World Heritage sites

AJANTA AND ELLORA CAVES

 

The Ellora Ajanta festival  is held every year in the last week of November. Ellora and Ajanta have been designated as World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO. Located near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, these rocks were discovered by accident in 1819. the festival is a reminder that we need to preserve our artistic legacy.

The serene figure of Buddha holding a lotus in his hand or the dreamy beauty of Ajanta might be familiar to most of you. They stand testimony to India’s rich heritage and centuries-old artistic expertise. Images and sculptures like these adorn the interiors of the canyons of the Deccan trap along the ancient trade route between Paihan and the historical city of Ujjain. Nestled in the Sahyadri hills near the ravine of Waghora is the cave complex comprising 29 caves with Chaitya gri-has (temples) and viharas (monastries) that are laboriously carved out of rocks. They served as an important religious centure of many central Indian dynasties and the murals and sculptures reflect important social and political developments time.

 

 

Some of the paintings in Ajanta are believed to date back to second century BC. The work was undertaken under the patronage of various rulers and feudatories and the monastery lost its support with the fall of the Vakataka empire. For around 1300 years, these magnificent sculptures and enthralling murals were left to oblivion but years of weariness and negligence have not diminished the splendour that captivated the visitors even several centuries after their creation. It was British Army Captain John Smith who accidentally came across the cave complex during one of his hunting expeditions in 1819.

The wonder of it all

The first caves in Ellora were created shortly after previous shrines like Ajanta were abandoned and it follows the style of Ajanta in many aspects, but shows other influences and new trends as well. Ellora caves also known as “Verul Leni” is located  along the Aurangabad-Chalisgaon road. There are 34 monasteries and temples dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, extending to over more than two km. the caves have depictions of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu deities and mythical sences. The caves of Ajanta numbered from one to twelve are the largest Buddhist cave temples in India and belong to the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. Some of the Hindu shrines were created before the Buddhist ones while some were created before Buddhist ones while some were created after the decline of Buddhism.  A number of depictions relate to Shivism a branch of Hindustan devoted to Shiva.  The famous Kailasanadha  Temple of Ellora, considered the largest and most magnificent monolithic excavation in the world, rises thirty meters above the courtyard.  Another group of the caves  is devoted to the Digambara branch of Jainism.

According to an inscription relating to Ellora, even the artist who created it was  wonderstruck that he could build it.  The larger than life images of deities, huge elephants and bulls, and the scale of the structures dwarf the human being standing in front.

 

The deities are depicted like human beings and on display are human emotions as in the scene of Siva and Parvati playing dice in the presence of Sivaganas.  The Nataraja figure at Ellora that expresses the energy of dance and dynamism of movements and the scene of Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa are fine examples of their artistic excellence.

Ajanta and Ellora are recognized as UNESCO heritage sites and are under the maintenance of the Archaeological Survey of India .  The increasing number of tourists and some of the conversation efforts that caused reverse results have aroused concerns among many about the future of these treasures  of Indian art.