Ajanta Caves

1819

They were covered by jungle until accidentally "discovered" and brought to Western attention in 1819 by a colonial British officer Captain John Smith on a tiger-hunting party.

The Ajanta caves are mentioned in the 17th-century text Ain-i-Akbari by Abu al-Fazl, as twenty four rock-cut cave temples each with remarkable idols. === Re-discovery === On 28 April 1819 a British officer named John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tigers discovered the entrance to Cave No.

Cave 10 is also historically important because in April 1819, a British Army officer John Smith saw its arch and introduced his discovery to the attention of the Western audience. Chronology Several others caves were also built in Western India around the same period under royal sponsorship.

Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's discovery in 1819. == Impact on later painting and other arts== The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.

1822

A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional and unique paintings.

1839

10.jpg|Cave 10, condition in 1839 === Caves 11 === The Cave 11 is a monastery (19.87 × 17.35 m) from the later 5th century.

1844

Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863.

1846

In 1846 for example, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras Presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to make copies of the frescos on the cave walls.

1848

In 1848, the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson as president.

1861

In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. During the colonial era, the Ajanta site was in the territory of the princely state of the Hyderabad and not British India.

1863

Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863.

1866

He made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.

1872

Gill returned to the site, and recommenced his labours, replicating the murals until his death in 1875. Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths to work with his students to make copies of Ajanta paintings, again for shipping to England.

1875

Gill returned to the site, and recommenced his labours, replicating the murals until his death in 1875. Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths to work with his students to make copies of Ajanta paintings, again for shipping to England.

1879

"Notes on the Bauddha Rock Temples of Ajanta, Their Paintings and Sculptures," Archaeological Survey of Western India, 9 (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1879). Behl, Benoy K.

1880

There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carvings, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost. This cave (35.7 m × 27.6 m) has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving.

1881

Inscriptions from the Cave Temples of Western India, Archaeological Survey of Western India, Memoirs, 10 (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1881). Burgess, James.

1883

Buddhist Cave Temples and Their Inscriptions, Archaeological Survey of Western India, 4 (London: Trubner & Co., 1883; Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1964). Burgess, James.

1885

But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred of the paintings in storage in a wing of the museum.

1887

The museum was opened to the public in 1887.

1895

The Jataka, I-VI (Cambridge: Cambridge, 1895; reprint, 1907). Dhavalikar, M.K.

1896

(London: 1896–1897). Halder, Asit Kumar.

1907

The Jataka, I-VI (Cambridge: Cambridge, 1895; reprint, 1907). Dhavalikar, M.K.

1909

Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI. A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose.

1911

Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI. A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose.

1916

He worked on making copies with tracings on Japanese paper from 1916 to 1918 and his work was conserved at Tokyo Imperial University until the materials perished during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. == Significance == ===Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta=== The Ajanta cave arts are a window into the culture, society and religiosity of the native population of India between the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE.

1918

He worked on making copies with tracings on Japanese paper from 1916 to 1918 and his work was conserved at Tokyo Imperial University until the materials perished during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. == Significance == ===Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta=== The Ajanta cave arts are a window into the culture, society and religiosity of the native population of India between the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE.

1920

In the early 1920s, Mir Osman Ali Khan the last Nizam of Hyderabad appointed people to restore the artwork, converted the site into a museum and built a road to bring tourists to the site for a fee.

1923

He worked on making copies with tracings on Japanese paper from 1916 to 1918 and his work was conserved at Tokyo Imperial University until the materials perished during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. == Significance == ===Natives, society and culture in the arts at Ajanta=== The Ajanta cave arts are a window into the culture, society and religiosity of the native population of India between the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE.

Abanindranath Tagore and Syed Thajudeen also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration. Anna Pavlova's ballet Ajanta's Frescoes was inspired by her visit to Ajanta, choreographed by Ivan Clustine, with music by Nikolai Tcherepnin (one report says Mikhail Fokine in 1923).

and premiered at Covent Garden in 1923. == See also == Barabar Caves Dambulla cave temple == Notes == == References == ===Bibliography=== "ASI": Archaeological Survey of India website, with a concise entry on the Caves, accessed 20 October 2010 Burgess, James and Fergusson J.

1930

Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955). Some slightly creative copies of Ajanta frescos, especially the painting of the Adoration of the Buddha from the shrine antechamber of Cave 17, were commissioned by Thomas Holbein Hendley (1847–1917) for the decoration of the walls of the hall of the Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur, India.

(London: Oxford University Press, 1930 [31?], 1955). Yazdani, Gulam.

1937

of Archaeology, 1937).

1941

Hyderabad Archaeological Series, 14 (Calcutta: Baptist mission Press for the Archaeological Department of His Highness the Nizam's Dominions, 1941). Mitra, Debala.

1946

New History of Indian People Series, VI (Benares: Motilal Banarasidass, 1946; reprint, Delhi: 1960). Mirashi, V.V.

1952

(Hyderabad: Archaeological Department, 1952). Mirashi, V.V.

1955

The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955.

(London: Oxford University Press, 1930 [31?], 1955). Yazdani, Gulam.

1956

Cave 28 is an unfinished monastery, partially excavated, at the westernmost end of the Ajanta complex and barely accessible. Cave 29 is an unfinished monastery at the highest level of the Ajanta complex, apparently unnoticed when the initial numbering system was established, and physically located between Caves 20 and 21. === Cave 30 === In 1956, a landslide covered the footpath leading to Cave 16.

1960

New History of Indian People Series, VI (Benares: Motilal Banarasidass, 1946; reprint, Delhi: 1960). Mirashi, V.V.

Reproduced: Studies in Indology, 1 (Nagpur: Vidarbha Samshodhan Mandal, 1960), pp. 164–77. Mirashi, V.V.

The Early History of the Deccan, Parts 7–9 (Oxford: 1960). Zin, Monika.

1963

Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Series, 5 (Ootacamund: Government Epigraphist for India, 1963). Mirashi, V.V.

1964

Buddhist Cave Temples and Their Inscriptions, Archaeological Survey of Western India, 4 (London: Trubner & Co., 1883; Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1964). Burgess, James.

1977

Ajanta: Its Place in Buddhist Art (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1977). Yazdani, Gulam.

1980

(Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1980). Nagaraju, S.

1981

Buddhist Architecture of Western India (Delhi: 1981) Parimoo, Ratan; et al.

Krishna, Anand (Benares: Bharat Kala Bhawan, 1981), pp. 144–57. Spink, Walter M.

Williams, Joanna (New Delhi: 1981), pp. 109–26. Spink, Walter M.

1983

The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a wall of rock.

The Director of Archaeology for the last Nizam of Hyderabad said of the work of Cecconi and Orsini: Despite these efforts, later neglect led to the paintings degrading in quality once again. Since 1983, Ajanta caves have been listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of India. The Ajanta Caves, along with the Ellora Caves, have become the most popular tourist destination in Maharashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings.

Miller, Barbara Stoler (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press: 1983), pp. 273–307; reprint (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1994), pp. 273–307. Majumdar, R.C.

1984

Late Hinayana Caves of Western India (Pune: 1984). Griffiths, J.

1985

(New Delhi: 1985), pp. 103–16. Spink, Walter M.

1987

Studies in the Ajanta Paintings: Identifications and Interpretations (New Delhi: 1987). Shastri, Ajay Mitra, ed.

Nagaraja Rao (New Delhi: 1987). Spink, Walter M.

Chandra, Lokesh; and Jain, Jyotindra (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 1987), p. 457. Spink, Walter M.

1991

The Art of Ajanta: New Perspectives, 2 vols (New Delhi: Books & Books, 1991). Schlingloff, Dieter.

(New Delhi: Books & Books, 1991), pp. 213–41. Spink, Walter M.

(New Delhi: Books & Books, 1991), pp. 71–99. Spink, Walter M.

1992

The Age of the Vakatakas (New Delhi: Harman, 1992). Singh, Rajesh Kumar.

Shastri, Ajaya Mitra (New Delhi: Harman Publishing House, 1992), pp. 177–202. Spink, Walter M.

1994

Miller, Barbara Stoler (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press: 1983), pp. 273–307; reprint (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1994), pp. 273–307. Majumdar, R.C.

1995

A PhD dissertation (Asian Languages and Cultures: Buddhist Studies, University of Michigan, 1995). Cowell, E.B.

1997

40/2 (April 1997): 125–48. Cohen, Richard S.

1998

The Ajanta Caves (London: Thames & Hudson, 1998.

Abrams, 1998). . Cohen, Richard S.

37/4 (May 1998): 360–400. Cohen, Richard S.

1999

Ltd., 1999) Schlingloff, Dieter.

2003

Ltd., 2003) == External links == Ajanta Caves Bibliography, Akira Shimada (2014), Oxford University Press The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta The Greatest Ancient Picture Gallery.

2005

Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 2005).

Ajanta: Digital Encyclopaedia [CD-Rom] (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, 2005). Singh, Rajesh Kumar.

2006

A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria.

2008

"Some Problems in Fixing the Date of Ajanta Caves," Kala, the Journal of Indian Art History Congress 17, 2008: 69–85. Spink, Walter M.

2009

"Enumerating the Sailagrhas of Ajanta," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai 82, 2009: 122–26. Singh, Rajesh Kumar.

"Ajanta: Cave 8 Revisited," Jnana-Pravah Research Journal 12, 2009: 68–80. Singh, Rajesh Kumar.

2010

and premiered at Covent Garden in 1923. == See also == Barabar Caves Dambulla cave temple == Notes == == References == ===Bibliography=== "ASI": Archaeological Survey of India website, with a concise entry on the Caves, accessed 20 October 2010 Burgess, James and Fergusson J.

2012

An Introduction to the Ajanta Caves (Baroda: Hari Sena Press, 2012).

'The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta,’ South Asian Studies (London: March 2012), vol.

Padigar and Shivanand V (Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 2012), vol.




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