Ajanta Caves are situated in Aurangabad in Maharashtra. These caves feature exclusively the Buddhist architecture. Caves were constructed as Viharas (Living place) and Chaitya (Prayer Hall).
Mural and Fresco painting were used for the decoration in caves. Both Sung and Gupta dynasty worked for the painting in caves.
Ajanta has twenty-nine caves. It has four chaitya caves datable to the earlier phase, i.e., the second and the first century BCE (Cave Nos. 10 and 9) and the later phase, i.e., the fifth century CE (Cave Nos. 19 and
It has large chaitya viharas and is decorated with sculptures and paintings.
It is the only surviving example of painting of the first century BCE and the fifth century CE. The caves have no precise chronology because of the lack of known dated inscriptions.
Important Links