Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s9: A Nāga King with His Attendants: Jātaka Not Identified

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s9

Language: English

A Nāga King with His Attendants: Jātaka Not Identified

v3.c12.s9.2

*The subject is painted on the inner side of the front wall of Cave IX, above the left window.*

IN Cave IX there are paintings of different periods, some of which have been laid on older frescoes. As an example of this we notice the figures of two *bhikshus* with an inscription forming part of a fresco which had covered the older painting, now exposed on account of the removal of the former by Mr. John Griffiths some time during the years 1875-85, when he was copying the frescoes with a party of students from the Bombay School of Art.² The edge of the painting on which the two *bhikshus* are represented is clearly higher than that of the other fresco, and it appears abruptly on the surface of the latter. The heads of the two *bhikshus* from the style of their painting appear to be of the late fourth or early fifth century A.D.,³ which view is supported by the characters of the inscription painted above the head of the *bhikshu* with a ruddy complexion. In the background of this fragment the leaves of the Samālū tree (*Vitex trifolia*) show an autumnal effect (Plate XV a).

v3.c12.s9.4

² Griffiths, vol. i, p. 31.

v3.c12.s9.5

³ Infra, Appendix, p. 86 f.

v3.c12.s9.6

In the main subject, commencing from the left, there are two figures sitting under a mango (?) tree bearing fruit, flowers, and new leaves which have been shown in a light colour. The delineation is somewhat conventional, but still the effect is quite pleasing to the eye. The drawing of the two figures is a little dim in the original, but the detail of the painting can be studied, which it is not so easy to do in the photographic reproduction (Plate XV a). The heads of the two figures indicate careful modelling in the original, the outline having been marked in dark red, which has produced an effect of volume in the painting. Griffiths has published what are apparently ‘reconstructions’ of these two figures,⁴ which convey a good idea of the jewellery, the kinds of head-gear, and the poses. By a trained eye the artistic features may still be traced in the original painting, for example, the vermilion tint of the lips and the corners of the eyes, the fine lines indicating the wrinkles of the eyelids and of the skin below the eyes, the white and yellowish dots and lines showing the strings of pearls, and the washes of light colour to produce the effect of high light. The dress is scanty, consisting of a loin-cloth and a strip of silk, or other material with a design, used as a turban. The strip is intertwined with the hair, both arranged like a turban with a knob at the top. The artist has further crowned the headgear of one of these figures with seven cobra-hoods, and of the other with only one cobra-hood,¹ the distinction being that the former apparently represents a king and the latter his son or minister. In contrast to the dress the jewellery on the bodies of these two figures is elaborate, comprising large wheel-pattern ear-rings, broad necklaces, ornamented metal armlets, and round heavy wristlets. The necklaces consist of strings of pearls which have been joined together by broad clasps of gold or some other precious metal. The styles of jewellery and the headgear of these figures are almost identical with those of the figures carved at Karle, Kanheri, and Amaravati. Apart from the dress and ornaments their physical features are also very typical—oval faces, short noses, full lips, bright eyes, and small figures, but strong limbs. They apparently represent Andhras of the first to third centuries B.C., or of the first to third centuries A.D., that is, of a period when the people of the Deccan, in spite of having embraced Buddhism, were not governed in matters of style and taste by the culture of North India.

v3.c12.s9.7

⁴ Griffiths, vol. i, p. 19. see Warren’s *Buddhism in Translations*, pp. 38-44, Fausböll’s *Jātaka* (Introduction), and *Ajanta*, Part II,

v3.c12.s9.8

¹ For Nāgas see Ajanta, Part I, pp. 11-12, J. Ph. Vogel’s Indian Serpent Lore (1926), or M. Winternitz’s ‘Der Sarpabali, ein altindischer Schlangencult’, Mitteil. der anthropol. Gesellschaft in Wien, vol. xviii (1888).

v3.c12.s9.9

The second scene of the story is shown in the adjoining panel to the right, which is separated from the first scene by conventional bands representing hills or buildings. The fresco is much damaged, and in the colour-reproduction (Plate XVa) only its left half is given. The tracing (Plate XVIa), however, shows a king with two attendants, one of whom holds an umbrella and the other a fly-whisk. In front of the king there are five supplicants sitting on the ground in a circle and presenting their case with due respect, as is shown by their hands, which are joined to indicate submission. Behind these five figures there are two more, who are standing and watching the proceedings with interest. Above these two figures an apsaras is flying towards the king. The scene has been identified by Burgess with the Sibi Jātaka, but there are no events represented to confirm this guess.²

v3.c12.s9.10

² Notes on the Buddhist Rock-Temples of Ajanta, p. 47.

v3.c12.s9.11

The ornaments and dress of the figures in this scene are similar to those of the Nāga king and his minister in the previous scene, but the artist in the former has shown a novel design of ear-ring which is in the form of a barrel, hung by little chains from the middle of the ear. The style of painting of the human bodies is very realistic, and the ‘reconstruction’ of a figure of a woman from this scene given by Griffiths³ shows that the art at Ajanta had reached a high standard when this scene was painted. It has been mentioned above that the dress and ornaments shown in this subject are identical with those to be seen in the sculptures at Karle, Kanheri, and Amaravati, and as on the basis of architectural features Cave IX has been assigned to the first century B.C.,⁴ it is not unlikely that this fresco is also of the same period. The painter has delineated the figures in a variety of poses exhibiting naturalness on the one hand and grace on the other. In the colour-reproduction (Plate XVa) the figure of the apsaras admirably conveys the idea of rapid movement.

v3.c12.s9.12

³ Griffiths, vol. i, p. 18.

v3.c12.s9.13

⁴ Supra, p. 3.