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Sunday, December 26, 2010

Ajanta Temple Paintings and Murals from Cave 2

These are photographs of murals and paintings from Cave No. 2 of the Rock Caves of Ajanta, near Aurangabad, which are fairly well preserved. The style of Art is called Ajanta. Ajanta Art comprises of different styles from different periods of time, from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. These paintings influenced Art in India for many centuries.

Decorative themes using both animals, plants and humans have been used.

The first image is of art on the ceiling at the entrance to the Cave. Engravings can be seen on the doorway.

ceiling mural ajanta


The depiction of Buddha is visible on the top of the doorway.
Ajanta Art on the doorway

Considering that in ancient times there were not paint brushes as such, and artists used just twigs and animal hair, or painted by hand, the results are quite brilliant!
Ajanta cave paintings


These last two pictures are a glimpse of a wall mural inside the cave. It was quite dark inside and a dim light was shining on the beautiful canvas on the wall.
Ajanta paintings inside cave

Ajanta mural inside cave


This is a painted pillar from the cave. Sculptured decoration at the top and bottom of the pillar are also visible. Remnants of blue paint can be seen on the flower design.
painted pillar ajanta

This last painting was lying in the office where restoration work was going on. Am not sure where it came from or whether it is original Ajanta or just a copy.
ajanta style painting

More images of Buddha: Golden Buddha Statue or photos of Buddha statues, frescoes and sculptures at Ajanta Caves or photos of Paintings and Murals from Cave 1 of Ajanta
For pencil drawings of Buddha: Sketches and drawings of Buddha or simply click on the label Ajanta.


For images from Ellora try these posts: Kailashnath Temple at Ellora or Ellora Temples sculpted exteriors or or simply click on the label Ellora.




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