Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c15.59

v4.c15.59

In the first decade of the fifth century A.D. Fa-Hian visited the Buddhist shrines and monasteries of Bihar and Tirhut, the towns on the banks of the Ganges and Jumna, and also travelled down the country along the eastern coast, whence he took a boat for Ceylon and stayed in that island for nearly two years. It is not known from his work whether he visited Ajanta, but a monastery of the *Dakshiṇa-deśa* described by him resembles in certain physical features the group of sacred shrines at Ajanta.⁵ He however mentions that artists were deputed by kings to copy the paintings executed on the rock-walls of certain Buddhist shrines.⁶ The representation of a holy mendicant in the *Viśvantara Jātaka*, painted on the left wall of Cave XVII, shows a person with characteristic Chinese features,⁷ which suggests that the artists of Ajanta were not unfamiliar with Chinese pilgrims who from time to time visited Ajanta with a view to acquiring religious lore; and those among such visitors who possessed the artistic capacity to learn painting may well have been initiated into the technique of the style which was prevalent there at that time.⁸