Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s43: Apsarases and Gandharvas Adoring the Buddha

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s43

Language: English

Apsarases and Gandharvas Adoring the Buddha

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*The figures are painted on the back wall of the veranda, to the right of the door in Cave XVII. They are reproduced in colour.*

THE fresco is much damaged, particularly the lower part where the figure of a Bodhisattva was painted. It is traced now by two fragments of the diadem, which the Bodhisattva wore on his head. But those figures which remain intact exhibit art of a high order both in conception and in execution. Commencing as usual from the left side, there are piles of blue and white clouds and green hills, amidst which first a pair of *apsarases* is visible. They are two chubby girls, one of a light brown complexion who is making *praṇāma* (obeisance) in a graceful manner. The other is of a darker complexion, and has kept behind her companion, on whose shoulder she has fondly placed her hand. The coiffure of the brunette is simple, and her ornaments also are scanty, except for the rich double belt from which a sword is hung. The coiffure of the darker girl, on the contrary, is very rich, being adorned with pearls and flowers, and she also has an abundance of ornaments on her body, comprising the wheel-pattern large ear-rings, several neck-jewels, armlets, bangles, and eight strings of pearls round her waist. As in making the *praṇāma* the fingers and nails of the brunette are prominent, the artist has drawn and finished them with great care. The features of these *apsarases* show the fusion of several races, aborigines, Scythians, Parthians, and Āryan, who under the influence of Buddhism met freely on an equal footing and intermarried extensively.

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In front of the *apsarases*, towards the left, is a mutilated figure representing a young boy (*gandharva*) flying in the air. The flight is indicated by the ribbons of his collar, which are floating backwards horizontally like the flag on a lance. The head of the figure is broken, but the back shows a firm outline and also some shading to suggest the idea of volume.

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Below the *gandharva* the head of a hermit with matted hair may be noticed. He is of jet-black complexion, but the colour of his hair is yellowish. The hair of *yogīs* in India gets this colour either through continued exposure to the sun or by their rubbing their hair with ashes. Below the figure of the hermit the torsos of some other figures can also be traced, and the group may represent the monks who were initiated into the Doctrine by the Buddha immediately after his Enlightenment.

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At the back of this group are bands of conventional hills, in the midst of which the figure of a peafowl perched on a ledge may be seen. Farther to the right was the figure of the Bodhisattva, which, as stated above, has completely perished, but the hills and the trees of the background show some lovely shades of green. Ferns are noticed sprouting from the crevices of the hills, while towards the left is an *aśoka* tree, the leaves of which apparently through the effect of autumn have turned pale. The choice and blending of colours exhibit a refined taste.

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On the right of the green hills there are four *apsarases*, whose heads touch the blue clouds. These figures also are a masterpiece of the drawing and decorative skill of the artist. The *apsaras* (*gandharva* ?) in the front, towards the left, has a turban-like headgear richly adorned with strings of pearls and flowers. The features of this figure can be better studied in the enlargement (LXXII). The sharp nose with well-curved nostrils is distinctly Āryan. The eyes are meditative, conventional to a degree, and show affinity to Chinese art. The thin long-drawn eyebrows may remind the modern girl that her sisters in olden times also had a similar fancy regarding the beauty of the eyebrows.

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The face has a uniform reddish tint, but the dark outline along the right half of the head and below the chin has made it look almost in relief. The dark background behind the neck and shoulders serves a similar purpose and has produced the effect of volume in the drawing.

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The *apsaras* holds cymbals in her hands, and the artist will admire the beauty of the well-set nails and shapely fingers. The painter's love of decorative detail can also be appreciated from the design of the jewellery, in which sapphires and pearls are prominent. The smaller strings of pearls in the necklace are inclined on one side to suggest movement.

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Below this figure is another which has been damaged considerably, but the pose of the figure can be easily traced, and it shows that the *apsaras* is almost floating in the air. In the middle of the group is a dark red figure with a sturdy body. It is a *yakshiṇī* or an amazon. The artist's object in drawing this burly figure was apparently to bring into prominence by contrast the graceful forms of the two *apsarases*, one on either side of it. Behind the figure with heavy limbs there is a dark figure whose hair is adorned with pearls and flowers and the swarthy body brightened by dazzling jewellery and white silk scarves and trail. Below the *apsarases* may be noticed a pair of peafowls, whose orange plumes and blue necks please the eye.

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The felicity of expression, the grace of form, and the richness of colouring shown in this fresco indicate the high-water mark to which the art of Ajanta rose in the fifth century A.D. Notwithstanding the obvious religious conventions, the painter’s mind has a joyful outlook upon the world’s beautiful aspects, and moreover he perceives a kind of spiritual relation between the different forms of life, high or low.