Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c8.s7.3

v2.c8.s7.3

THE story of the Great Being as the Golden Goose, Dhritarāṣṭra, with slight variations, forms the subject of three *Jātakas* (Nos. 502, 533, and 534).¹ The version delineated at Ajanta has four episodes. In the first, we notice a lake, the waters of which, almost black, are covered with dark green leaves of the lotus (Plate XV *a*). In the reproduction, however, it is impossible to make out the circular design of the leaves, for on account of smoke and fire, the surface of the original fresco has become extremely dark, and it is difficult to discern the green patterns of the leaves on the waters even in the original fresco. But the skill and exquisite taste of the artist may still be admired from the variety of lotus flowers and the green shoots of the creepers which are springing from the rocks adjoining the lake.