Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s13: The Buddha in Various Attitudes
Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s13
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The Buddha in Various Attitudes
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Plate XXVII
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The subject is painted on the wall of the back corridor, between the ante-chamber and the left chapel, and as the fresco is much damaged, it is reproduced in monochrome only.
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THE principal figure in this fresco was a Buddha sitting on a throne and attended by two Bodhisattvas as *chaurī*-bearers. One of these wore a crown, and the other had his hair dressed in the style of the *jaṭā* of a Sādhu. All these figures have almost perished now; of the Buddha we see only the feet resting on a full-blown lotus, and of the two *chaurī*-bearers only portions of their heads. The throne of the Buddha is placed under a mango tree, the rich foliage and beautiful fruit of which have been delineated with great skill and taste. The background of the subject is filled up with the stalks and flowers of a lotus-creeper, the main stems of which spring from the flower on which the feet of the Buddha rest. The delineation of the stalks is exquisite, and exhibits very pretty decorative detail and fine brush work. The flowers springing from the stalks support the minor Buddhas, who are arranged in several rows around the principal figure. Seven of them are in the top row and six on either side, towards the right and left, arranged in three rows in pairs. These figures are in the teaching, assurance, and meditation attitudes.
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Near the feet of the Buddha the figure of a votary is seen. He is kneeling, and holds a flower stalk in his right hand. The head of this figure is damaged, so the expression cannot be studied.
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Near the bottom in the right-side corner is delineated the figure of another Buddha in the teaching attitude. He has an attendant holding a fly-whisk on either side of him, and below his throne an inscription is painted.¹
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¹ See Appendix.
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The subject perhaps represents the vision of the Buddha in the Great Miracle of Śrāvastī: ‘He appeared before the assembly seated in the attitude of meditation on a colossal lotus flower and made to spring from his body a multitude of Buddha figures in a variety of poses.’²
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² See *Ajanta*, i, p. 35 (text and footnote 1).
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The delineation of the figures of the Buddha is somewhat poor in this subject, but on the other hand, the depiction of the foliage of the mango tree and of the stalks of the lotus-creeper shows much skill. The cause of this difference is apparently due to the fact that in the treatment of the figure of the Buddha himself, the artist had to observe certain conventions which marred the aesthetic effect of the reproduction.