Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s23: Scenes from the Life of the Buddha: The Tushita Heaven (?)

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s23

Language: English

Scenes from the Life of the Buddha: The Tushita Heaven (?)

The scenes are painted on the back wall of the veranda, near its left end, close to a small door in Cave XVI. As the fresco is much damaged, it is reproduced in monochrome only (XLVII), but an outline of the drawing is also given separately (XLVI a).

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The veranda of Cave XVI was originally decorated with frescoes, the few surviving fragments of whch are to be noticed above the front row of pillars and on the left¹ and back walls.

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¹ This fresco, being much damaged, is not reproduced in the plates. However, two figures can be made out, one with a fair complexion and the other pale brown. The head of the former is finely drawn, and high lights and jewellery are the distinguishing features. Of the brown figure the head has completely perished.

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The present subject comprises several scenes which have been identified by scholars as representing the descent of the Buddha from the heaven of the Tushitas,² his preaching to his mother Mahā-Māyā in the same heaven, and the gods of the thousand worlds assembling and announcing to him that the time of his rebirth into his final existence has come. The first scene is fairly clear, for above the small door the figure of the Buddha is seen among conventional clouds as if descending from heaven for his final birth.³

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² After his penultimate birth as Viśvantara, when he realized the perfection of charity, the Bodhisattva was born as Śvetaketu, a deva of the Tushita heaven, where he stayed until the due time for his rebirth in his last existence. According to Buddhist sacred literature the universe from the lowest hell to the limit of existence is divided into the world of desire, the world of form, and the formless world. The Tushita heaven is the fourth of the six heavens of worldly desire. It is further a heaven for satisfied gods, and the Buddha's mother, who died seven days after his birth, was raised to it. Vide Warren, Buddhism in Translation, pp. 38–9, 45, and 83, and Thomas, The Life of Buddha, pp. 28, 30–1, 36, 53, and 99.

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³ This scene has not been included either in the monochrome plate (XLVII) or in the outline (XLVI a).

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The next scene represents him seated on a throne in the teaching attitude (?) with a group of ladies to his left. The fresco is much damaged, but the figures of the ladies can easily be made out by their beautiful but elaborate coiffures and the artistic designs of their sārīs. Near the throne of the Buddha is a lady evidently of distinction, because she is sitting on a rich cushion and not squatting on the ground. She may be Mahā-Māyā, but in the Buddhist legend there is no reference to his preaching to his mother in the Tushita heaven, although among the body of the votary has completely perished. To the right of the Buddha are bands representing hills conventionally. Above them a monkey may be noticed. Farther to the right, above the window, two figures of the Buddha and a fat cherub (gaṇa) are painted. The Buddhas are clad in orange-coloured robes, and they have an attendant on either side of them and votaries near their feet. The latter are wearing pearl necklaces and loin-cloths of a striped material. The hands of the gaṇa are painted in such a way as to indicate that he is descending from heaven. Above the window to the right of the door are figures of the Buddha, shown seated, which continue up to the end of the wall. The hall of this cave was also once painted, and figures of the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas, and bhikshus may still be traced. Among these the head of a hermit painted on the back wall to the right of a cell-door shows fine modelling and brush-work. To indicate light and shade the artist has used colour-washes in a skilful manner. The hair of the hermit has also been delineated with care.

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investigations which he made when the gods announced to him that a new Buddha was to arise, his enumeration of the thirty-two qualities which his mother should possess and his choice of Mahā-Māyā to his mother are mentioned.¹ The upper part of the figure representing Mahā-Māyā has decayed, but the delineation of the fingers shows that she is following the sermon of the Buddha attentively and making conventional gestures in response. She is dressed in a sārī of striped material, in the design of which the arrangement of a fine line along the broad one is quite artistic. The toes of her feet have also been drawn with considerable imagination, and the artist has further bedecked her with ornaments round her ankles.

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¹ Thomas, *The Life of Buddha*, pp. 28-9.

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There was another lady between Mahā-Māyā and the Buddha, whose figure can now be traced only by one of her feet and a part of her head. Behind Mahā-Māyā are two maids with coarse features, who are looking in a devout manner to the Buddha, holding their hands joined together towards the Great Being. One of these maids has tucked the lower end of her sārī behind her waist, a style still in vogue among the Marāṭhī ladies. The thin waist of this maid has been indicated by the artist in a clever manner. The other maid is clad in a sārī with green stripes, and her hair is dressed in an elaborate style, the curls of the locks lying spread on her shoulders. Below the two maids there is a group of five more ladies. Two of them are holding trays of flowers, another holding a circular vessel with chased work, containing victuals or spices as an offering to the Buddha; and the remaining two, one of them being at the end of the group and the other in front of them, are in the act of adoration, with heads bent down and hands joined and stretched forward in the praṇāma (प्रणाम) posture. The attractive features of these figures are their elaborate coiffure and rich ornaments, among which the aigrette, worn by all of them alike, signifies their high position as devīs of the Tushita heaven. The style of coiffure, although differing in each case, shows the dressing of the hair in the form of the coils of a serpent, which are further decorated with flowers and fixed in position with ribbons.²

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² Behind this scene there is another, separated from the former by bands of conventional hills. The fresco has almost perished, but the portions of three figures, one male and two female, can be traced. The jewellery of these figures indicates that they represent important personages.

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To the right of the throne of the Buddha are some male figures, representing the devas of the Tushita heaven. A portion of the head of one figure and fragments of the torsos of two others can be made out with certainty.

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Below the last scene is another in which the Buddha is painted in the middle, in an effulgent oval panel (Pl. XLVIa). The head of the figure has completely perished. There are four figures wearing high crowns to the left of the Buddha and four more to his right, the latter having their hair plaited and tied up in the form of a crown. These perhaps represent the gods of the ten thousand worlds who, hearing ‘the Buddha Uproar’, appeared before him to announce that the time had come when he should be reborn and attain his high destiny. Some scholars have identified the gods wearing the high crowns with those belonging to Indra’s heaven, and those wearing high jaṭās as belonging to Brahma’s heaven.³

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³ Warren may also be quoted in this connexion: ‘At that time, therefore, having all come together in one world, with the Cātum-Mahārājas, and with the Sakka, the Suyāma, the Santusita, the Paranimmita-Vasavatti, and the Mahā-Brahma of each several world, they approached the Future Buddha in the Tushita heaven and besought him . . .’ *Buddhism in Translations*, p. 39.

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To the left of the Buddha, besides the four crowned figures, there are fourteen more arranged in two rows one above the other. Their heads are bare, but the pearl jewellery and other ornaments which they are wearing show that they are also important personages, perhaps minor *devas* of the Tushita heaven. The fresco looks crowded with these figures, but the artist has given a different pose to each of them, and the designs of their ornaments are also different; thus there is no monotony in the treatment. The designs of the chains, pendants, and ear-rings are particularly striking, and they indicate that the goldsmith’s and jeweller’s crafts were highly developed at that time.

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To the right of the four figures with high *jaṭās* there are five more; two of them are boys or dwarfs, one of a dark complexion and the other ruddy. The latter is holding a serpent in his hands. Of the remaining three figures of this group, which are painted below the boys, two are of a fair complexion, and of the third only the crown of the head is visible, the lower part of the body having entirely perished.

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In this subject the artist has used colour-washes both to enliven the face and to produce the idea of volume in the figure. In this practice his technique resembles that of the painters of Caves I and II, which in regard to age are almost contemporary with Cave XVI, the date of which, according to an inscription of the Vākāṭaka king Harisheṇa, has been fixed some time between 475 and 500 A.D.¹

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¹ This inscription, besides giving the genealogy of Harisheṇa, refers to Hastibhoja and his son, Varāhadeva, who served as ministers to Devasena and Harisheṇa. Further, it alludes to the dedication to a Buddhist Sangha of a cave-dwelling, containing a Buddhist temple and a hall, beautifully decorated with pillars, picture-galleries, and sculptures. *Monograph No. 14, Hyderabad Archaeological Series*, pp. 2 ff.