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Description: | Illustration of the chapel at the left end of the verandah at the Buddhist Vihara Cave XXI at Ajanta, from James Burgess' 'Original Drawings from the Buddhist Rock Temples at Ajanta.' The 30 magnificent cave temples are situated in a horse-shoe valley of the Waghora River in West India and consist of prayer halls (chaityas) and monasteries (viharas), built for the Buddhist community who lived there. The first group was excavated between the 2nd - 1st century BC. After a period of more than six centuries, the excavations restarted around the 5th century AD in the Vakataka period. Cave XXI is an incomplete monastery from the late 5th century. The verandah has lost its piers. Above the two pillars of the side shrines there are carvings of Hariti with attendants and a naga king. The door leading to the hall is richly ornamented. "At the end of the verandah, in each side wall of the hall, and on each side of the shrine in the back, are small rooms with two pillars and pilasters in front, and a carved frieze above. These lead into cells behind." | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Burgess, James (1832-1916) | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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