Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s1.6

v2.c8.s1.6

Cave II, which forms the subject of this volume, is a *vihāra* (monastery) like Cave I, and although it is a little smaller and not so magnificent in style as the latter, it shows a richness of imagination and a love for decorative detail which are very characteristic of Indian art, and which are not so evident in the paintings of Cave I. The plans of both the *vihāras* are similar (Plate I), but the veranda of Cave II is rather narrow, having a width of 7 ft. 9 in. against a length of 46 ft. 3 in. The pillars, on the other hand, are lavishly carved, and their design is somewhat different from that of the pillars in Cave I. They are circular in form, and slightly decreasing in girth towards the top, where they are surmounted by three lotus flowers in succession, the middle one being full-blown and bell-shaped. The surface of the pillars is fluted, and the flutes being continued to the top appear like petals drooping from a flower, the effect being most artistic (Plate III). At the top of the pillars are thin abaci, and above them is an architrave which projects nearly five feet towards the front of the *vihāra*. The appearance of the façade has been spoiled by the necessary insertion of masonry columns, which we had to build recently for the support of the architrave, because it had developed a large crack. There was originally, however, no carving in the form of a frieze on the façade of the *vihāra*, but the presence of square holes cut into the rock above the line of columns indicates provision for some kind of woodwork.