Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s19.8

v3.c12.s19.8

The painter, however, has changed the order of the episodes on the rock-wall: he begins with the wild life of elephants in an impenetrable forest with marshy soil infested by alligators and pythons (Plate XXX *a*), and terminates with palace-scenes crowded with human figures and a royal procession to a place of worship comprising a *stūpa* and a *vihāra* (Plate XXX *c*). In the middle (Plate XXX *b*) he has delineated the bath of the royal elephant in the lotus-lake and his favourite resort under a banyan tree, where he was first sighted by the hunter, Sonuttara. This arrangement has a certain significance from the point of view of the artist, who for an impressive demonstration of his skill has kept the scenes relating to animal life and to beauty of natural scenery almost separate from those depicting human feelings wherein the gloom of pathos is repelled by the light of religious ideals.