Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v2.c9.7

v2.c9.7

¹ Mr. Yazdani has described the frescoes of this chapel as follows: ‘The walls of the chapel on the left side of the veranda are also painted, but much damage has been done to the frescoes by the percolation of water through a crack, which, however, we have now filled up. As only a few pieces of these frescoes now remain on the walls, it is difficult to identify the Jātakas (Nos. 8 and 28, Jātaka-mālā) in all their details, but the figures which can be traced will be described here. Starting from the back wall of the chapel, we notice above the door of the cell the outline of two heads with fine features. Proceeding towards the right, we see a hermit (the Bodhisattva Kṣāntivādi) sitting on a cane stool (moṇḍhā), the design of which is interesting, as stools of this type are still manufactured in India. An inscription (no. 1) is painted on the lower half of the stool. The feet and toes of the hermit have been drawn with great care, and the figure when complete would have been an excellent specimen of the work of the Ajanta School. In front of the figure of the hermit was painted a woman squatting on the ground, whose elbow, back, and lower part of the body can still be traced. The drawing of this figure also is vigorous. Higher up there was another woman of a dark complexion; only a part of her bust can be made out now. Below the seat of the hermit, on a dark green band which separates the scene above from the one painted below, is a long inscription (no. 2) in two lines.