Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.17

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of the country, the general mode of life was plain in the extreme; the kitchen, the pantry, and the dining-chamber of the rājā, shown in the Sutasoma Jātaka, do not differ as regards utensils and other requisites from those to be found in the house of an ordinary person (Plate XXXVI a). The royal kitchen shown in the above subject was a thatched hut with several pots hung from the bamboos of the roof by means of slings, such as may be seen in the houses of country-folk or poor people today. Below, some pots are shown on a fire over an earthen stove. The pantry is a side-apartment of the royal chamber, and in it several covered dishes and pots are placed on the floor, while the rājā is sitting in the adjoining chamber on a low seat with a plain little table in front of him. Some saucers and cups are scattered on and around this small table. This simple style of dining seems to have been based largely on certain orthodox religious principles regarding abstinence as well as the possible contamination of food. The diet and the style of dining of a prince did not therefore differ much from that of an ordinary person, but the latter would not have enjoyed venison, of which some of the princes delineated on the rock-walls of Ajanta were apparently fond (Plate LXX a).