The earliest man-made caves date back to the 2nd century BC while the latest date to the 7th century AD. The splendid sculpture and lovely frescoes adorning these caves make them one of the glorious monuments of India's past.
AJANTA CAVES:
The cave temples of Ajanta, situated north of Aurangabad, were first mentioned in the writings of the Chinese pilgrim Huen Tsang who visited India between 629 AD and 645 AD. These caves were discovered by the British officers in 1819 AD. The thirty temples at Ajanta are set into the rocky sides of a crescent shaped gorge in the Inhyadri hills of the Sahyadri ranges. At the head of the gorge is a natural pool which is fed by a waterfall. The excavations spanned a period of about six centuries. The earlier monuments include both chaitya halls and monasteries. These date from the 2nd to 1st centuries B.C. After a period of more than six centuries, excavations once again revived during the reign of the Vakataka ruler Harishena. The sculptures contain an impressive array of votive figures, accessory figures, narrative episodes and decorative motifs. The series of paintings is unparalleled in the history of Indian art, both for the wide range of subjects and the medium. The caves depict a large number of incidents from the life of the Buddha (Jataka Tales). Overlapping figures suggest that the perspective and colors are harmoniously blended and that the line work is sinuous. However, the identities of the artists responsible for the execution of the Ajanta caves are unknown.
BHIMBETAKA CAVES:
Bhimbetka is located in the Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh about 45 km to the southeast of Bhopal near a hill village called 'Bhiyanpur'. Bhimbetaka, discovered in 1958 by V.S. Wakanker, is the biggest prehistoric art depository in India. Atop the hill a large number of rock-shelters have been discovered, of which more than 130 contain paintings. Excavations in some of the rock-shelters revealed history of continuous habitation from early stone age (about 10000 years) to the end of stone age (c. 10,000 to 2,000 years) as seen from artificially made stone tools and implements like hand-axes, cleavers, scrappers and knives. Neolithic tools like points, trapezes and lunates made of chert and chalcedony, besides stone querns and grinders, decorated bone objects, pieces of ochre and human burials were also found here. |
