Stories from Ajanta

We cannot say for sure why the caves at Ajanta were painted. Deep and dark caves hardly seem like an ideal place to host exquisite art that has been created with acute attention to detail. From minute ants crawling up in a line on a tree branch to the gently swaying garments of the human figures, the artists at Ajanta created these paintings to be looked at and more importantly, ‘read’. The narrative paintings are based on Buddhist stories. They are spread over the walls around the aisle in the caves. Perhaps as devotees walked around the caves, they admired the colourful figures gazing down at them. The stories must have been known to them and the themes of the stories are central to the Buddhist faith - compassion, benevolence,self sacrifice and wisdom.

The narrative paintings at Ajanta are based on Buddhist stories. Paintings based on the Jātakas portray the previous lives of the Bodhisatva. In these stories the Bodhisatva appears as an animal, bird or human. The Bodhisatva always displays utmost compassion for the world around him, slowly accruing merit over generations so that he may become the Buddha and attain nirvana. The Avadāna stories, meanwhile, are concerned with virtuous princes and travelling merchants who through wisdom, courage and compassion gain merit. Scenes from the Buddha’s life based on the Buddhacharita show his inspiring journey to Buddhahood. Even some secular stories based on commonly known epic poems and stories are painted in the caves.

Each narrative painting depicts scenes from the stories. These scenes from each story may not always be connected. And all the scenes that form the complete story are seldom found in the paintings. But the scenes from the stories that show sacrifice, enlightenment, benevolence, and renunciation echo deeply in the art at Ajanta - always surrounding main Buddhist themes of compassion and detachment.

The scenes in the paintings do not follow the familiar linear flow that we are used to reading in graphic novels or comics. The scenes are mostly grouped according to location. For example all the scenes that are set in the forest are painted together even though these scenes do not follow a linear narrative pattern. You might see the first scene of the story next to the last scene just because the beginning and the end of the story are set in a palace. In certain stories we can notice a flow from left to right, right to left or upwards and downwards. But this is often broken as the artists move from location to location.

Here you can experience the paintings in close detail. The stories behind the paintings have also been provided. Even though the paintings are not in the best condition, the stories should help you read the full picture, and fill in the details that are missing or lost.