Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s5: Dvārapālas and Pairs of Male and Female Figures

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s5

Language: English

Dvārapālas and Pairs of Male and Female Figures

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These figures are painted on the jambs and the side-walls of the doorway of the chapel at the right end of the front corridor in the upper story of Cave VI.

THE figures of happy couples representing donors or *arhats* with their consorts, or dancers attached to the temple, are carved on the façades of the earliest Buddhist *chaityas*, such as those of Karle, Bedsa, Kondane, and Bhaja. But with the passage of time the practice became more a decorative feature than a means of conveying religious significance or representing any particular deities of the Buddhist pantheon. The doorways of the fifth and sixth century temples of the Buddhist faith are therefore adorned with male and female figures in a variety of most delightful poses.

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In this subject (Plate VII *b*) we see a lady in a thoughtful mood but with all the charm of her youth, which has been enhanced by scantiness of dress² and profusion of ornaments, and above all by a graceful attitude. She has placed one of the fingers of her left hand on her lip in the typical Indian style. The gesture denotes bashfulness as well as mental absorption. The artist was a master of the technique and he thoroughly understood where to lay the shade to accentuate the plastic beauty of the limbs. Behind the lady to her left is another figure who is fully dressed, the lower garment extending much below the knees and the upper part of the body covered either by a large scarf or a coat. Behind the lady is a dwarf of a fair complexion holding something in his hands which is not clear in the fresco.

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² She is wearing a tight bodice of a thin material and a pair of tight drawers which do not reach her knees.

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To the left of this group in another panel is a male figure representing a Bodhisattva or some *arhat* making a religious gesture with the fingers of his right hand. The head of the figure is damaged, but the limbs show careful modelling and the pose is also natural. There is a dwarf in this panel also, but the colours and the drawing are so faint that it is difficult to make out his features with any precision, nor is it possible to appreciate the expression of his face. Above this panel there is another representing two ladies, both of whom are standing, and one of them has crossed her legs in a graceful manner. The upper parts of these two figures are much damaged. Above them there is another couple, in a comparatively better state of preservation. The female figure is looking towards the door of the chapel and has made a loop with the fingers of the left hand, apparently representing some religious mystery.

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To the right of these panels, on the jamb of the door, there are three panels representing Parthian male and female figures in a joyous mood, sipping wine or love-making. The male figures have beards, and their caps also prove them to be non-Indian. Corresponding to the last three panels there are three on the right jamb of the door again representing Parthian figures whose blue jackets and peaked caps form a prominent feature. Below these is a female figure accompanied by a small male figure with long hair. The latter is resting on a crooked stick which passes through his legs. To the left of the figure of the woman is a dwarf, the drawing of which has become very dim (Plate IX *a*). Close to the right jamb of the doorway, on another facet of the door-frame, there are three more panels, the lowest of which bears the figure of an *arhat* or a Bodhisattva to correspond to the figure on the left side of the doorway. The remaining two panels contain the figures of females carved in beautiful poses (Plate IX *a*). The presence of figures with sunken cheeks and short beards, wearing peaked caps and full-sleeved coats, as shown in some of the panels referred to above and also in several of the later frescoes of Caves I and II, point to a period in Indian history when Partho-Scythian dynasties were established in Surāṣṭra and Malwa, whose territories occasionally included the northern parts of the Deccan.¹

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¹ *Ajanta*, Part I, p. 46, and *Indian Art of the Buddhist Period*, by G. Yazdani, p. 7 (Oxford Univ. Press).