Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.47

v4.c16.47

The next cave (XXIV) is designed on an extensive plan,² and if completed would have been the largest *vihāra* at Ajanta, as also the most magnificent in the group there, because such of its carvings (over the pillars and the door and windows) as have survived exhibit consummate skill and also a refined taste.³ The work of excavation was evidently given up for the reason that the lower stratum of the rock had been found to be soft and decayed and unfit for the construction of a temple of a permanent type. The shafts of the columns of the veranda, which were completed, have all been destroyed by time, and only their capitals are to be seen, sticking to the entablature. The carving of the pilasters, which is extremely fine, is reminiscent of the intricate designs of the disks of the Amarāvatī Stūpa. Another motif which is surely borrowed from the sculpture of Amarāvatī is the chain design on the lintel of the main door of this *vihāra* (Plate LXXVIII *b*), in which prostrate human figures are shown as the links of the chain. This motif may be seen in the sculpture representing the Alms-Bowl of the Buddha at Amarāvatī.¹