Buddhist cave paintings 2,000 years old — the Sistine Chapel of the ancient East
Ajanta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Maharashtra — 30 rock-cut Buddhist caves carved into a horseshoe-shaped gorge above the Waghora River, containing some of the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art. The paintings inside (dating from 200 BC to 480 AD) are extraordinary: intricate Jataka tales (stories of the Buddha's past lives), bodhisattvas, court scenes, animals, and celestial figures in deep ochre, blue, and green. The caves were sealed and forgotten after the decline of Buddhism in India; a British officer hunting tiger rediscovered them in 1819. They reward a full day;…
Ajanta's caves were excavated in two distinct phases: the first (200 BC–200 AD) during the Satavahana dynasty, which patronised Hinayana Buddhism; the second (460–480 AD) under the Vākāṭaka king Harisena, who built the magnificent Mahayana shrines and oversaw the painting programme. When the Vākāṭaka dynasty collapsed around 480 AD, the monks abandoned the caves. They remained unknown to the outside world for over 1,300 years until their rediscovery in 1819 by a British army officer named John Smith who carved his name on the walls of Cave 10 (a reminder that 'discovery' has its uglier meanin…