Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s5.15

v2.c8.s5.15

The other subject in this Plate (XI b) represents two pot-bellied friends of dwarfish size, both being in a serio-comic mood. The figure on the right is making a loop with his fingers to denote the dharmacakra or the riddle of life. His companion does not understand the significance of the symbol, and in joke has protruded his middle finger, as vulgar people are apt to do in India to this day. The style in which the aṅgochhā (scarf) is worn round the shoulders by the right figure is very characteristic of the practice of the Bihārī and Oṛiya Brāhmans even now.