Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.46

v3.c12.46

The plan of Cave VII is rather unusual, having a long hall (or veranda) with two porches in front and an antechamber and a shrine at the back (Plate X). There are also cells, four in the back wall, and three in each of the side rooms built at the right and left ends of the hall.¹ The side rooms have been excavated on a higher level than the hall, and as the approach to them is unfinished they appear to be later additions. As this cave is near the old steps which formed the main approach from the valley to the group of the earliest caves, IX, X, XII, XIII, and XIV, it is likely that its plan was changed at various times according to the requirements of the monastic orders which were established there. The sculpture of the antechamber and the shrine of this *vihāra*, however, show it to be a late sixth-century excavation.