Ajanta Caves called “The Greatest Ancient Picture Gallery” by William Dalrymple
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A statue of the Buddha in one of the Ajanta Caves, India
Excerpt from “The Greatest Picture Gallery” Read this captivating article by the excellent writer and historian William Dalrymple here at The New York Review of Books.
“[I]n 1819, a British hunting party in the jungles of the Western Ghats had followed a tiger into a remote river valley and stumbled onto what was soon recognized as one of the great wonders of India: the painted caves of Ajanta. On the walls of a line of thirty-one caves dug into an amphitheater of solid rock lay the most beautiful and ancient paintings in Buddhist art, the oldest of which dated from the second century BC—an otherwise lost golden age of Indian painting. In time it became clear that Ajanta contained probably the greatest picture gallery to survive from the ancient world, and along with the frescoes of Pompeii, the fabulous murals of Livia’s Garden House outside Rome, and the encaustic wax portraits of the Egyptian Fayyum, Ajanta’s walls represented perhaps the most comprehensive depiction of civilized life to survive from antiquity.”
This article brought back wonderful memories of visiting Ajanta Caves during my 2013-2014 Fulbright research and travels!
I’ve gone about it all backwards. Backwards in time, in pursuit of mandalas. It all started when I heard that a sand mandala was going to be made at Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India, in 2010. So I went there, and found out that it was a Yamantaka mandala, part of a ten-day-long highest yoga tantra ritual which occurs annually at the Dalai Lama‘s personal monastery. My previous post here describes what little I knew then as I observed and documented the creation and dissolution of it. The resultant film and photographs can be seen here.
When I came back to the U.S., it was as if a floodgate had opened. I needed to learn more. No, not just more, but all I could about Tibetan mandalas–about their variety, their purpose, their history, the meditation practices they engendered, and so forth. What did it all really mean? What modern significance did it have?
My bookshelves began to fill up with writings about tantra and Buddhist philosophy, written by the first Tibetan teachers to venture into the Western world, post-1959 exodus from Tibet. Titles by the Dalai Lama, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Lama Thubten Yeshe, Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche, as a few examples, abounded. I also read works by contemporary lamas like Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Pema Choedron, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Tenzin Palmo. Tibetan scholars and historians David Snellgrove, Robert Thurman, Deborah Klimburg-Salter, Martin Brauen, and others figured in there, too.
All this, in addition to my previous discoveries of well-respected meditation teachers from other Buddhist traditions–Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfeld, B. Allan Wallace. I followed the writing of neuroscientists and clinicians, too, who studied or used meditation in their work. They were also involved with fascinating Mind & Life Institute research or conferences–Richard Davidson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Paul Ekman, Daniel Goleman.
It was a mindfulness-neuro-tantric-philoso-fest that poured forth!
Meanwhile, in 2011, the ritual experiences continued. I attended the Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra event for World Peace in Washington D.C., and witnessed the Kalachakra Mandala.
In 2012, I was at the Dalai Lama’s talk at Western Connecticut State University at which time I encountered a Compassion Mandala.
At both events, I had the wonderful opportunity of befriending and working with monks, nuns, plus other Buddhist practitioners and followers.
It was a steady flow. The waters at the floodgates just did not tire out. Answers came, and new questions arose.
Thus, on the heels of this, last year in 2013 I arrived back to India to experience and research rare Indo-Tibetan mandalas in Himalayan monasteries of Spiti, Lahaul, and Ladakh. How might they have evolved into Tibetan forms that we know today? What was this Indo-Tibetan 10th to 12th century period called the Second Great Transmission of Buddhism from India to Tibet? What did the sacred art look like? What did it mean?
At the end of my travels through the Himalayan high altitudes, I then thought, let’s reel back in time some more. What came before the Indo-Tibetan era?
The answer was, Indian Buddhism, which could be seen at Ajanta and Ellora Caves where there are remains of elaborate 2nd to 8th century C.E. wall paintings, sculptures, and architecture. Such purely Indian Buddhist art is still preserved at these South Indian sites in the state of Maharashtra.
Finally, what might have come even before this in India? I mean in B.C.E. times. When I searched further, it seems that the Buddhist art historical record stops here. According to historians, not much still exists before the 1st century C.E. Little is known in India archeologically prior to this time.
So what’s it all about? Why would an artist go for all this? New artwork from my Fulbright experience does beckon me in the studio.
I guess I’m just driven by the big questions about mind and reality, which Buddhist philosophy seems to address best. And moreover, that largely works within a Western scientific paradigm. It doesn’t hurt, either, that an affable spiritual leader like the Dalai Lama continues to inspire and exemplify how one can be intellectually sharp, existentially awake, and compassionately engaged in the world. Despite being a keeper of complex Tibetan rituals and esoteric tantric teachings, he can still keep it simple and distill wisdom down to these words: “There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples. My philosophy is kindness.”
Ellora Caves: Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Coexistence
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December 12-13, 2013
After seeing Ajanta Caves–which were amazing and beyond my imagination of what carved and decorated ancient Buddhist caves would look like–I visited Ellora Caves, which stunned me further because of the elaborate artistic and architectural feats!
Panorama view of Ellora Caves, founded 600-100 C.E., near Aurangabad, IndiaEllora Cave 32, featuring a free-standing temple in center courtyard
Founded after Ajanta from about 600 to 1000 C.E., this complex of 34 caves has some breathtaking sanctuaries of unbelievably grand scale, and free-standing temples. Yes, that’s right, freely standing buildings that were carved out of once solid rock cliff!
Besides the monolithic bravado, the Ellora complex, about 106 kilometers away from Ajanta, is also unique because it consists of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves. The approximately two kilometer stretch of Deccan Traps in which these caves are excavated side by side testify to the peaceful ancient coexistence of these three major Indian religions.
The first twelve caves are Buddhist and appear to be the oldest, dating circa 600 to 800 C.E. They comprise monasteries and one chaityaor temple. The Hindu ones are Caves 13 to 29, perhaps the best known being Cave 16, the Kailash Temple. These were built between 600 to 900 C.E. The Jain group of caves are 30 to 34, and were the last to be excavated, circa 800 to 1000 C.E.
Ellora Cave 11 facade, Buddhist monastery, ca. 600-800 C.E.
Buddhist Caves 11 and 12 went to the next level—literally. Compared to their Ajanta predecessors, these three-storied monasteries are impressive, surpassing the Ajanta two-storied excavations in terms of number of floors and scale. What struck me immediately about both cave facades were their architectural simplicity. They looked modern to me, and I was surprised by what it called to mind. The austere repetition of columns and openings, the lack of carved adornment, and the same feeling of monumentality as one walks up to their courtyards strangely reminded me of the experience I had seeing Italian EUR architecture, in particular the Palazzo della Civilta Italiana, built in Rome between 1938 and 1943.
The space and time of day I was there also created very much the still and surreal feeling of Giorgio de Chirico’s paintings.
Ellora Cave 11 facade, Buddhist monastery, ca. 8th century C.E.Delights of the Poet, Giorgio de Chirico, 1913, oil on canvasFacade of Ellora Cave 12. Photo: Indiaing.zening.info
The plain facades of Caves 11 and 12 give no hint of the richly carved sculptures within. I had assumed from the exterior that the interiors would be simple, probably cells for a large number of devotees. From my modern mentality, the buildings looked like they were ancient boarding rooms with shared veranda on each floor.
Ellora Cave 11 veranda
Little did I know that the rooms on each floor of Cave 11, the first one I saw, would house sanctums.
Stairway at end of second floor veranda leading to lower level, Ellora Cave 11
Each one would be a variation of the below sanctum. They were so plentiful that I can’t remember how many I saw. Typically, the central figure was a massive Buddha, flanked symmetrically by large-scaled Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani, life-sized standing bodhisattvas, seated small buddhas, and flying divine figures.
Massive Buddha statue flanked by Vajrapani, bodhisattvas, seated small buddhas, and flying figures in sanctum of Ellora Cave 11Massive Buddha statue flanked by Avalokiteshvara, bodhisattvas, seated small buddhas, and flying figures on opposite side of Ellora Cave 11 sanctumStanding life-sized statues of bodhisattvas, sanctum of Ellora Cave 11Standing life-sized statues of bodhisattvas on opposite side, sanctum of Ellora Cave 11Courtyard of Ellora Cave 11 curiously marked by intersecting small channels which I can only surmise were chiseled out for drainage.
Cave 12 dates to circa 8th century C.E., and is known as “Teen Tal” because of its three floors. The first and second floors have a pillared halls, antechambers and sanctums with cells. The third floor, while similar in plan has extensive sculptures along the perimeters of a great colonnaded hall.
View along right front wall with figure of seated Buddha at end of side wall, Ellora Cave 12 third floor
The front wall has Buddhas seated on double lotuses with foliage and umbrellas projecting overhead.
View along left front wall with figure of seated Buddha at end of side wall, Ellora Cave 12 third floorDetail of seated Buddhas in meditation pose, front wall of Ellora Cave 12 third floorView of front and side walls, Ellora Cave 12 third floor
Visible above on the left is Buddha seated on a lion throne with fly-whisk attendants.
Pictured below is the antechamber, which has large sculptures of Padmapani and Vajrapani flanking the sanctum entrance and twelve goddesses seated on lotus thrones. There is evidence that these were once painted.
In fact, based on the preceding Ajanta practices, I assume that most of the carvings in the Ellora caves were also plastered and painted. So when you look at these images, imagine that the columns, statues, and other architectural elements were adorned with colors and designs, painted faces, and other details. What rich interiors!
Antechamber, with front wall of seated buddhas visible on right, entrance to sanctum has modern protective screen door which helps to reduce bat nesting, Ellora Cave 12 third floorLooking down towards right side wall, Ellora Cave 12 third floorView of one of the many Buddhas seated on lion thrones, side walls of Ellora Cave 12 third floorView of one of the many Buddhas seated on lion thrones, side walls of Ellora Cave 12 third floor
If you find the scale of this Buddhist cave impressive, how about Cave 5? It measures 53.28 x 36.63 meters, or 175 feet deep x 120 feet wide.
Panorama view of Cave 5, Buddhist monastery, Ellora, IndiaPanorama view of Cave 5 looking back towards the valley, Buddhist monastery, Ellora, IndiaInner sanctum with seated Buddha, Ellora Cave 5
Cave 10 is a really lovely chaitya, similar to the apsidal plans of Ajanta Caves 19 and 26, but its facade is more ornate, featuring a wraparound pillared veranda and side porticos that lead to chambers.
Facade of Ellora Cave 10Panoramic view of Ellora Cave 10 facadePanoramic view of Ellora Cave 10 facade from second levelColossal statue of seated Buddha on a lion throne flanked by Padmapani and Vajrapani, Ellora Cave 10Detail of colossal statue of seated Buddha on a lion throne flanked by Padmapani and Vajrapani, Ellora Cave 1Back wall of Ellora Cave 10Detail of Gallery on back wall of Ellora Cave 10
These are the highlights of the Buddhist caves at Ellora. I hope that, like me, you will now never think of the word “cave” the same again! Instead of conjuring up only oddly shaped, naturally formed, sooty rock shelters, the word will hereon also bring to mind colonnaded halls, monumental sculptures, carved friezes, painted barrel vaulted ceilings and other graceful elements of the ancient excavated architecture of India.
Next up will be the best of Ellora’s Hindu and Jain caves!
This is not an official U.S. Department of State website. The views and information presented here are solely those of the artist, and do not represent the Fulbright Program, the Department of State, or any other entity.
