Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.s16: Figures of a Yaksha and Yakshiṇī and Apsarasas (?)
Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.s16
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Figures of a Yaksha and Yakshiṇī and Apsarasas (?)
v4.c16.s16.1
Plate XXVII *a–b
v4.c16.s16.2
*These figures are painted on the pilaster between the left and back corridors in Cave XVII.*
v4.c16.s16.3
THE painting is considerably damaged, yet in the lower part of the pilaster the figure of a *yaksha* or prince can easily be made out. He is wearing rich jewellery, and his hair also is ornamented with ribbons, the ends of which may be noticed drawn as if flying in the air behind his neck. The *yaksha* has a plump face, but his features are well defined and the eyes suggest composure of mind. The complexion is dark brown. To the right of the *yaksha* is a female figure, probably representing his consort (the *yakshiṇī*). She is of short stature, and her features also are somewhat dumpy, with short, thick nose and prominent nostrils, thick lips, and round, bulging eyes. In the front of her head-ornament there is a small knob. The lower part of her body is not clear in the fresco, but the upper part can be easily made out, and she is looking up at the *yaksha*, who has brought an offering of white lotus-flowers in a leaf tray for presentation to the Buddha (Plate XXVII *a*).
v4.c16.s16.4
Above, two more figures may be noticed, one of a woman (? *apsaras*) and another of a man (*arhat*). The woman has a string of pearls round her neck, and her hair also is bedecked with pearls and flowers. The position of her right hand is not clear in the painting, but she holds a full-blown lotus in her left. The *arhat* in front of her is also wearing elaborate jewellery, among which his large wheel-pattern ear-rings are particularly striking. He has made a gesture with the fingers of his right hand in which he has raised his forefinger and separated it as well as the thumb from the three other fingers (XXVII *b*). He is looking at the *apsaras* in an appealing manner.