Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.25

v4.c16.25

On the left side of Cave XVII a passage leads through a rectangular excavation to Cave XIX, which is a *chaitya*. This rectangular excavation, which measures 19 ft. 4 in. in length and 8 ft. 10 in. in depth, was never a separate shrine, although previous archaeologists have marked it as Cave XVIII. The next cave (XIX) is indeed a magnificent temple, and notwithstanding its comparatively small dimensions the carving and the general style of its architecture exhibit perfect workmanship and a highly refined taste.¹ It has an elegant porch which opens on a finely chiselled court some 34 ft. square. The pillars of the porch show a fine sense of proportion in height and girth, and in design they resemble the pillars of Cave II and are equally attractive and well finished. The entire façade of this *vihāra* is adorned with sculptures, representing the figures of the Buddha in different *mudrās*, scenes from his life, floral patterns, jewellery designs, animal-heads, mythical beings, and pairs of lovers. These last are carved at the top—and are shown dallying with one another in horse-shoe shaped windows facing the court. The figures of two corpulent *yakshas*, one of them evidently being Pāñchika, as he holds a purse, are carved as guardians on each side of the springing points of the main arch. The rich crop of the coiled tresses of these two figures falling below their shoulders at once strikes the eye. The figures of the Buddha, carved in niches above the floor of the court, show both serenity of expression and careful workmanship. The row of hyeña-heads used as a dividing-line between the bands of sculpture, and the panel of small squares incised in the rock, serving a similar purpose, make the carving of this *chaitya* resemble that of Cave I, where these two artistic motifs are prominent. The pillars of the interior of this cave also have a striking affinity, both in design and workmanship, to the pillars of Cave I, and the virtual identity of these features, combined with the general artistic feeling shown in the decorative work of these two caves, leaves no doubt that they were excavated within a short period of each other. In Part I the date of Cave I has been assigned to the close of the fifth century A.D.,² and since the repetition of the figures of the Buddha in the triforium of Cave XIX, as also the style of the paintings in the ceiling of this temple, indicates a later phase of the art of Ajanta, this latter cave may be assigned to the beginning of the sixth century A.D., thus to a date not far removed from that of Cave I.