Rest day Ajanta Caves

Rest day is here, some people on the tour still are not feeling great. We have one day riding and then another rest day to see a second set of caves at Ellora.

We had an excellent guide today Abdul Nasir Almohammadi, one of the most knowledgeable guides on the Ajanta Caves.

The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district of Maharashtra state in India.[1][2][3]Ajanta Caves are a  UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2] Universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, the caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form.[4][5][6]

The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries (Viharas) and worship-halls (Chaityas) of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock.[8][9] The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives [10] and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.[8][11][12] Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India.[8] While vivid colours and mural wall paintings were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-paintings.[13]

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM

    Oh, good grief, Erin. Saddle sores, overbearing heat, brutal roads, and then food poisoning! That's more than too much for anyone. Time to go into survival mode. I'm sorry it has come to this, but there was a lot of great stuff for you earlier. I'm sure you'll make the best of what follows. - Bruce

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErinFebruary 21, 2025 at 4:39 PM

      Haha Bruce yes it’s challenging but it’s all good. We’re 2/3 way through the trip and in the home stretch!

      Delete

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