South Indian Inscriptions

ARCHITECTURE SCULPTURE AND PAINTING

Buddhist as in Hindu literature, worldly existence is conceived as a gigantic wheel which revolves all creatures through a series of life and death.¹

... The present wheel was designed to have eight divisions marked by its spokes (ashṭāra-chakra), but only five of them can be made out, the remaining three not having been completed owing to the position of the cell-door. The wheel contains various scenes of village and town life. It is shown as revolved by the hands of some being of colossal size, probably representing Karman.

... As stated before, the stories of the past lives of the Buddha are illustrated in the frescoes on the walls of this maṇḍapa. We find, for instance, the stories of the Shaḍ-danta Jātaka, the Mahākapi-Jātaka and the Hasti Jātaka painted on the outer wall of the front corridor inside the Hall to the right of the main entrance,² the Haṁsa Jātaka on the left wall of the same corridor³ and the Viśvantara Jātaka, the Mahākapi Jātaka (II) and the Sutasōma Jātaka on the wall of the left corridor.⁴ Some scenes of the Viśvantara Jātaka were, of course, painted on the back wall of the verandah, but its whole could not be narrated there probably for want of space. It is, therefore, repeated on the wall of the left corridor from the first to the fourth cell-door. The different incidents of the story such as Viśvantara taking of his father and mother before proceeding into exile, the departure of the prince and the princess, the giving away of the little children Jālin and Kṛishṇājinā to the Brāhmaṇa Jūjaka, and finally, their restoration by the latter to the king, their grand father, in consideration of large sum of money paid as ransom, are all painted with great skill. The last scene when Jūjaka appears in the royal court to receive the ransom money is specially noteworthy. Mr. Yazdani has described it in the following words:- ‘The artist has delineated all the ugly features of Jūjaka the broken teeth, the goaty beard, the parrot-like nose and small, uncanny eyes, combined with the brightness which has come over his face at the jingle of the money which the royal treasurer is pouring into his outspread scarf. The expression of joy may also be perceived from the treatment of his eyes, and the artist has further enhanced it by placing high lights on the nose and lips of the Brāhmaṇa.⁵’ The king holds the last coin in his hand which he is apparently throwing into the Brāhmaṇa’s scarf with a contemptuous look. The artist has shown, with evident humour, the Brāhmaṇa with an open umbrella even when he appears in the royal court

... As shown below, the frescoes on the wall of the right corridor also relate Jātaka tales. The only painting which narrate incidents in the last life of the Buddha inside this cave are noticed on the right and left walls of the antarāla (antechamber) and those of the Chaityamandira (sanctum). As stated before, the sanctum contains an image of the Buddha in the teaching attitude. The frescoes outside, therefore, fittingly describe the incidents which happened soon after the Buddha turned the Wheel of the Law.

...On the left wall of the antarāla we see a painting in which the Buddha is discoursing upon the Law to his mother and the gods and goddesses of the Tushita Heaven. He is next shown to have descended to the world of men by means of a ladder. He then preaches the Law to the kings, queens, noblemen and others who have come to see him. The Buddha is seated on a throne in the pralambapāda posture and dharmachakra-pravartana-mudrā with Padmapāṇi and Vajrapāṇi attending upon him. To his right are Bimbisāra, the
_________________

¹ Ajanta, Part IV, pl. IV-VI.
² Ibid., Part IV, plates X-XIV.
³ Ibid., Part IV, pl. XVII.
⁴ Ibid., Part IV, pl. XIX-XXXVII.
⁵ Ajanta, Part IV, p. 49. See Plate L.