Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s7: The Buddha in the Teaching Attitude: First Sermon (?)

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s7

Language: English

The Buddha in the Teaching Attitude: First Sermon (?)

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*The subject is painted on the back wall of the veranda of Cave VII, to the left of the antechamber.*

CAVE VII, being situated at the head of the steps which descended to the valley and the stream therein, was apparently used as a halting-place at the time when the caves were used by the Buddhists for worship, and also in later times when they were relinquished by the Buddhists and occupied by *yogīs* of the Brahmanical faith. The ceiling and walls of this cave, which were adorned with paintings, evidently suffered most from the fires of the *yogīs* which were lit for purpose of cooking or for *homa* (होम) and destroyed the colours. A judicious use of ammonia has, however, been found useful to remove the film of smoke and disclose such colours and design as have survived the scorching of fires.

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The present subject is one of the frescoes which have been cleaned by the mechanics of the Department, and although the drawing has been much dimmed by the destructive effect of the fires, yet the principal figures can be made out. In the middle is the Buddha seated on a throne, and his feet rest either on a cushion or on a lotus. He is apparently delivering a sermon, for his hands show him in the teaching attitude. On either side of the throne is an attendant. The one on the Buddha’s right proper is wearing a crown and a long garment of striped cloth which extends much below his knees. This attendant holds a flower in his right hand and a water-vessel or something similar to that in his left. It is not unlikely that this figure represents the Bodhisattva Padmapāṇi, who is generally painted on the right of the Buddha, his special emblem being a blue and white lotus flower.¹ The attendant on the left proper of the Buddha is dressed in the style of royal personages, that is, in a short *dhotī* (loin-cloth) of striped silk, the upper part of the body being naked. But this scantiness is generally made good by rich jewellery and an elaborate crown, which in this case have been obliterated by the effect of fire. The water-vessel which he is holding in his left hand can, however, be traced with certainty, and it may be suggested that the Bodhisattva represented here is Maitreya (in Pali, Metteyya), one of whose emblems is a vase.

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¹ *Ajanta*, Part I, Text, p. 28, Pls. XXIV–XXVII.

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To the left of this subject there is another Buddha with two attendants, but the figure of the attendant on the right proper of the Buddha has completely perished. As both these subjects are very faint, it is difficult to express any opinion regarding the artistic merits of the frescoes. The colours which have come out by cleaning with ammonia are scarlet, yellow (goldish), and blue, the first shown in the robe of the Buddha and the second and third in his halo. A kind of green colour is also visible in the striped cloth of the dress of the attendants.