist and neck, her raiment is of the thinnest material (gauze?), the texture of which has been indicated by fine red brush-lines. Close to the dancer is the figure of an attendant, who is watching the performance from behind a pillar.

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The general style of this painting bears a great resemblance to that of the two previous scenes (Plates VI *b* and IX), and it would appear that all three frescoes were painted by the same artist. The religious circular marks (*ṭīkā*) which are the special feature of the female figures of Plates VI *b* and IX appear in this subject also, although they are not to be found in any other fresco at Ajanta.