A monastic retreat for the monks, these trupendous structures embellished with some of the most lovely paintings and splendid sculptures too...
A monastic retreat for the monks, these trupendous structures embellished with some of the most lovely paintings and splendid sculptures took 800 years to be carved out.
About 200 monks worked relentlessly on the hillside hanging over the tiny streamlet, chiselling and drawing into the heart of the rock, digging deep into the hillside, some going 100 feet deep
The caves are in wooded and rugged horseshoe shaped ravine about 3.5 km from the village of Ajantha about 100 km from Aurangabad
The caves date from the 2nd century BC to 8th Century AD
There are 29caves here including 2 chaityas(prayer halls) and 3 viharas(place for monks to rest)
Since 1983, the Ajantha caves have become a unesco world heritage site.
It is believed that the caves were strategically located along the trade routes so that the monks could travel safely with traders to far flung areas to spread their faith. For many years the caves functioned as a perfect retrat for the monks but around the 8th century AD they were abandoned for the nearby Ellora caves. The reason for the shift is shrouded in mystery but once past its days of glory, Ajanta slipped into oblivion. The caves lay hidden for over a 1000 years under dense forest overgrowth before being discovered sheer chance by a hunting team in 1819.
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