Just About Everything

Reclining Buddha at Ajanta Cave (cave 26), Aurangabad, India Here is a video clipping of cave 26 from Ajanta caves . This cave has a reclining Buddha depicting the moment of his death. The sculptures and the intricate work in this cave is amazing. In case you are short of time, I recommend that you see caves 1, 2, 16, 17, and 26.

Reclining Buddha, Ajanta cave 26 Ajanta, a UNESCO world heritage site in Aurangabad district, India, depicts the finest Indian wall paintings and architecture (quite a bit of it is still surviving). There are a total of 30 rock-cut caves dating back to the 2nd century BC, many are unfinished and quite a few have deteriorated a lot, but there are some better preserved caves where we can get a glimpse of ancient Indian art and architecture. These caves had been long forgotten until a British officer stumbled upon one of the caves in 1819. I will start my Ajanta diary by posting pictures and a short video clipping of Cave 26; this cave has a reclining Buddha, and some very nice sculptures and interesting paintings. Ajanta cave 26 Ceiling of cave 26 Painting on the wall of cave 26

Cave temple 21, Ellora, India This is my last post on Ellora cave temples and paintings ...I hope I could bring a little bit of Ellora to you through my posts...this is one place you must visit, especially if art and sculptures interest you. Excavated in the 7th Century A.D, Cave temple 21 is another beautiful cave temple dedicated to Shiva.  I loved the sculptures in this cave. There is a sculpture of Ravana shaking Kailasa, and this seems to be one of the most popular themes in Ellora, we saw similar sculptures in a couple of other cave temples in Ellora.   Ravana shaking Kailasa Carvings on a pillar

Ellora Cave 14, Ravan Ki Khai Today's post is in continuation to my earlier post on Ellora . Caves 14 and 15 of the Brahmanical group may not be as grand as cave 16 , but they are beautiful and you can see some amazing sculptures and carvings in these caves. Cave 14 is called Ravan ki Khai because of the sculpture of Ravana shaking Kailasa (this happens to be quite a popular theme in Ellora.). This cave seems to be dedicated to Shakti worship because there are a number of female deities in this cave temple. A panel on the wall has seven (could not get a good picture). Cave 15 (Dasavatara cave ) is grand. It is called Dasavatara because of the various beautifully sculpted incarnations of Vishnu in this cave. There is a dance hall (Natya mandapa) right at the centre of the courtyard. The ground section of the cave does not have too many sculptures, but the upper level has quite a few sculptures. The first thing that you see in the upper level is Shiva’s chariot, a beautifu...