Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.s8.8

v4.c16.s8.8

The upper part of the fresco, in which the third episode is painted, has become quite black now, and the rich foliage and the vast magnitude of the stately banyan tree which was the favourite resort of the Six-tusked Elephant can no longer be admired.¹ The keen eye of an artist may, however, discover the figure of the hunter Sonuttara, who has stretched his bow to its utmost capacity and is shooting an arrow at the lordly elephant (Plate X). Lower down a white elephant of colossal size is represented,² who has apparently been wounded by the arrow shot by the hunter. The benign animal has discerned the evil motive of the hunter in wounding him, and though he is in great agony on account of the pain caused by the arrow, he is pulling out his tusks with his own trunk in order to present them to the hunter. The latter is struck with remorse at his cruel act, and to beg forgiveness of the animal has prostrated himself before him (Plate X).