Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.23

v4.c16.23

The religious dignity of the sculpture of this *vihāra* is in keeping with the sense of grandeur conveyed by its architectural style, and derived from the noble expanse of the hall and the elegance and beauty of its other adjuncts. These features, combined with the magnificence of the paintings which adorn the *vihāra*, make it undoubtedly the finest monument of its kind in India, and perhaps in the world. If any other *vihāra* can match it in splendour it is Cave I at the same place; but in this latter *vihāra* the paintings, with few exceptions, are not artistically of such a high order as those in Cave XVII.²