DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0347
LATEST CAVES AT AJANTA. 325
of the brackets on each side these have elephants fighting. The
left central pillar on the left hand has a raja, his wife and child,
(liwan, two chdmara bearers and an attendant, perhaps Suddhodana
and Mahaprajapti with the infant Buddha; and on the right hand
one, two rajas seated, with attendants, much as in the two chapels
of Cave II. The first pillar in the left row has an eight-armed
fat dwarf attended by two others, one of them probably a Naga
Hgure; in the fourth, two Naga rajas are worshipping the ddgoba
(Plate XLIL, fig. 2). In the back row, the two central columns
have Naga figures with their NdgaJcanyds, worshipping richly
decorated dagobas; on the first pillar, to the left hand, are two
half human figures with a lotus flower between them, and on the
fourth, two deer with the wheel between them—the usual cMnha or
cognizance of Buddha.
The most elaborate description would convey but a faint idea of
the rich tracery and sculpture on the shafts of the back row
of pillars; above the base they are ornamented by mythological
makwras or dragons ; the upper part of the shaft is encircled by a
deep belt of the most elaborate tracery, in which are wrought
medallions containing human figures ; the fascia above is supported
at the corners by dwarfs.1 Again on the left side, on the corners of
the bases, we find the rnakard and dwarf together, and on eight
facets round the upper part of the columns are pairs of rampant
antelopes, bridled by garlands held in the mouths of grinning faces
between each pair. The corner pillars have three brackets each.
n each side of the cave there are five cells or grihas for the monks,
*M» in the back four, two on each side of the shrine.
In the middle of the back wall are two pillars with brackets of
human figures, and between these we pass into an antechamber,
0ut 10 feet by 9, leading into a shrine, about 20 feet square,
^hich is a colossal statue of Buddha, with a figure of Indra
each side as his supporters, wearing rich headdresses (muhutas),
and their hair in curls. That on Buddha's left has the vajra, or
thunderbolt, in his left hand. The wheel in front of the throne
set edgewise, as with the Jainas, between two deer, with three
^orshippers on Buddha's left and five on his right, behind the deer.
e shrtne door (Plate XLIL, fig. 1) is one of the most elaborate
1 One of these pillars is represented, Plate XLIL, fig. 2.
of the brackets on each side these have elephants fighting. The
left central pillar on the left hand has a raja, his wife and child,
(liwan, two chdmara bearers and an attendant, perhaps Suddhodana
and Mahaprajapti with the infant Buddha; and on the right hand
one, two rajas seated, with attendants, much as in the two chapels
of Cave II. The first pillar in the left row has an eight-armed
fat dwarf attended by two others, one of them probably a Naga
Hgure; in the fourth, two Naga rajas are worshipping the ddgoba
(Plate XLIL, fig. 2). In the back row, the two central columns
have Naga figures with their NdgaJcanyds, worshipping richly
decorated dagobas; on the first pillar, to the left hand, are two
half human figures with a lotus flower between them, and on the
fourth, two deer with the wheel between them—the usual cMnha or
cognizance of Buddha.
The most elaborate description would convey but a faint idea of
the rich tracery and sculpture on the shafts of the back row
of pillars; above the base they are ornamented by mythological
makwras or dragons ; the upper part of the shaft is encircled by a
deep belt of the most elaborate tracery, in which are wrought
medallions containing human figures ; the fascia above is supported
at the corners by dwarfs.1 Again on the left side, on the corners of
the bases, we find the rnakard and dwarf together, and on eight
facets round the upper part of the columns are pairs of rampant
antelopes, bridled by garlands held in the mouths of grinning faces
between each pair. The corner pillars have three brackets each.
n each side of the cave there are five cells or grihas for the monks,
*M» in the back four, two on each side of the shrine.
In the middle of the back wall are two pillars with brackets of
human figures, and between these we pass into an antechamber,
0ut 10 feet by 9, leading into a shrine, about 20 feet square,
^hich is a colossal statue of Buddha, with a figure of Indra
each side as his supporters, wearing rich headdresses (muhutas),
and their hair in curls. That on Buddha's left has the vajra, or
thunderbolt, in his left hand. The wheel in front of the throne
set edgewise, as with the Jainas, between two deer, with three
^orshippers on Buddha's left and five on his right, behind the deer.
e shrtne door (Plate XLIL, fig. 1) is one of the most elaborate
1 One of these pillars is represented, Plate XLIL, fig. 2.