An Introduction to the Ajanta Caves  (English, Paperback, Singh Rajesh Kumar)

Ajanta, a World Heritage Monument, houses an ancient Buddhist monastery that developed across two phases: the Satavahana phase (late 3rd c. BCE1st c. BCE) and the Vakaaka phase (ca. 462480 CE). It has preserved some of the finest examples of ancient rock-cut art, architecture, and material culture.

This book presents updated and new information along with the views of leading contemporary scholars. Information from diverse domains has been collated together: epigraphy, ancient Buddhist texts, archaeology, iconography, architecture, and art history. The development sequence as well as stories behind the wall paintings is presented in brief.

Dieter Schlingloffs and Monika Zins identifications of the narrative paintings are widely acclaimed. Summarized stories are presented here along with quality photographs. The identifications are major breakthroughs, adding to and improving upon, the earlier corpus by James Burgess and A. Foucher. The stories included here match closely to the painted versions.

Although Ajanta studies have steadily grown through specialised streams much of the latest advancement in research has been confined to scholarly books and periodicals, and thus, generally inaccessible to a wider section of people who wish to gain information about this splendid monument. The books that are generally available either supply information that are out-dated in the light of new research or are not comprehensive enough to satisfy the many curiosities of the learner. Some of the excellent scholarly works are either too detailed for the beginner or lack quality photographs illustrating the many extant art, architectural, and technological features. This book is attempts to fill this long-felt gap and tries to make available a summary of the latest research, complemented by attractive photographs that illustrate the variety and complexity of the art and architectural panorama of the Ajanta caves.

The author Rajesh Singh has spent many years studying the art of Ajanta caves.