Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s14: The Bodhisattva Maitreya
Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s14
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The Bodhisattva Maitreya
v2.c8.s14.1
Plate XXVIII a
v2.c8.s14.2
The figure shown on this Plate is painted on the front wall of the shrine to the left of the door. As the colours are faint, the subject is reproduced in monochrome only.
v2.c8.s14.3
INSIDE the shrine, the figures of two Bodhisattvas are painted on the front wall, one on either side of the door. The figures are much damaged, and it is difficult to appreciate the skill of the artist properly, though the feet resting on full-blown lotus-flowers remain intact, and the drawing of the toes shows great care and a keen sense of beauty in execution. The soles are painted red, and on the big toes rings are seen, which were until quite recently worn as an ornament by men in India. The figure on the right probably represented the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara or Padmapāṇi, while on the left may be identified the Bodhisattva Maitreya (the Coming Buddha), for he holds a flask in his hand.
v2.c8.s14.4
The figure to the right of the door, which is not reproduced in this plate, is attended by two chaurī-bearers, one of whom is attired like a prince and is wearing a crown, and the other is robed like a hermit, with his hair gathered in a tuft at the top of the head.
v2.c8.s14.5
The figure to the left of the door, the Bodhisattva Maitreya, has no chaurī-bearers, but on either side of him are votaries adoring him, as shown by their hands raised in supplication. The figures of these votaries are mostly obliterated, but the one on the left is fairly distinct, and his crouching position cannot escape notice. On the right side of the fresco, near the feet of the Bodhisattva, is a design that perhaps represents conventional waves, and above that, a crescent-shaped object which may be a boat. Higher up may be seen a votary who has raised his hands in adoration.
v2.c8.s14.6
Even when intact these figures would have conveyed little of the living imagination of the artist, as they are mainly symbolical, and therefore painted according to a strict convention.