Ajanta Caves
The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut
Buddhist cave monuments
which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad
district of Maharashtra state of India. 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.
According
to UNESCO, these are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that influenced the
Indian art that followed. The caves were built in two phases, the first
phase starting around the 2nd century BCE, while the second phase was built
around 400–650 CE, according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480
CE according to later scholarship. The site is a protected monument in the care
of the Archaeological
Survey of India, and since 1983, the
Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
