Ajanta: Cave 1, Façade, about 500 A.D. Mahayana Temple
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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In Cave 1 at Ajanta, we have the last great phase of monumental painting: that beginning the early Medieval Period: and the last greatest Buddhist contributions to architecture in its most principal style, Simplicity pervades the decorational systems of Cave 1's facade sculpture, Here, the columns are heavy blocky structures, no longer set into sculptural bases resembling earthen pots, but left to stand on austere blocks of stone, Small portions of the columns are cut away at the bases to house little Buddhas while the capitals deal mainly with less important subjects such as celestial deities, dwarfs, and floral motifs, What decoration has been given the shaft of the pillars is faintly etched into the surfaces again like the lace-work patterns we have seen in Cave 2's nave, These delicate motifs just trace over the surface of the shafts and do not penetrate the stone deeply, Interesting are the spiral bands on two of the outside columns at the entrance, The two inner pillars show the more characteristic vertical fluting which is a familiar motif to many of the Ajanta columns in other chaitya halls and facades,
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Basham Collection
Date created
circa 1970s
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This image is provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the Archives Program, Australian National University.
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