Ajanta

The Ajanta caves were carved out of the face of a cliff by Buddhist monks between the 2nd century BCE and about 600 CE. They contain an astonishing number of beautiful and colorful wall paintings, sadly largely detiorated, .
Ajanta Wish I could remember the name of this young who was our "assistant" during the tour, carrying water and helping us out generally. Ajanta Western tourists at Ajanta. Ajanta Entrance to cave no. 1. Ajanta Inside cave no. 1, a large vihara (monastery), with cells arranged around it and paintings everywhere. Ajanta Dunkel ist mein cave
Ajanta A magnificent, tho worn fresco, in cave no. 1. In fact, they are not frescoes, as they were painted on a dry wall, not on wet plaster. Ajanta A painting of Bodhisattva Padmapani. Ajanta Also in cave no.1, Bodhisattva Vajrapani. Ajanta Looks like some sort of court scene. Ajanta The Ajanta caves
Ajanta Columns, sculptures and painting on the entrance verandah outside cave no. 2 Ajanta Sculpture beside the entrance to cave no. 2 Ajanta Painting on the ceiling of the verandah to cave no. 2 Ajanta The caves are carved out of the rock on the outer wall of a U-shaped valley. Ajanta This is probably cave no. 4. Note the barely finished ceiling, where you can see the traces left by the carving tools.
Ajanta Bodhisattvas guarding the door to the Buddha's sanctum Ajanta The huge seated Buddha here is magnificent. Ajanta Tourists with the huge Buddha Ajanta Ceiling Ajanta Langur in a tree next to the path
Ajanta Langurs Ajanta Another, less expressive Buddha Ajanta Another Buddha in his richly decorated shrine Ajanta Entrance to cave no. 9, with its chaitras of different sizes and imitation woodwork Ajanta Cave no. 9 is a chaityagriha, or prayer hall
Ajanta Entrance to the chaityagriha, cave no. 9 Ajanta A couple of Korean Buddhists in cave no. 10, the earliest chaityagriha at Ajanta, dating from the 2nd century BCE Ajanta Colorful paintings on the pillars Ajanta Colorful pillar painting Ajanta Painted pillars and ceiling
Ajanta Ancient elephant and elephant-loving tourist Ajanta Looking back down the cave cliffs Ajanta Many paintings around the entrance to cave no. 17 Ajanta Wall paintings on the facade and ceiling Ajanta Seated naga king outside cave no. 19
Ajanta Cave no. 19 is a lovely chaityagriha (prayer hall), much more richly decorated than the earlier cave no. 17 Ajanta Wall carvings in cave no. 19 Ajanta Wall carvings in closeup Ajanta Highly decorated interior of chaityagriha Ajanta The other side of the valley and the observation point (we did not visit)
Ajanta The impressive entrance to cave no. 26, a large chaityagriha Ajanta Entrance to chaityagriha (cave no. 26) Ajanta Large Parinirvana Buddha, over 7 m long Ajanta Almost baroque-looking sculptures Ajanta Frieze in cave no. 26
Ajanta Gorgeous pillars and decoration Ajanta Bougainvillea and rock temples Ajanta The last monkey we saw at Ajanta, swinging from what looks like an acacia Ajanta Setting sun lights up pointy Rajasthan haystacks along the road home.