Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s24: A Palace Scene: Not Identified

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s24

Language: English

A Palace Scene: Not Identified

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*The subject is painted on the right side of the third cell-door, and as the fresco is much damaged, it is reproduced in monochrome only.*

IN the upper part of the fresco is a rājā engaged in a religious conversation with his consort.¹ Both these figures are much damaged, but the portions which are intact show excellent workmanship. The expression on the rājā’s face shows restraint combined with nobility of character, while the attitude of the rānī indicates rapt attention to the discourse of her husband. Behind the rānī is a maid, whose coiffure and features are delineated with great delicacy of feeling. There is an attendant (*chaurī*-bearer?) behind the rājā as well, whose features are also refined.

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¹ Foucher is inclined to identify this subject with the Maghadeva Jātaka. See *Jour. Hyd. Arch. Soc.* for 1919–20, p. 75.

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Below this scene there is another in which the rājā and rānī are seen again; but the fresco is so badly damaged that the outlines and expressions of these figures cannot be scrutinized properly.²

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² On the pilaster between the front and right corridors three figures are painted, the middle one of which perhaps represented a Bodhisattva. Of this figure now only the lower part of the body is preserved. The other two figures represent a dwarf and a lady, the former bringing a tray of flowers as an offering to the Bodhisattva. The figure of the dwarf is very beautifully drawn.

Linked texts (1)

Jātaka — Pāli