DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27191#0186
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
150
with wooden ribs, the mortices for which are still there, and their
marks can still be traced in the roof, but the wood itself is gone.
There is a short Pali inscription on this cave, at the right
side of the facade, which seems to be integral, but unfortunately
it does not contain names that can be identified ;1 but from the
form of the characters a palaeographist would almost certainly
place it considerably anterior to the Christian Era.
Next to this, the second chaitya here (No. 9), and probably
not much later in point of age, is the lowest down 011 the cliff,
and is of the smallest class, being only 45 ft. by 22 ft. 9 in. in
width, and 23 ft. high. All its woodwork has perished, though
it would not be difficult to restore it from the mortices left and
the representations of itself on the facade. There are several
inscriptions, but they are not integral: they are painted on the
walls, and belong, from the form of their characters, to about
the 6th or 7th century of our era, when the frescoes seem to
have been renewed, so that the real tests of its age are,—first,
its position in the series, which make it, with a neighbouring
vihara(No. 12), undoubtedly one of the oldest there; the other
test is the architecture of its facade, which so much resembles
that of the Nasik chaitya that it cannot be very far off in
date. It may, however, be somewhat earlier, as the pillars in
the interior slope inwards at an angle somewhere between that
found at Bhaja and that at Bedsa; and, in so far as that is a
test of age, it is in favour of a greater antiquity in the Ajanta
example. Such a criterion, however, dependent on the choice
of the superintendent of the excavation, is far too delicate to
use with much confidence as a chronometrical test.
The facades of both these caves are so much ruined by the
rock falling away that it is impossible to assert that there was
no sculpture on the lower parts. None, certainly, exists in the
interior, where everything depends on painting; and it is, to
say the least of it, very improbable that any figure-sculpture
adorned No. 9—the figures of Buddha 011 the sides of the court
being of much later date—while it seems likely that No. 10
also depended wholly on conventional architectural forms for
its adornment.2
The next chaitya cave in this series (No. 19) is separated
from these two by a very long interval of time. Unfortunately,
1 It may be read—“ A fai;ade or
entrance, the gift of Katahadi Vasishthi-
putra.” — ‘ Archmological Survey of
Western India,’ vol. iv. p. 116.
2 What fragments of painting remain
in this cave (No. io) differ markedly in
the costumes of the figures and their
physiognomy from what we find in the
other caves, and are evidently of much
earlier date.— ‘ Notes on the Bauddha
Rock-cut Temples of Ajanta,’ plates 8-11;
£ Cave Temples,’ plate 29 ; ‘ Inscriptions
from the Cave Temples of Western India,’
plate 34, p. 67 ; Workman’s £ Through
Town and Jungle,’ p. 159.
Book I.
150
with wooden ribs, the mortices for which are still there, and their
marks can still be traced in the roof, but the wood itself is gone.
There is a short Pali inscription on this cave, at the right
side of the facade, which seems to be integral, but unfortunately
it does not contain names that can be identified ;1 but from the
form of the characters a palaeographist would almost certainly
place it considerably anterior to the Christian Era.
Next to this, the second chaitya here (No. 9), and probably
not much later in point of age, is the lowest down 011 the cliff,
and is of the smallest class, being only 45 ft. by 22 ft. 9 in. in
width, and 23 ft. high. All its woodwork has perished, though
it would not be difficult to restore it from the mortices left and
the representations of itself on the facade. There are several
inscriptions, but they are not integral: they are painted on the
walls, and belong, from the form of their characters, to about
the 6th or 7th century of our era, when the frescoes seem to
have been renewed, so that the real tests of its age are,—first,
its position in the series, which make it, with a neighbouring
vihara(No. 12), undoubtedly one of the oldest there; the other
test is the architecture of its facade, which so much resembles
that of the Nasik chaitya that it cannot be very far off in
date. It may, however, be somewhat earlier, as the pillars in
the interior slope inwards at an angle somewhere between that
found at Bhaja and that at Bedsa; and, in so far as that is a
test of age, it is in favour of a greater antiquity in the Ajanta
example. Such a criterion, however, dependent on the choice
of the superintendent of the excavation, is far too delicate to
use with much confidence as a chronometrical test.
The facades of both these caves are so much ruined by the
rock falling away that it is impossible to assert that there was
no sculpture on the lower parts. None, certainly, exists in the
interior, where everything depends on painting; and it is, to
say the least of it, very improbable that any figure-sculpture
adorned No. 9—the figures of Buddha 011 the sides of the court
being of much later date—while it seems likely that No. 10
also depended wholly on conventional architectural forms for
its adornment.2
The next chaitya cave in this series (No. 19) is separated
from these two by a very long interval of time. Unfortunately,
1 It may be read—“ A fai;ade or
entrance, the gift of Katahadi Vasishthi-
putra.” — ‘ Archmological Survey of
Western India,’ vol. iv. p. 116.
2 What fragments of painting remain
in this cave (No. io) differ markedly in
the costumes of the figures and their
physiognomy from what we find in the
other caves, and are evidently of much
earlier date.— ‘ Notes on the Bauddha
Rock-cut Temples of Ajanta,’ plates 8-11;
£ Cave Temples,’ plate 29 ; ‘ Inscriptions
from the Cave Temples of Western India,’
plate 34, p. 67 ; Workman’s £ Through
Town and Jungle,’ p. 159.