00:00The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the 2nd century BCE to
00:06about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. Ajanta Caves are a UNESCO World
00:13Heritage Site. Universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art,
00:18the caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest
00:22surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present
00:28emotions through gesture, pose and form. The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries
00:34and worship halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-meter wall of rock.
00:40The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha,
00:45pictorial tales from Arya Sura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.
00:51Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks,
00:56as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India.
01:00While vivid colors and mural wall paintings were abundant in Indian history as evidenced
01:05by historical records, caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 of Ajanta form the largest
01:11corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall paintings.
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