Spink, Ajanta History and Development Vol. 3The_Arrival_of_the_Uninvited

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Cover illustration: Aj a n ta C ave 9 s h ow ing intr usive Buddh a 479 .P ub lish ed with co ur t esy o f th e M ichi ga n A sia n r t rchi ves .

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PR I NT E D IN THE NE T HE RL AN DS



.Cave 2

.Cave 1Cave 1Ca v e Upper

Cave

Cave 9A- 9l lCa.ve l OA

Cave l l

.Cave 12ACave l5_

CavP. L6

C a ve l l

Ca ve 19.

Cave 2ilCa.ve 21Cave 22

Cave 21Cave .21:

Cave 2 6

Ca.ve 26

Cave 2 6

6

C O NTENTS

Intru sion s vs . pro gr ammed paintings ..... . ...Inti ·usl·on s 1.11 the orch • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • ••

Intru sion s in tbe sbr iu e ·-- -w----- ... . . .. . .. ..... . .. .. _

O ri g ina 1 and intru sive pha ses compared .. .Sr ine antechamber and sh rine .. . .. ... . --- ·· ··Rear wa ll fi ure s .... ........... ... ...... ..... ........ ... ... .Ri ht front shrinelet .................................... ..

Ri ht rear shrinel e t .................................. .. .. ..

Court shrine let s left and ricrht .............. .... ..e ~ 01 1rt sbr:1·ue .let_ u _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ . • •

Ri o·ht court shr ine 1et .. ........ .. ........ .... ........ .. .. ..

Tbe ma inPorcb ..Intru sio n s

shrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-. . -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -

l utrll. Sive ..... ___..... .. ......... .. ._ ....... ... .. ..

.... _ .. ... ..

_Iutrusi e .... ......... .... ..... .... ....... ...... .... .... ....... .. ..Intrusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

T .n tr:u s1ve .... .-··-··-· ......... ..... ._ _ _ . ......... .... --·-· -·--. -Intrusions . . . . . . .

I utn1 sion s . . ._ _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._. . . - -.. . . . . ·· . . ...

l utrn siou s • • •• •••• • •• • • •• •••• • •• • • • • •••• • • • • • • • •• • • • •• • • • • •• • • • •• •

Intru sio n s . . .- --· . · . .... ....... .. --·-- · .. .... ... .... .. · · -In tru sio s • •• • • • • •• • • • •• • • • • •• • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • •

Intrusion s • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• • • • •• • • •• • • • • • •• • • •• • • • • • •• • • •• • • • •

Intrusions • e • • e • e • e I I • e • • • • • I • e • • I • • • I

Intru sion s Court • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Intru sion s C ourt • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••

Intrusions . .... .. ... ...... ....... .... . ...... .... ....... .. ... ......

Fa ade Intr .S .On S' ... ...... .. ... ...... .... .......... .. ..... .

Ambulator II1ti. ISI.on s' ................................. .

Gha.totka cba. v iha.ra. Intr u sions .......... ........... .

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26 1





CAV E 2

IN TRUSIONS VS. PROGRAMMED PAINTINGS

Thi s anal ysis placed at the be ginnin g of this vo lum e on Ajanta'sintru sive pha se, or Period of Di sruption , is intended to sho w w herean d ho w the intru sion s g iven b y indi vidual donors donors quitedifferent fr om the site 's ori ginal patrons fit into the tot al de velopm ent of the caves . In Cave 2 su ch an anal ys is clearly revea ls ho wlogica lly one can distingu ish t h e ori ginal from the added ( intrusive ) programs, even though the latter a re typically careless of theorigin al p atron 's we ll-l aid p lan of signifi ca nt d eco rat ion .

Th e follo win g is exce rpt ed from the author' s ear lier Ajanta A BriifH istory and uide and ha s been w ritt en to gu id e st ud en ts through th epoint b y point de ve lopment of the p a in ting program in this sp lendid cave, whi ch sta rted in su ch an orde rly fashion, and ended (as

th e sit e itself ended ) so expediently.Entitled: DO YOUR OW N ANA LYSIS , th is is actual ly a stepb y-step guide to under sta ndin g the r elation ship s between or igin al and intrusive w ork.

o YOUR o w N A N LYS i s

You may be intere sted in critically reviewin g th e manner in whichthe sequence of eve nt s claim ed to unde rli e the Short Chrono logyis reflec te d in the de ve lopmen t of wor k in the caves. I f so, the pain tings of Cave 2 all assigned here to the last four years of activity atth e sit e (477- 480 ), ca n provide you with a tes t case .

In analyzing the pro gre ss of the painted decoration in Cave 2you will probabl y wan t to estimate the number of painters involved,de cide what might be a reasonable time span for the work accomplished, and not e the character of the paintin g as we ll as how much

of th e cave was actually fini shed . Finall y decidei f

ch a nges in th esty le and/ or iconography re vea l a re lationship be tween the decoration of th e cave and the hi storical circumstances th at allegedly controll ed it.



2 C VE 2

477: Site stil l flourishing under Harisena's overlordship , with feudatory contro l of th e region by the Asmaka s.

Cave 2's excavat ion having been essentially completed by 4 76 , itsplastering , and then its pa inting, began early in 4 7 7. All of the decoration of the porch and roughly half of the painting in the interior hall was acc01npl ish ed during th is fina l year of Ha risena's reign.t\ ork on the beautifully organized ceiling proceeded general ly rear

ward. As soon as these upper areas had been comp leted, the painting of the pillars and of the side ais le wa lls was started, workingfrom the upper leve ls downward and from front to back. H owever,work on this carefully planned program was sudden ly disrupted whenHarisena died. On the left wa ll , the na rrative decoration en ds withthe clearly unfini she d Birth of the Buddha scene. At this point thewall beyond, although p lastered, was still unpainted , as were all thewalls in the rear ai sle, as well as the dark front wall. As for the ceiling decoration, before its carefu l program was disrupted at the endof 477, the painters had alrea dy fin ished that of 'the s h rine antechamber as well as those in the adjacent Nidhi and Ha rit i shrinelets toleft and right. Indeed, the latter shrinel et had just been fully deco

rated when Harisena died , but neither the main Buddha shrine, no rthe wa lls of the shri ne antechamber, nor the rest of the Nidhi shrine lethad been painted by this time .

Earl y 478: The P eriod of Anxious Conso lidation . Hal ting theiroverall programs , the site's patrons rush to finish their main Buddh as.

Aware that a war for the contro l of the empire was loomi ng,patrons throughout the site were now n1shing to fin ish only the mostessent ial portions of their caves. Thus the patron of Cave 2 abandoning work on the lower priority n arrative murals , co n centrated on

painting the shrine; this had not been po ss ible before because theBuddha image had not yet been finished . The already carved shrinedoorway wou ld also have been finished by the painters , along withthe shrine. 1 At the same time, the painter s completed the all -t oo -hurried Vajrapani guarding the antechamber entrance at the right ,as well as the similarly slap-dash paintings in the Nidhi shrine let.Th en, although the cave was still sa dly incompl e te , the involvem entof the original patron came to an abrupt end.

Pr ovide footnot e text.



INTRUSIONS VS. PROGR MMED P INTI NGS 3

Mid-4 78: The " Period of Di sruption " begin s in the "Vakataka "sect ion of the sit e, alon g the main scarp . Th e or iginal "V akataka"

patron s forced to leave the site , lo se all control of their caves. Newdonor s in va de them with intru sion s. By the end of 478, the Asmaka

patron s responsible for th e caves in the sit e's western ex tr emity , we resuddenl y for ced to lea ve also, th eir courtly support cut off by th edernand s of the de velopin g in sur rection l ed b y the A smaka s againstthe Vaka ta ka emperor.

As the site's economic ba se and its administrative control s collap sed , n ew donor s pr evio usly excl ud ed from sharin g in the site'seliti st patrona ge, "invaded" thi s and other ca ves w ith their own meri tmaking votive im a ges p lacing them in the mo st de sira ble lo cat ionsstill ava ilable. Probabl y the first such intru sion made in Cave 2 wasthe Sravasti Miracle , so grand ly dispo se d on the hi gh ly v isible wallarea of th e rear wa ll just to the left of the antechamber ent ran ce .Had hi s time not run out , the ori gina l patron would surel y ha ve puta " P a dmapani " in thi s important area to match the "Vajrapani " tothe ri ght . Th e ar t ist r espon sibl e for th e Sravasti Miracle probablypaint ed th e small Ei ght Buddha s at th e right of the shrin e doorwa y

just at eye level, w hile another 1nore ambitiou s " intruder " took o verall the re st of these high priori ty w all surface s for his M yriad Buddha s.Thi s makes a veritable radiation chamber of the antecha1nber, thewa lls of which had already been plastered but were s till not paintedwhen Hari sena died . In teresting ly the dispo sition of the Eight Buddh as'in scription pr o ves t h at it was not written until after the M yriadBuddh as we re starte d. T hu s both groups ar e essentially contemporaneo us surel y dating ea rly in th e Period of Di sruption , probablysta rtin g here in tnid-478 , whe n such high priority locations wouldstill ha ve been availab le.

480: The "Period of Di sruption" cont inue s but it w ill soon rapidlyend, leav ing 1nan y available locations still untouched b y intru sion s.

Cave 2's antechamber p illar bases had alr ead y been pla ste r ed, in477; and no w an in scr ibed Buddha ima ge was pain te d on one o fthem in the cursory sty le of the nearby T hou san d Buddha s. Thedes irabilit y of a loca tion close to th e shrin e equally explain s th e addition of a simil a rly inscr ibed ima ge in the unadorn ed corner of the

left rear wal l's Sravasti Miracle, resu lting in an intru sion being paintedupon an intru sion At the sa me time (in 480 ) an in scribed row ofBuddha s was pla ce d ju st below the much lar ger group painted (in4 79) to wa rd the rear of th e alr eady pla stere d l eft aisle wa ll. A f ew



4 C VE

other areas in the cave (notabl y the front wall ) could have had sim

ilar intru sion s; but here , as in all of th e other caves at th e site , tim e

all too rap cily ran out.Thi s concludes our " mini- surve y'' of four ye a rs of vigorous painting

activity in on e parti cular cave at th e s ite an anal ysis allowed byAjanta 's unique complex ity, that could be parall eled b y a stud y of

d ev elop1nent s in all of Ajanta 's oth er caves as we ll. I t is only through

such poin t b y point considerations tha t one can ri ghtl y judge the

validity of the so-called " Short Chronology . I f such te sts are pa sse don e can th en declar e that Ajanta 's Vakataka patrona ge provides u swith the sin g le mo st te llin g reflection of cl a ss ical Indian culture atits apogee. And one can further say that this apogee was reached

not under the Gupta s but during the reign of the all-too-unsung

Vakataka Emperor Hari se na , who surely had no pe e r in hi s time.It was he and he alone who led that radiant world, reflect ed upon

Ajan ta's w alls in siste ntl y up to the very farthe st horizon of the Golden

Age.I t cannot be d enied that th ese " monum ent s in the mountain

d esc ri b e, w ith a remarkabl e re sonanc e, th i s culminating mom ent in

early Indian culture. Howe ver, at the sa me ti1ne th e y alone finall ydefine the continent-shaking consequences, attendant upon Hari se na' sdeath , which accrued, when the golden vess el that h e had held aloftwas so decisively shatt ered. Thi s too is fig ured upon Ajanta' s w all

in the unfini shed paintin gs, the half-cu t ima ges and the abandoned

dream s.



CAVE 4

INTRUSIONS IN PORCH

The largest excavation at the site, Cave 4 was the donation of thevihara swami n Mathura. (See In scr # 17) Not only because wor k

stopped on it from 469 through 474 (Rece ssion and Hiatu s), but

because a por tio n of the ceiling collapsed during that period, necessitatin g ma ssive adjustments, the cave was s till quite inc01nplete whenHari sena died. Howe ver, early in 478 Mathura rushed the mainimage to an expedient completion and dedication, and it is for thisreason the cave now being a live that it attracted various donorsdurin g th e Period of Di sruption, wh ich began only a few monthslater, perhaps as early as mid-478. At this point new donors, enthusedby the vis ibilit y spaciousness, and previous smoot hi n g of the spaceon either sid e of the porch door , added intrusive and no longer

sym1netr ical ly disposed figures there , usurping the areas whi ch weresurely intended for the expected paintings of conventional paired

bodhisattvas.The impressive Avalokitesvara Litany to the right of the Cave 4

porch doorway, and the carved bhadrasana Buddh a panel to th eleft, are among the very first intrusions at the site. Considering thedesir abili ty of their highly vis ible lo cat ions, and the fact that the wallsurfaces we re already prepared, it is likely that both of these major

intrusions were carved at the very start of the Period of Di sruption;that is relatively early in 479, or even in the latter part of 4 78, bywhich time l\llathura, the owner of the cave , as he is referred toin his inscription, had had to renounce hi s control over the caveand to leave the region.

O f different shapes, and asymmetrically placed, these two reliefsare typical of the intrusions whi ch were made exclus ively in thePeriod of Di srupt ion. Their intrusive character also explains whythe y are the only feature s in the still s01newha t unfinished porch

which were plastered and painted. As is the case w ith the intrusive



6 CAV E 4

reliefs in Cave 22 , Ca ve U 6, and elsewhere , the y are set off as dis-tin ct and separat e v otive off erin gs not only by th e fa ct th at th ey

were thu s fini shed , but by the fact that su ch pla stering and paint -ing extended on to a sm a ll area of ceilin g immediatel y above eachof th e1n, which w as pla stered and paint ed to form a small ho n orifi cca no p y. On e c an mak e out a lotu s medallion support ed by tw on early obliterat ed flyin g celes tial s paint ed with a chara cteri sti callyla vish la te u se o f inten se blue ; the red (ground brick ) pl as ter beneathis al so of a characteri stic ally compo sitio n . T he or iginal p a tron 's pl a nfor th e por ch d ec orati on w as of cour se quit e different , and w ouldalmo st certainl y ha ve included a pair of la r ge painted bodhi sat tvason either side of thi s important en t rance door way; but the la ter

donor s w ere not concerned with such thin gs as de corati ve pro gram s.The Litan y sc en e th e identific ation usuall y assigned to the bod-

hisattva A valokit esv ara as Lord of Tra veler s w as an immen sely pop -ular them e throu ghou t th e V ak at ak a pha se a t Ajan ta. O ver twe lvepa inted and or sculpted ve r sio ns of the subject appea r which i sremark abl e sin ce all ot h er iconi c im ages ar e of Buddha ima ges orof stupa s (whi ch oft en fun ction a s Buddha sub stitut es). It is reason-

able to a ssum e that sin ce Ajanta w as a r emot e site and the road sin the Period of Di srup tion would be full of hazard s offerin gs tothe Prot ector of Traveler s w ere ve ry appropria te.

Thi s Avalokit esva ra Litan y, the mo st impr ess ive ex ampl e of th eman y v er sion s of thi s theme at the site, sho ws the compa ssionat elord as pro tec tin g hi s de vote es from the dan ger s of tra vel or per-hap s from a ny journe y in to the u n kno wn . The po w er of an in vo-cation to Avalokit esvar a, th e Lord of Tra velers exp r esse d h ere in

stone , is revealed in the famou s Saddharmapundarika (The Lotu sSutra ):

Be not afra id the Sad clharma Punda rika (Lotus o f th e G ood L aw )pr o cla im s be not frighte ned ; in vo ke a ll o f you, w ith o ne vo ice t heBod hi sattv a M a hasat tva Ava lokitesva ra, t he give r of sa fety; t hen yoush all b e de live red fro m th is da nger by wh ich yo u are th reatened atthe hands of rob b ers an d enem ies; if th en the w ho le ca r ava n with o nevo ice in voked Av alok itesva ra w ith the wo rd s: Ad orat ion , ad orat io n be

1\il e re trac es o f pl as te r rem a in o n th e ce ilin g ov e r th e b h adr asa na pa nel, w hi chalso wo u ld have h ad a canopy.



INTRU SIO N S IN PORCH 7

to the giver of safety, to Ava lo kit esva ra Bodhi sattva Maha sa tt va Th en ,by th e m ere ac t of p ronounc ing th a t nam e, the caravan wo uld berel ease d fr o m all dang er. " 2

On an esoteric level, the "bhayas " or fear s repre sented ma y wellha ve b een intended as metaphor s for va riou s mode s of wro ng th inking or action , whereby fire = anger , drowning = de sire , snakes =j ealou sy etc. , as sugges ted by J ohn Hu ntington .3 Ho wever, th e momentwhen so rnany repre sentation s suc h as this we re carved at the sitewas a moment when thought s of ph ys ical rather than spiritual sa lvatio n must have been paramount A concern for Avalokite sva ra 'sprote ction for acquiring smne tra ve l in surance mu st have beenpart icularly in t ensified in the se dan ge ro us ye ar s wh en th e feudator yAsmaka s no w in contro l of the Ajanta region , rejected the imperial overlord ship of Sarva sena III , Hari sena's s on. The Asm aka action ,of cou rse , was tantamount to a declar ation of wa r a war whichwa s sur ely soon to cmne; and th ese "unin vited" donor s may alreadyhave been anticipating the mounting danger s of tr a ve l, or eve n ofcontinued re sidence at the site , which t hey might all too soon ha veto face.

T he different astabhayas or Eight dangers which could quite actually confront the trave ler on the now increa singly dangerou s nearb ytrad e-route are quite conventional in their representation here . Thewhole configuration reflec ts the textual de scription of how travel erscan be protected b y the grace of the bodhi sattva , in voked b y theritual formulae pr e se rved in the twenty -fourth chapter of the Sad-

dh a rma Pundarika:

(5) If one be thro w n into a pit of fire , b y a wicke d enem y w ithth e object of killin g him , h e ha s but to think of Avalokit esva ra ,and the fire shall be quenched as if sprinkled with water.

(6) If one happens to fall into the dreadful ocean , the abode ofNaga s marine monsters , a nd d em on s he ha s but to thin kof Avalokit esvara , and he shall n eve r sink down in the kin g ofwaters

2

K e rn (trans .) 1884 1963 ), 4 8 .Accord in g to H untington 1981 , 55, no t e 29 ) "Th e salvat ions from ex ternalp e rils mu st be und e rstood as popul a r level s alva tions whi le th e freedom from in t e rnal f ea rs is d1e tec hn i ca l soter iolog ica l level T h ese (fea rs), of course a re non eo th er fuan fue fetters fuat, once cast off, allow o ne to reac h enlightenment."



8 CAVE

(9) If a man be surrounded by a host of enemies armed with swords,who ha ve th e int en tion of killing him , he ha s but to think of

Avalokitesvara, and they shall instantaneously become kindhearted

(14) If a man is surrounded by fearful beasts with sharp teeth andclaw s he ha s but to think of Avalokitesvara , and they shallquickly fly in all directions

(17) He (Avalokitesvara ) with hi s powerful kno wledge beholds allcreatures who are beset with many hundreds of troubles and

afflicted b y many sorrows , and thereby is a saviour in the wo rld ,including th e gods. 4

Th e potential difficulties of the road revealed h ere can be li sted asreprese nt ed (counterclockwise from upper right ): fore st fire; encounterwith snakes; attack on a couple (?);5 illegible; 6 shipwreck (trave lersoften had to risk crossing various rivers; attack by brigands (?); attackb y lion s / ti ge rs; attack by wild elephant s.7

Avalokitesvara , assertively frontal , stands on a lotu s pede stal , and

once held a lon g-stemmed lotus with a la te g lobular blos som inhis now-broken proper left hand ; the other hand (now missing ) is inthe expected abhaya mudr a . The familiar Buddha Amitabha , sea tedin padma sana and with dharma cakra mudra , can be seen in thejatamukuta ; Avalokitesvara represents the earthly emanation of thislord of the Western Paradise. Ho wever, it is of particular interestthat another la r ger Buddha , presumably also Amitabha , appears inan arch ed niche above , sea ted in th e bhadra sana po se, and al so onc ein dharmacakra mudra (no w broken ).8 The emphasis accorded thi s

redundant figure , and its ve ry developed iconograp hy st resses the

4 K e rn (trans. ) 1884 (1963 ), 413 41 5; loca l travelers prob abl y int e rp r ete d th esefea rs somew ha t differe ntl y witl1 fire being the d ange r from forest fire, drowni n g

th e danger from river crossi ng s in the m onsoo n , etc .; Th e un u sual a mount of space at the r ight suggests that the sto ne broke in carv

ing a nd that the at ta cke r was pa inted in.6 Poss ibly a woma n holding an (e roded ) ba by threatened by a demon (?), by anal

ogy w itl1 the we ll pr eserved Li tany Sce ne in Aurangabacl Cave 7 (last half of sixthcentury ).

7 For a ra r e Tar a Lit any , elating to the sevent h century, see R. Sen Gupta , A

Guid e to th e Bu ddhist Caves of Elura , Bomb ay 1958, Pl ate XVII ; R. Gupt e,Ic onog raph y of the Buddhi st Caves of Ellora, Aurangabad, 1964, Plate 2C .8 Th e bh aclra sana figure in the arched recess probably elates from late 479 , but

sma ll bh a dra sa na Buddh as in mor e co nve ntional (sq ua re) form ats probably we reneve r carve d un til 480, jud gin g from th eir co nt exts.



INTRU SIO N S IN PORCH 9

relativel y late nature of the conception. Similarly , the incorporationof seat ed Buddha s (the left in dharmacakra , th e right in bh um i spar sa

mudra ) in each of the upper corners of the relief link s the co n ception to panel s R , R3 , R4 , and L8 , ca r ved in the Cave 26 ambu-

lator y in 4 78 , as we ll a s to various other s in very la t e, generallyintru sive, co nt exts at the site. Th e typically lat e frarnin g demi-pillar sfurther confirm the late date of the ima ge, as doe s the fa ct that th ero sette band on the right demi-pill ar is cut righ t over the adjacentwindow frame at the lowe r left.

Th ose con ce rn ed with geo logical matt ers Ca ve 4 b ein g of par-ticular intere st in this rega rd should note the fault (be tw een twosequential l ava laye rs) that ru n s th rough the legs of the bodhi sa t tva,and conti nu es on it s fru stratin gly undi sciplined course a lon g the porch

wa ll on either side. 9 One can see ho w the gasses, bubbling upward

from the lower level s of the upper layer, h ave formed globu lar pocke ts (am ygdaloid s), once of course filled with different mineral depo sitswhich by now are mo stly eroded away by time.

Th e bhadra sa na Buddha to th e left of th e doorway res ts its fe eton th e expec ted lat e lotu s p ed estal with wheel and d ee r crow d ed

beneath. Th e image i s s eated on a throne supported b y typ ically lateleonine thron e legs with the expected st ructural thrust-b lock s carried on the anima ls' head s and with capping nubs to cover and pro-tect the legs wher e (at least in structural counterpart s) the y projectup thr ou gh the th r one seat. Nearl y all of the ca rve d elemen ts of thecompositio n can be directl y compared with those of panel A atthe back of Cave 22's antechamber , an in trusive don a6on of early4 79. Th e only 1najor diff erence is that th e Ca ve 4 panel was pro-vided with elaborate flankin g pila ster s found in m an y such late co n-te xts throughout the site. 1

Th e atte nda nt Ava lokit esva ra here h olds an aksama la also an

appropriate attribute instead of a kamandalu as in Cave 22 . Actuall yit see m s likel y that thi s less usual feature was u sed b eca use the stonefor the kamandalu broke in the cutting: one can see that th e ro sar y

9 Fa r greater pr ob lems were caused by t he m ajor flaw which , clearly visible afew fee t above th e porch colonnade , no n ethel ess desce nd ed at an angle i nside th e

cave, cau sing th e great probl ems d esc rib ed els ew h ere (see Vo lu me I, Chapter 11 ).1 See pa nels C , F, a nd H in Cave 22 itself; one of the in tru sive panel s in Cave15; th e intru sive panel at the left rea r of Cave 20; a few within th e projecti ng va ultof the great chai tya arc h of Cave 26; a nd one n ear th e mid-point of the l eft faca defram e of Cave 19.



10 CAVE

has a tellin gly kamand alu sh a pe. Unf ortunatel y the head s of thebodhi sa ttvas, having been a mon g th e few a t the sit e carve d in essen

tially the full-round , have be en broken off either for profit or outof rival re ligiou s piety; but jud ging fr om a number of other relatedexam pl es there is no reason to think they differe d from th e norm.The pr esence of th e antelope skin exp lain s why Ava loki tesvara'spro pe r left armpit was not cut very deeply . Ho weve r, th e details ofthe an telope 's head a nd feet mu st ha ve been p ainted on , since nomore tha n the outli nes of the skin we re revea led b y the sculptor.Such a coordinat ion of painted and carved details became in creasingly common in the Period of Di sruption , when speed was oftennecessary.

The de vot ees are s lightly differe nt from Cave 22's , since one onthe right is sho wn be n ding over to touch th e gro und with his head

a unique po sition in this type of co mp o siti on. It see m s unlikely thatth is is a reference to the st ory of the Dipank ara Buddha which h adb een rep resente d va r iou s tim es at the site in ea rlie r contexts , an dwhi ch sho ws th e wo rsh ippin g Su1nedha in thi s po se; but it m ay we llb e the case that the ston e neede d for th e ex p ec ted conventional type

of devotee broke in the course of ca rvin g and that the scu lp tor cleverly sub stit uted the well-known Dip ank a ra-devote e type , wh ich couldb e revea led from the re1naining matrix. Behind this un usual figureare very obscure tra ces of a normall y kneeling one, lookin g upwardand app are ntl y profferin g a rather large and ill- cut lo tus . At the left ,two s mall and onc e charming figures of kneeling devotees are crowdedin, one beh ind the other , as if to satisfy the late compulsion fo r m ultiple devotees.

Although the bodhisattvas do not ha ve carved h aloe s here , as do

their counterparts in Cave 22, the se feature s were painted in , as isclear frmn tr a ces re1naining at the left , wh ile a carve d mandorla

occupi es the back ground. Fu r th erm ore , the makaras and vyalas, whichhad been carve d in Cave 22, were a lso painted -in her e, next to thescu lp ture d bolster. Sti ll cle a rly visibl e at the le f t a leon ine creat ur e(als o painted ) leaps out of the makara s mo u th ; th is is the onlyin stance at th e sit e where the mor e con ventiona l runnin g dwarf, or

For Di pankara sce nes at Ajanta, see Suresh Vasant, 1991, 151 - 155. For suchiconographic adjustme n ts clue to breakage of the rock, see VV Spink, 1986.



INTRUSIONS IN PORCH 1 1

lotus frond , or long-necked bird's head is replaced by such a form.The fact that no other images at th e site show simil ar creature s in

this po sition suggests that the ide a developed too late to come intocommon usage. I t is interesting to note that simi lar forms are foundin the Buddhi st Cave 12 at Ellora; but this is more than two centuries later. Th e way in whic h the paws of the pain ted lions and

vya las are fe stooned is also a very late feature , at lea st in scu lp tu redgroups at the site. 2

Instead of the carved nagas which often appear over the makarasin thi s type of compo sition here we have two bodhi sattvas paintedin behind the throne back, their position follo wing the lead of theprestigious im age in Cave 16 , completed only some months before.As in that image , the bodhisattvas hold cauris (still visib le her e inthe one on the left ) but otherwise do not have distinctive and/ ornow -visible identifying att rib ute s.

A lo tus medallion of an unusual design no t a flower , but a composite of petal or leaf forms , is painted on the ceiling of the panel ,abov e the slightly rai sed painted halo; a painted medallion is also tobe found in the central Cave 22 Buddha , but it wa s much more

cursor ily clone , as was all of the painting on that image.The Buddha ' s proper left kn ee was broken in the course of carv

ing and shows evidence of a cha racteristic contemporary repair. O fparticular in tere st is the fact that a fra gment of wood remain s in thelower hol e. Thus bo th here and in the somewhat simi larly repai re dpanel C in Cave 22 , we have clear evidence that such repairs weremade at least in some instances with wooden inserts; wood repai rswere made in a number of ce ll doorway fitting s too , in Cave s 1 and17 , in cases where projections broke. 13 For small er repairs , iron wasoften used. 4

The main lotu s pedestal has a curious appearance , the centralpetal or petals being bent back , following the precedent of two ofthe lot us pedestal s, carve d in 4 7 8 under the great sta ndin g Bu ddha s

2 See for inst a nce Ca ve 7' s Buddha (sec ond ph ase : 4 77 78) Som ew hat simil a rinsta nces app ear in the d epic tion s of brack et figur es o n pal aces on C ave l 's left

hall wall , paint ed in 4 77 .3 See Cave 1 C ell R4.4 For inst a n ce, see doubl e rep a jr (with on e inse t) of two celes tia ls ove r th e main

Buddha of Ca ve Up p er 6 , left side; al so anoth er small hol e fo r a repair ove r th eruin ed porti co o f Ca ve l , a t th e left.



12 C VE

in the shrine antechamber of Cave U6, right side. Po ssibly the effectis exaggerate d here, to better reveal the crowded wheel, because of

the high placement of the relief.The panel was still quite unfini shed when it was painted. Note

the difference between the two pilasters only that at the right hasfully carved designs. Th e left pilaster's shaft, being unfinished, revealshow the carvers facilitated the creatio n of cylindrical sect ion s by firstcutting it as an octagonal form. The fact that the left bodhi sattva'slotus pede stal i s also unfinishe d sup port s the argument that the panelwas not start ed until 480 and that it had to be finished in a rush.The panel's incon venient positioning mi ght sup por t suc h an assumption , but one must remember that even from the start this was atroubled period , when many donors and artists ma y have left rather

precipitou sly even in 4 79 . There are various unfini shed votive carvings whi ch suggest this, sin ce they are covere d by (i.e. recut by ) laterfinished im a ges.

The panel's colm·s are litnited , and would have been mostly localin origin: red, orange, green, white, and touches of lapis -blu e, thelatter pre sumably coming down to th e sit e via the trade routes. Lapi s

lazuli was used mo st sparin gly right up to the time of Hari sena'sdeath , but was probabl y a bar gain by the time thi s bhadrasana imagewas underway . V e can assume that increasing amounts of it werebrou ght in while Ajanta was flourishing , right up to the ti1ne ofHari sena's death, and that by the Period of Di sruption the importe rswere stuck with a burden some oversupply. 5

Although much unu sed wa ll-space remains in Cave 4's great porch,these two pan els were the only ones carved there during the Per iodof Di srupt ion. Howe ver, the enormous cave and its giga ntic itnageare so impressive that it seems likely that it wou ld ha ve been attractive to donor s during thi s Period of Di sruption; so it might well bethe case that other areas of the large porch wall were used forpainted vot ive intru sions, and that all tr a ces of plaster and painthave by no w disappeared. Thi s assumption is supported by the evidence that such a painted intrusion did indeed once appear in thearea ju st beneath the bhadra sana Buddha panel. In fact, the location of the carved panel almost certainly revea ls that the (hypothet -

3 This might well explain the lavish us e of blu e in the hypo style of Cave 21,or on many intru sive Buddh a imag es in Cave Upper 6, etc .



INTRUSIONS IN PORCH 3

ical ) painted panel below belonged to a patron who got there veryshortly after Mathura had vacated the cave , perhaps as early as mid-

478 , but certainly by early 479 after the ca ve's patron no longercontrolled the cave. The donor of the bhadrasana Buddha panelobviously got involved a little later , and was apparently willing toput hi s own panel at it s inconvenient height, in order to have itnear the doorw ·ay and the cave's axis.

Both the carved bhadrasana group and the Litany have pair s ofholes (surely for garland hooks ) just above the upper corners of theniche s in wh ich they appear. A similar pair of hol es is s een beneaththe bhadrasana panel , but garlands were never hung below suchpane ls. t can be reasonably assumed that this pair was for thepainted intrusion below , which had been p laced there before thebhadrasana i1nage was started . There were many such painted intrusive panels at the site , althou gh often only trace s, if anything at all ,remain s other than revealing garland hooks or the holes in whichsuch useful hooks once were fixed before being removed , presumab ly by nearby villagers . t th e same time we mu st note that theredo not seem to be oth er pair s of hol es for garland s e lsewher e on

the wa ll. Although many intrusions do not have such holes , theirabsence hardly recommends the view that there were once otherpainted intrusions here.

Beside s the smaller hole s which are found ju st above the Litany 'srecessed panel , very much like those over the bhadrasana pane l,there are two very large holes high up over the Litany scene. Muchlarger than would be required for garlands , they undoubtedly helda covering cloth for this important and w ell-placed image. 6 Thi swould ha ve been in lieu of the double doors that sometimes protectsuch shrines . 17

A ho le to the left of the doorway , close to the right hole at theupper corner of our hypothetical painted panel , mu st have beenintended for a garland hook or peg, placed there in 478 , to providefor the decoration of this main doorway when the shrine Buddhawas dedicated. This ho le 's expected counterpart at the right was cutaway because th e Litany scene wa s carved so clo se to th e right margin

6 Th e sm alle r hol es abov e th e bh adr a sa na panel we re prob a bly for ga rla nds , nota cloth.

7 Cave 2 righ t fa<_ a cle; C ave 9 A , Ca ve 9 B.



4 C VE 4

of the doorway ; its trace s can st ll be seen . The donor of the Litanyscene obviously did not worry cutting away such an ea rlier fixtur e

dating to about 475 ) for it had no connection, other than proxim -ity , with his own offering.



CAV E 4

INTRUSIONS IN INTERIOR

I ha ve mentioned el sew here , in di scuss ing Ca ve 4 s main ima gethe l a rgest at the site th at the Cav e 4 shrine w alls had onl y been

smoothed at the hi ghe st levels (work proceeding downward ) whenth e original patron's involvement in the cave came to an end in478. 1 Th e sa m e is true of the shrin e doorway , w hich was neitherfull y carved nor fitted ou t with the necessary pivot holes, even thoughthe patron, renou ncing its earlier decorati ve sche ma , managed tocover it with a se ries of Buddha im a ges b efore tim e ran out .

It i s hardl y surpri sing that, durin g the Period of Di sruption , Cave4 s shrine wall s, whi ch we re only rou gh ly finished in th e or iginal (and aborted ) pha se of work in th is area , attracted a number of individual donor s. Of the ima ges w hich they donated , all very haph az

ardly di sposed, thr ee a re on th e left front wa ll, e ight on the for wardpart of the left s ide wa ll, and four on the forward par t of the rightfront wal l a tota l of fifteen. There we re certainly in tru sive iconicpaintings on the easy to reach and re adily v isib le righ t front walltoo ; ind ee d traces of intrus ive plastering rema in on the still qu iterough lower level her e. The donor s of this da y had no intere st wha tsoeve r in completing or complemen ti ng any over all design program;convenience (and of cour se merit ) was their preferred guid e. Be ca usethe p ainted surf aces of th e carvings have suf f ere d so much ove r thecour se of time , i any of th em once had painted inscriptions , th eyare now go ne.

It is of interest th at there i s one bhadrasana image here , on theright shrin e wal l, and that is a rath er deve lop ed exa mpl e of thisla t e form. The overall composition is fairl y sta ndard , with flyin gdwarfs and flankin g cauri -bearing bodhi sattvas, typically distinguishedby the ja ta he add r ess on the left and the crown on the ri ght. Howe ve r,th e raising of the latt er on high -stemm ed lotu s p edestals is a notably

late fea tu r e. It appears in a number of insta n ces in th e Cave 26

Volume I, Chapter 11, Cave 4.



16 C VE

complex , starting in 478, but is not found elsewhere at the site, inconnection with bodhi sattv a attendants, until 480. 2 Th e expected

deer , a garlanded wheel (often used in late intrusions ) and four lotusproffering devotees (so crowded that only their heads are shown )appear at the base , while makaras and a bolster are roughly definedat the throne back. 3 All but three of the other intrusive panels inthe shrine are standin g figures of the standard type, showin g varadamudra; unlike those non-intrusive images on the s hrine doorwa y andon the shrine antecha1nber walls, which wou ld date a year or twoearlier, they stand on lotus p ede stal s. Th e doubl e lotu s p ede stalunder the padmasana image on the left wal l ha s a long stem afeature never found in connection with padmasana images untilthe Period of Disruption. Above , a standing Buddha is flanked byAvalokitesvara , with hi s jata headdres s and a lotu s on the left , and

a crowned attendant (perhaps Vajrapani, but with no vajra shown )on the right.

nother fact suggesting the very late date of the various panelsin th e shrine i s that even th e paint ed ones hav e no hol es for garland hook s as if getting them don e (and thu s acquiring merit ) was

a more appropriate goal at this point than their actual worship.Because these often unfinished im ages were almost certain ly beingdone at the very end of the Period of Di sruption , when work wasperemptorily abandoned, this may well exp lain why the hole s nevergot cut. Thi s cou ld also explain the lack of such holes on the leftand right portion s of the porch wall, w h ere (as suggested above )there may po ss ibly have been now-missing painted intrusions. 5

Sti ll another significant consideration, suggesting a dating to 480for all of the se intrusion s in the shrine, is that all of the padma sanaimages are shown w ith dharmacakra mudra. ' tVere any of the pad-masana Buddhas here shown with dhyana (or another ) mudra it

2 See for inst a nce so m e of the intrusive panels in Cave 22, o r on the front wallof Cave Upp er 6's hall. Buddh as o n raised lotu s pedestals appear as atte nd ants inCave U6's right front sh rinel et in 479.

3 Nubs are omitted, whi ch s unu sual at this la te date, althou gh the omissionoccurs in a numb er of in stances in Cave U6, following the treatment of the mainimage , the revise d base of which uses th e earlier image in the lowe r sto rey of the

cave as its precedent.4 On e on the right wa ll , at the rear, was unfinished, or damaged, so lotu s is notclear; but figure was painted.

5 Thi s co uld equa lly explain the lack of h ooks for garla nd s in various co nt exts;Cave 1OA provides a striking examp le.



INTR USIONS IN INTE RIOR 17

would be very surpri sing in a 48 0 context, at which point the dhar-

ma cak ra mudra s used almo st exclusively . In thi s regard it is s ignificant

that a pair of padma sana Buddha s sho win g dh yana mudra appearat the ba se of the shrine doorway , but the se figure s were carved in478, when more of a choi ce of 1nudra s could be mad e. Thi s ma yexp lain wh y th ere was no c01npunction about puttin g the seco nd

figure on the left , among the "Eight Buddha s" on the shrine doorway lin tel in dh yan a mudra , when a ll of the other s are in dharma-cakra 1nudra. The choice here was prob ab ly urged by breaka ge incarving the d elica te w hee l-turnin g ges tu r e, or by a flaw in th e ro ck;but in any case these lintel figures, like the re st of the door way, datefrom earl y 47 8, before thi s convention had been fixed.

It i s surpri sin g to note the " mi sta ken " p lacement of Maitreya atthe extreme left of the ser ies, whe n he "s hould " be on the right .Thi s can probably be exp lained b y the likelihood that this iconogr aphi c pecu liarity was merel y tra nsferred " here from Cave 26,where we find a grander vers ion of the same ser ies, also done in478; it see m s to be th e wo rk of th e sa m e sc ulptor , or p erhap s oneof hi s sons (not a sp ec iali st in Buddhi st ico no g raph y ) who m erel y

copied his father s work blindl y.The shrine doorw ay of Cave 4 is of a surpri sin gly anoma lou s type.

It 1nust have been rou ghed out in 477 , along with the colossa l SixBuddha s and the main ima ge itself. But when , in early 478, justafter the dea th of Hari sena , the focus of pa tr on s t urned dramati callyto thin gs of the spiri t", the doorwa y was covered with an impre ssive arra y of seate d and stan ding Buddha s ins tead ; these were allhas tily fin ish ed, along w ith th e proximate colossi and of cour se th ehu ge main Buddha; then Mathura mu st ha ve ha stily left , w ith littleleft from hi s vast endea vor s except the merit ac quired. The " iconictran sformation " of th e ex pect ed more "decorative " doorwa y ha s atelli ng counterpart in that of the sh rine doorwa y of Cave 7 where,to add still further to hi s pious offerin gs, th e patron ca rved a whol ese rie s of ne w Buddha im ages in to his fine old door way . In bo thcases, the actions typify the p sych olo gy of early 4 78 , while it see m slikely that the shrine doorwa y of the left wing of the Cav e 26 co m-p lex was also r eplanned after bein g rou gh ed out , to include a bor-

der of wa lkin g Buddha s.6

Ho weve r, becau se thi s was an Asmaka

6 See Vo lume I, C hapter 12 , Cave 26LW.



8 CAVE

dedication , the transformation may have taken place a little later ,during the las t month s of 4 7 8.

The state in whic h the intru sive ima ges in Cave 4 s shrin e havebeen left , when considered in conjunction with related sit uation s inCave Upper 6, Cave 26, and elsewhere , help s us to und e rstan d howand why Ajanta s final burst of intru sive patronage end ed pr e cipi -tou sly at the end of 480. Only two of the fift een figure s were notfully carved and their carving , and then their painting , could surel yhave been hastily finishe d ain a single day or two . Five of the otherswe re fully carved and cou ld have been rapidly painted in a few hour s

if the painter (who ma y in fact ha ve carved them ) had the will oropportunity or the promise of payment The eight w hich were

indeed painted we re finished in the slack way characteristic of muchintrusive wor k.

That this was not done that they were merel y suddenly aban -doned suggests t ha t a crisis occurred at ju st this point and that itwas su ddenl y more important (perhaps especially for the artists ) toflee from th e site than to worry about gett ing the imag es don e, eve nthough their abandonm ent wou ld mean the lo ss of th e m erit antic-

ipated by the patron. In other words, we seem to be speaking of adra stic situation ; and since this was t he very period whe n the insur-rection again st the Vakataka empire was de veloping and p articu-larl y in the territor y of the A smaka s which no w included Ajanta wecan probabl y find the reason for the crisis in the usag es of war. Infact , as suggested elsewhere , the combined force s of the in surrec -tionists may have bee n marching through this very area , on theirway to th e Narma da when th e artist s and other workers made th eirsta rtlin gly sudden exit. 7

It seem s likel y that any monks who were among the donor s ofthe intrusive images Cave 4 wo uld have remained at the site forsome ti1ne after 480 , ha vin g no better or other pla ce to go in anycase . If so, so me of th em 1nay ha ve lived in thi s very unfini shedcave , since about six of the cells were sufficiently fitted out for use ,even though only half th is number show wear in their doo rwayspi vot hol es . Furth e rmor e, of the nin e cells in th e cave fitt ed out withvery deep ly rece ss ed D mode doorways , two have rece ssed niche s in

7 See Volume I , Chapte r 15, for t h is likel y movement of Asmaka s coal itionforces.



INTR USIONS IN INTE RIOR 9

the back wall; and thi s would suggest that the se two may have been

fitted out som etime in 476. It ma y well be that th e other seve n cells

in the unfinished cave we re not fitted out until 4 77, when niche swent out of sty le.8 The fitted out cells al l have hole s for cl othe s-pole s or pegs, typica lly contracted for along with the door fittin gs .Th e fa ct that one of these ce lls ha s been plastered sugges ts that atleast thi s one was still in used durin g the P eriod of Di sruption , forthi s is when such pla ste rin g wou ld have been done. The sign ificantwear in the doorwa ys of some of the other s w ould further sugge stthi s as well as continued residen ce for a few years eve n after eventhe intru sive patron s h ad abandoned the site.

8 e ll R 8 has a larger niche with a recessed frame , whi ch s co n ceivab ly a latervariant of such ni ches. In 4 77 one finds a number of much longer related types,wh ich I call shelves .



CAVE UPPER 6

ORIGINAL AND INTRUSIVE PHASES C011PARED

Cave U6 contains a multitude of still visible carved Buddha images ,man y relief stupas, and four repr esentat ion s of the AvalokitesvaraLitan y , together with a myriad of now missing painted images whoseearlier presence is proved by the trace s of plastered and pain ted

canopies applied to the ceiling areas above them . Yet only six ofthese many Buddha ima ges in the cave were underway when th eoriginal phase of wo rk broke off at the end of 47 8; and at that timeonly a sing le one the main Buddha image had been put into worship . Th e other five th e great standing Buddha s in the shrin eantechamber app ear to have been largely carved for the originalpatron , alon g with th e basic stru cture of the shrin e doorway. Ho wever,except for the main image , hurriedl y (and expediently ) completed b y

mid-478 , none of the se images were plastered and painted until thecav e had been taken over by ho st of new donor s perhap s in partby the very monks living in the two -sto ried cave at the time Hari sena'sdeath.

Although Cave U6 h ad been too incomplete for residence whenits developtnent was in t errupted by th e R ecession in early 469 , by476, jud ging from the door fittin gs monk s were able to mo ve intocell s L2 and R2 (the tw o most forward simple cells ) in 476; theniches at the rear were cmnmon features at the site in that yea rbut we re seldom cut later. They had apparently moved into mostof the other cell s by th e time that th e patron lost con trol of th e cav eb y mid 478. 1

At thi s point at the beginning of the Period of Disruption theunfini sh ed comp lex ce ll R l (intended to be like Ll ) and th e unfinished

The cells in the Lower Storey, which had been defined but never pr ovidedwi th fittin gs in the cave's pr e R ecess ion phase we re now pr ovide d with e fficient Dmod e fittings and holes for clothes pol es and shel ves . Since they all have niches wewo uld pr ob a bly be co rr ect in dating thi s fitting out to 476 and not after; an d sincethe inn er recesses a re very deep, they pr obab ly we re no t done in 475 , when suchwork (as in Cave 1) was relatively tentati ve . L ike most cells at the site, they wereprobably not plastered until th e Per iod of Di sruption.



ORIGI N AL AND IN T R US IV E PHA SE S COMPARED 21

cell complex at the ri ght re ar had to be abandoned , along with much

unfini sh ed exca vation w ork , parti cul a rly on th e s low er right sid e

of the ca ve . Both of the se tw o unfini shed re sidence comple xes w ouldbe converted in to impre ssive private shrinele ts durin g the Periodof Di sruption , ev en thou gh th e pillar ed front s onc e planned for th emwe re ne ve r fini sh ed.

Sin ce mo st of the ce lls w er e not oc cupi ed until 4 7 7 , and sinc ethere i s significan t w ear in their D mode pi vot hole s we can conclude that 1nonk s co n tinued to u se the cell s during the Period ofDi sruption , and probabl y for a f ew ye ar s th ereaft er. And sin ce wekno w that the g reat pr eponderan ce of intru sive donor s at the sitew ere monk s w e mi gh t w ell a ss ume that man y or all of the re sidentmonk s w ho obviou sly tolerated the ince ss ant hammerin g a nd chi selin g and the chatt er of paint ers that took pl ac e in the Period ofDi sruption w er e in fa ct th em selv es donor s of 1nu ch or all of thi s h elter- skelter im ag ery . The fac t tha t both ex tant dona tive in scrip tion sin the ca ve man y more mu st long since have falle n aw ay r eferto monk s as donor s is su gges tive ev id enc e in thi s re ga rd.

That mo st of th e ce lls we re not read y until 4 77 jud gin g from th e

general pr o gre ss of work throu ghout the ca ve, help s us to understand its de velopment particularl y in the shrine a re a, w hi ch w as

also underwa y so late that the cave 's original patron was not ableto prop e rly fini sh it before he had to flee th e s ite in 4 7 8 And thi sof cour se opened the way t o the sub sequen t intru sion s w hich fill thi sare a as well a s the re st of the ca ve .

T h e fa ct th at mu ch of th e floo r of the h all , m a ny w all areas (esp ecially the dar k fro nt wa ll) and so m e o f the pill ar s we re st ill n ot fullyexcavated w hen the p atron h ad to give up h is involve m en t, itse lf revealsthe p roblem s the pa tr o n h ad in getti ng hi s cave done. Th is situat ionwas pr o bably exace rb ate d by the pr essu res o n th e work fo rce in t h is

re newal o f act ivity thr oughout the site fro m 4 7 5 o n , w hen the pl anners o f n earl y twe nt y-five caves, o ld and new, wo uld h ave b ee n vyin gfor wo rke rs. Thi s co un t in clud es the Hin aya na caves, a t least t hr eeand p ro b ably a ll o f whi ch were be in g re fu rbished with pl as ter andp aint, altho ug h p ro b ab ly n ot before 477 . On l y t he caves o f the defea tedloc al kin g have not bee n co unt ed , for th ey were no longer in th eco mp e tltlo n.

t is clear that until 4 7 5 , the shrine and shrine antechamber areahad not even been started , for the shrine an techamber pill ars h av estron gly projectin g bracket s which would not e ven ha ve been thou ghtof at the time that work w as in t errupt ed in earl y 469. Even in



22 CAVE UPPER 6

Upen dragupta s caves , where work continued through 4 71 , the shrine

antechamber pillars remain bracketl ess . Only after 4 7 5 do the y

become conventional for major viharas. 2

It is evident that i excavation work had progre ssed into had

penetrat ed the sh rine antechamber before work broke off in la t e468, at the time of the Rece ssion , the matrix needed for the pre

sent vya la brackets wou ld ha ve been cut away (as indeed happ ened

in Cave 4), particularl y since excavation would logicall y have starte dat that upper level. Thus we can be certain that the excavators hadgot no farther than th e rear ai sle by the time of the R ecess ion . Atthe same time , it seems clear that when wo rk st a rted up again in47 5 , they rapidly reached this area , and defined the present vya la

bracket s at that time. In fact they are sure ly the first of all antecham-

ber brackets in th e V akataka viharas , which could explain th eir

difference from the more impre ss ive sa labhanjika bracket s that soonappear in Cave 1, Cave 2, Cave 21 (unfini shed ), Banoti (un fini she d)and Aurangabad 3. 3 The character of these si1npler vyala bracketsin Cav e Upper 6 wa s pr obab ly sugges ted by the bra cke ts on pillarsR1 and Ll in caitya halls 26 b lo cked out by 46 8 ) and 19 (co m-

pleted by 471 ). The fact that the Cave U6 brackets had little dwarfsunder the vya la s (right one no w missing ) further link s them to apo st Hiatu s context , since vya la s on throne s do not have such dwarf swith them until the po st Hiatu s phase.

Indeed , it is evident that the rear wa ll of the hall had also notbeen fully expo sed at the time of the Rece ss ion , for the two com-pl e x cells started at the rear are characteristic post-4 75 creations; the

very in comp lete right one (la te r conve rt ed to a shrinelet ) wou ld noteven have been started until 477, judging from it s state of co mple

tion. Had this rear wa ll been penetrated early , it would have had afar simpler arrangement , wit h four sin gle cells , two on each sid e of

the shr i ne antechamber.

Thu s we can conclude that thi s whole rear wall (and antecham

ber ) area had not even been pene trated until the ge neral renewal ofactivity at the site in 4 7 5. Thus it is not surpri sing that the main

2

T h e re are pr ece den ts in Cave 26 and Cave 19, in both of whi ch br ac ketswo uld h ave bee n r o ughed o ut b y 468; this is no t surprisin g since v ih a ra featuresofte n h ave their so ur ce in tho se o f the cha itya halls.

3 See descr ip t ions o f Cave 21, probably Cave 23, and Ban o ti for the exp edi en tcutting away of th e brackets to save time.



ORIGIN L ND INTRUSIVE PH SES COMP RED 3

Buddha image did not get reached in the course of excavation until4 7 7 , a conclu sion supporte d by the fact that the lintel of th e shrin e

doorwa y is of a quasi -st ructural type wh ich elsewhere at the site isfound on ly in 4 77 contexts. The doorwa y jambs, if completed in4 7 7 , would definitely have had correspondingly complex panels , filledwith conventional lovin g coup les; but it was nev er finished as intended ,bein g plastered and then provided with the ha stiest po ssib le decorative designs when work was renewed in the Period of Di sruption .That the doorway was not de signed to include tree goddesses , placedin carefu lly fram ed T -shap ed projection s at the upper cor n ers aconvention developed only in 4 77 to facilitate the effect of trabeation only confirms its late date (477 ).4 This is because in that sameyear the concept of the Six Buddha s h ad deve loped, and here , asin Cave 4 , two of the Buddha s flank the shri ne doorway , crowdingout the females that one wou ld otherwise expect.

All suc h evidence proves tha t the main shrine Buddh a in Cave 6would not have been starte d until 477 . Its iconography confirms this,for its elabora te thr one back is th e most developed of any done during th e final heyday of th e si te which end ed with H arisena s death

at the end of that year. By the same token , it include s projectin gflying coup les , whic h never appear at the site until 477 , and evenadds other flying celestials , as in the similarly late shrine image inthe Ghatotkacha vihara.

Bu t what is impor tant to realize , as we try to piece out the complex development wh ich ta ke place in Cave Upper 6 s shrine areain 477 , and then thereafter , is how the particularly splendid imagelo ses its sp len dor by th e time that its lower reache s were carved. tthis point in time one wou ld expect a ser ies of large kneeling de votees ranged on either side of the base with a complex late wheelbetween them , as in Cave 1 or Cave 4 , both well underway in 477 .But it is clear that , to save time , the matrix reserved for these de votee s ha s been cut away, tr immed back (unequally ) to accommodatethe feet of the attendant bodhisattvas , which had already taken theirsomewhat unequal posi6ons during 477. They we re planned with

4 Th e introdu ction of such trabeation, where the lintel is supported on the do o r-way s pillar s a pp ear to ha ve been introduced from Ba gh a fter th e Hi a tus. Th e firstexa mpl e a t Ajanta is probab ly the shrin e doorway of Cave 1 where both the oldmo d e and the new are a nomalou sly inco r porat ed.



4 CAVE UPPER 6

plent y of space behind the intended kneeling devotees, but when the

matrix for the latter was cut away, the feet of the bodhi sattva on

the right are seen to project uncomfortably fonvard , wh ich wou ldnot have been the case had they been intended to stand alone (and

unencumbered ) from the start, as they have ended up doin g .H aving cut away th e devotees ea rly in 478 to save time and trou

ble (an d perhaps money too ), the newly exposed frontal p lane of thethrone base was provided with much reduced base motifs. These arefairly directly copied from the older main image in the Lower Storey ,as the mo st rea dily available model for th e simplified program; itwas perhap s recommended too by the likelihood that the y both

be lon ged to the same patron. 5 So we have a situation here whichis not at all uncommon during the rushed and difficult early monthsof 4 7 8 , when the old V akataka patrons had two essentia l thingsin mind: first, to ge t their main image finished and dedicated so thatthe merit cou ld be gained, and seco nd , to get out of the site. (InCaves 2, 4, 7, 11, 5 , and 6 , in various ways, the shrines wereexpe diently finished, ju st as at an earlier cris is the shrin es of Caves17 and 20 were similarly rush ed to completion , whi le at th e very

end of 478 , the Asmaka caves show the same urgency _ 6At the same time, the simp lified treatment of th e base still, almost

unconsciously, incorporates certain up to da t e features , appropriatelynon-ti1ne -consuming. Th e looped thr one cloth, which ha s lost muchof its original connection with the Budd ha's robe , is a case in point ,as is the inclusion of the thin structura l member over the lions' heads.This suggests that the hons are now thought of as actua l leoninethrone legs, a characteristic of image s in 4 77; but the expecte d la t e

nubs used (in structura l forms ) to lo ck the legs in place are omitted from the top of the base. This is because this expedient throne

base uses that of the early image in the lower storey as its mode l,and such nubs would have had no function in the earlier image,where the lion s are conceived as under the throne, rather than supporting it. The order to use the image in the lo wer storey as thebasic model also must account for the fact that no room was left

The anomalous development of this imag e is discussed in Volume I , Chapter11, Cave Upper 6.

6 We co uld also note the manner in whic h Varahacleva sacr ifi ced the pillar capitals in Cave 16, while the elaborate shrine ant echa mber brackets were sacr ifi cedin Caves 2 and 23, and at Banoti .



ORIGINAL AND INTRUSIVE PHASES COMPARED 25

for at le a st sma ller versions of the large devotees that had been soexpediently sacr ificed. Significantly , only smne months later when a

"copy" of the main image was carved in the intrusive shrinelet (R l )at the h all's front right , tiny devotees were in fact sq ueezed in.

' ith such ev id ence of a ru sh to get the Buddha image completeddurin g the first months of 4 78, it is not surpris ing that the shrin eitself mo st particularly the low -priority front wa ll had not beenfinis hed when the patron s time was up. I t see m s likel y, howe ver,that having rushed the image to its expedient com pletion , the original patron did man age to ge t the double shrine doors hung, desp itethe unfinished character of the front wa ll; it is not the kind of thingthat the new "intruders" were likel y to trouble with, especially sincemost of their addition s to the shrine we re still unfini she d when timeran out in 480. D espi t e the roughness of the matrix that surroundsthem , the upper pivot ho les show clear signs of significant wear ,while a carefu lly cut door-stop hole and (often ) a drop-s lot wou ldhave sec ured the door when closed. 7

Exc ept for the painting of the comp leted image , th e original patron

appears to hav e don e little more in th e shrin e than to plaster and

paint a smal l area of ceiling directly o ver the image.8

Ho weve r, againproving the patron s concern to get the main image done , dedicated,and presumab ly into worship, he was careful to cut hook-ho les (thehook s no w gone ), presumably for garland s, at the left and right corne r s of the rear wal l, behind the im a ge. He (or the scu lptor ) alsosaw to certain nece ssary repairs , such as those needed to replace thearms of two celestials (wi th one shared repair ) over the image atth e left, a s well as the proper left arm of the left bodhisattva , whichmi ght ha ve been dama ge d b y a flaw, but quite po ssibly b y a workman who cut away too much when b locking the figure out. Thearm has been repaired with a thick packing of mud; once painted ,to problem wo uld no longer show .

7 Dr op -slots are neve r used until afte r 475, in connection with th e D mod e, sincethey a re placed w ithin th e recess c h aracter istic of d1at mode.

8 ~ o s tof the ce iling pla ster h as fallen, but it is likely that it was done ea rly inthe Per iod of Di sruption along wi d1 ilie walls a nd ceiling of ilie a nt echa mb er , whenthe figur es in that area we re fin ally being surfac ed and pa in t ed , and befor e th e

intru sive Bud dhas in th e shrin e we re eve n started . It see m s less likely th at it wasdo n e in con nection wiili th e six s tanding Buddhas in th e shrin e, s in ce (at least onilie left) they a re unfini shed; and i it were done wh en ilie iliree s tan ding Bu ddhason the right we re comp lete d , it is likel y (bu t not ce rtain ) that the plastering of thece iling wo uld have bee n co nfin ed to th e right side .



6 CAV E UPPER 6

S H RIN E ANT EC HAMB ER N D SHRIN E

Th e evidence of ru sh , and of in completeness, seen in the hurriedcompletion of the shrine Buddha , help s to explain the related situation in th e shrin e antechamber. H ere , in 4 77, th e patron decidedto fill th i s area with the mo st up to date iconic configurat ion , n amelya g roup of six large sta ndin g Bu ddhas, one on either side of th eshrine door way, and tw o on each side wal l. As was usual at the sitein such closely adjacent figure s the two outer figures we re sta rtedfirst, with plenty of room for th e n ecessary sca ffoldin g as lon g as th ecarving of the panel in be tween w as put off until later. But as itturned ou t , later was too late; the center figure on the ri ght wasnot full y comp leted , whi le the one on the lef t side was not evensta rted , although it appears that the intended lo wer margin wastrimmed ju st as wo rk had to be give n up.

By examining thi s in triguin g situation , we can get some idea ofho w far the original patron 's work in the sh rine antechamber hadpro gre sse d b efor e he had to r elinqui sh hi s exclu sive patronage of th ecave so m etim e lat e in 4 7 8, du e to th e A smaka tak eov er. H ere th e

orig inal work can be clearl y di stin gu ished from ce rtain re vision sor addi tions m a de b y another (ne w) donor or donor s during thePeriod of Di sr uption. The first of the se intrus io ns is the sm allseate d Buddha ne xt to the kn eeling devotees b etwee n the two Buddha son the righ t wal l; it is clearl y a later conception , for it takes the

place of another such kneelin g de votee for which matrix had been

re serve d (in 477 ) by the sculptor originally invo lved in carving thepan el. Ho wever , the original sc ulptor had not had tim e to compl etethis kneelin g d evotee before hi s efforts w ere int e rrupted late in 4 78.In fact , he had probab ly abandoned it la te in 4 77, when the crisiscaused b y Hari sena's dea th occurred , in order to concentrate on the

g reat Buddha it self. The group of seate d devo tees under the adjacent Buddha wou ld a lr ea dy hav e been carved but not painted byth at t ime. 9

It is evident that a later donor , in the Period of Di sruption , w hen

th e focu s was to tally upon iconic im a ges, tran sform ed thi s b lock ofrou ghed-out matrix into a littl e seated Buddha in stea d of a kneel

ing de vo tee. Th e appearance of a little Bu dd h a figure in thi s area

9 See di scussio n of donors vs. d evot ees, with refe re nc e to Cave Upper 6 figu res,in Vo lum e II , Cave 10 In trus ions: Summary



ORIGI NAL AND INT R US IVE PHASES COMPARED 27

would be h ard to exp lain if we tried to assign it to the original pha seof patronage at th e sit e, but is quit e characteristic of th e P eriod of

Di sru ption , when the focu s had shifted to inten sely to iconic image s.1

Support for the conclu sion that the whole group of sm a ll figuresat this panel's lower center had not b een fully fini sh ed b y the original sculptor is to be found in the tr ea tment of the seated femal edev ot e e at the ex trem e right of the group. Her rou ghl y fini sh ed h eadremain s as it wa s when th e cr isis caused by Hari sena 's death occurred ,obviou sly becau se th i s whole group of little de votee s was s till being

carved out wh en, in 478, th e o rig inal sculptor eit h er ran out of time

or had to change hi s prioritie s and concentrate on more essentialthing s. The later donor , in 479 , not intere st ed in such nicetie s, did

not trouble to ha ve the la d y's feature s properl y carved , but merely

had them finished w ith plaster and paint (traces of w hich remain )w hen the w ho l e panel was finall y co mpleted.

The sa me sen se of ha ste, w hich characterized the task of com-

pleting much of the work in th i s area durin g the Period of Di sn1ption ,and th i s same co n ce rn for subj ect rath er than se ttin g is see n in

th e w illin g n ess to leav e other portion s of th e panel (e .g . so m e dev o-

tee s on lotu s petals ) quite rough, particularl y in tho se areas (notabl yat the lower leve ls) which w ould ha ve been the last to be fully defined•

1n any case .Vve ca n safel y a ssume that the large s tandin g Buddha s on th e

right wall and on the adjacent front wal l had been carved or nearl ycarved b y the time ori ginal work broke off in 478, w hile the carving of the single la r ge Buddha on the more problematic left wallwo uld al so ha ve b ee n don e at th is ti m e; for thes e wo uld ha ve b een

pr iorit y concerns for the original patron , even thou gh hi s plan forthe Six Buddha s ne ve r got totally carried out. The kneeling de vo-

tee s wh ich attend them we re probabl y completed b y the en d of 4 77an d certainly by early 47 8; otherwise th e y too 1nigh t well have b een

conve rted into m erit-makin g little Buddha im a ges by th e lat e r donor s. 11

1 Precede nt s can be found in litd e Bu ddh as squeezed in below the g reat stan ding Buddhas in Cave 7 b u t th ese pr edic t rat her th a n para llel th e Buddh a figur ehere .

1 1 Understandably, d1ere was less resistance, in the Period of Disruption, to co mpleting or igin al sculpt ur es by m eans of pai nti ng. For the sp ecial case o f d1e oftenpubli shed wors hipper with a ce nser attending th e left fron t standing Buddh a, seeVolu me I, Chapter 11.



8 CAVE UPPER 6

An intriguingl y in structive detail involve s the nose of the standingBuddha at th e front ri ght ; th i s minor area mu st have broken off

during the course of cutting; but it was re stored in mud , rather thanwith a more conventional pegged-on stone rep la cement. It see m sright to suppo se that the normal process of repair smnethin g quit elo gically put off until la st had not be en done when time ran out

in 478, and that this su b stitut e mea sure , which had the ad va nta geof taking onl y a few minute s rather than a number of hour s wasaccomplished in the Period of Di sruption , when the panel was finall ypla stered and paint ed; h ere again, exp edien cy was the rul e for por-tions of this Buddha 's frame note especia lly t he surface near theadjacent antechamber pilaster we re still very rough indeed , w henthis pla ste ring was done in 479.

One other item of significan ce which should b e noted is the smallrelief stupa at the center of th e upper mar gin of th e right shrin eantechamber wall. Thi s iconi c motif, very common ly carved as asub stitute for a Buddha in the Period of Di sruption , would have

b ee n added in 479; eve n it s uncon ve nti on al pla cem ent support s such

a datin g. Ju st lik e the littl e padma sa na Buddha , conve rt ed from th e

expected de votee at the ba se of the sa me panel , it is characteristical ly in tru sive and self-seeking . On the other hand , the ritually

unnece ssar y flyin g dwarf ju st below the stupa was surel y carvedin 478 , w hile the panel was st ill underwa y although it ma y s till hav ebeen onl y rou ghly finished, before bein g pla ste red and painted alon gwith the re st of the ima ges in the antechamber in the Period ofDi sruption. t seems likely that a dwarf may also have been planned

for th e surpri sin gly e mp ty upper right corner of th e panel; but sin cethe rock was v ery fla we d in that area, it seem s likely that a replacement wo uld ha ve been painted in.

Such ob servat ion s su gges t that a sligh t bit of extra 1natri x mustonce have been left on the margin above , from which the slightlyproj ec tin g stupa co uld be cu t. In th e sa me way, the lower panel areahad not been fu lly finished, which a llo wed the creation of the ju stmentioned small sea ted Buddha. Or po ssib ly the mar gin had n ot

b ee n smooth ed do wn to it s pr esent (still so m ewhat rou gh) leve l atthe margin of the wa ll. In any case, thi s low -rel ief stupa is a votive

motif which i s ne ve r found prior to the Period of Di sruption , butone which is v er y common in 479 and 480 as an intru sive featurein thi s cave and elsewhere at the sit e. The one h ere , like the smallseated Buddha at the bottom of the panel, was ce rtainl y carve d




before the panel wa s plastered and painted. 12 nd since both the seunusual features cannot date from before 4 79 , this is significant evi

dence that all of the plastering and painting in the antechamberbelongs to the Period of Disruption too; indeed as we sha ll see , thisis tru e of th e entire cav e, with the except io n of the main shrine•

Image.Since the carving of these Buddhas at the right of the shrine

antechamber had still not been quite completed when the main phaseof patrona ge in the cave broke off by mid-478, and since the area

wa s not very exten sive nor hard to carve , the assumption that workon them was undertaken sometime in 477 (but not before ) seemsvery reasonable , and is in line with the creation of related Six Buddha

group s in Ca v e 4 and Cave 7. Thi s conclusion is of course supported by our arguments assigning the beginning of work on themain (shrine ) Buddha to 4 77 as we ll, since it is reasonable to assumethat the main image itself would have been begun at the same timeor somewhat earlier than these attendant Buddha images.

e can date the carving of the gr eat standin g Buddha s at the leftof the antechamber to essentia lly the same span of time , for of course

they all formed part of this newly conventional grouping. Of theprojected six , tho se at eith er side of the shrin e doorway would havebeen th e first on es undertaken , because they are in the most important lo cations clo sest to the shrine , and highly visible. Their carving (but not their painting ) was essentially , even if hurriedly , fini shed

when work was interrupted about mid-478. The fact that the archesover their h eads were never d ecorated with carved ornamental motifs,and that , in the case of the left image , the wall surfaces beneath

and to the right of the panel were ne ver quite properl y finished , is

hardly surprising. T h e new donors who took them over in the Periodof Di sruption were uninterested in fini shing such minor detail s whichthe y would sometimes hide beneath the coating of pla ster and paint ,when surfacing the rest of the image.

2 D espi te ba t damag e, tr aces of plas terin g e xist els ewhere in th e a nt ec ha mb erat thi s level and are co nsistent with th e surfa cing elsew here o n th e panel s so weca n cer tainly a ssum e that the margin was plaste red along with th e rest of th e pa n el.

Ce rtainl y th e s tupa was not add ed aft er th e pla stering was do n e, for thi s w ould notonly go aga inst gen eral usage, bu t also t he sligh t excess o f matrLx fro m which th estupa was c ut would n ot h ave been left there if th e pl aste rin g had been d one first.The stu p a mu st h ave bee n cut eithe r b efore or at th e sa me tim e th at the surf acewas being leveled ; no t a fte r.



30 CAVE UPPER 6

A study of the left antechamber wall clearly support s our viewconcerning how far wo rk had progre ssed on th ese five grea t stand

ing Buddha s by the end of 477, w hen the consistent de velopmentof such ori gina l features was interrupted by Hari sena s death. It isof co ur se obviou s that , like th e right wall , or like th e sid e wa lls inthe similarly conce ive d antechamber of Cave 4 , thi s area was int ended

to have tw o large Buddha s standin g wi thin a sin gle reces sed enfra m emen t, wit h two more Buddha s flanking the s hrine doorway. Bu t asexplained earlier in discussing the rel ate d area on the right side of

the antechamb er, th e Buddha at the left of th e left wa ll and thatat the left of the shrine doorway wo uld ha ve been undertakenbefore the Buddha wh ich was intended to occup y the space betweenthem was be gun. T his sens ible procedure , characteristic at the site,meant th at th e sc ulpto rs co uld work freel y on their sca ffold s or pla tform s without gettin g in each other s way or bein g encumbered bywork bein g done on the Buddha planned for the area be twee n them. 3

Although for the above reasons it is evi de nt that a two-Buddhapanel was originally in t ended for Cave U6 s antec ha mb er s left wallprop er, on ly th e im age at th e left (along with th e Buddh a at th e left

of the shrine door way ) had been begun when the normal course ofwork was interrupted late in 477; for the rea son s given above , theintended adjacent Buddha had not yet been starte d. Apparently , theorigin a l patron took sto ck of th e situ ation w hen consistent wo rk wasin te rrup ted at the end of 477 and decided that he would no t havethe time or fund s to comp lete the intended sixt h im a ge, on ce thescaffo ldi ng for those on either side h ad been taken do wn . Therefore,during th e course of 4 7 8, wh en h e was tryin g to fini sh up what eve rhe could as expeditious ly as po ssible , he concentrated on the othertw o a lon e.

In fact , when the cri sis cause d b y H ar isena s death occurred , it islikely that the left figure had not even be en started , even though hewa s determined to fini sh it w ithin the ne xt few month s. Thu s it wasdecided to m ake i t in to a sing le panel , givi ng up the plan of ca rving the center Buddha of the tri ad.

3 In Cave 26, Panel s R 2- R 4 an d parts of the triforium carv ings appea r to havebeen done in thi s way, w hich also exp lains w hy the space between the great D yingBu ddha and the T emptation Scene was o nly filled in (by intmsive panel L2) afte rth ey h ad been com plete d.




He does appear to have made certain adjustinents, possibly becausethis was the late st of the large images which he now planned to

comp lete. He shifted the Buddha's lotus pedestal to allow more roomon the more sacred proper right for the small carved devotee.Since the times were troubled now , he may have already been plan-ning , in the intere st of time and cost, to add the painted counter -part, which in fact could not have been painted there unti l all ofthe pla ste ring of the antechamber had been completed. The notablysmall size and rearward placement of the carved devotee might wellargue he had reserved space for th is rather uniquely detailed layworshipper. I f this was indeed the case we might believe that hehad intentionally created and reserved the space for his own por-

trait as a donor , even though (or even because ) he could not

bring all of the great Buddhas to completion . Thi s is of courseunprovable in the absence of any extant in scription , but it is reason-ab ly suggested by the curiously di splaced pos itioning of the attendedBuddha and by the surprising specificity with which the worshipperis de scrib ed. What is clear is that it is surprisingly , the on ly such

painted addition to any of the large Buddhas, which otherwise were

p lanned with scu lp tured devotees; and that, furthermore , even thoughpainted after the large Buddha s had been plastered and themselveswere being painted , it see1ns to have been planned for this space.

' tVhether the patron hi1n self was pre se nt at that later date , andcou ld still be involved, along with the uninvited host of new donorswho took over the cave, is impos sible to know. If the patron him-self were a monk , he may well have been able to stay; but if he,like th e other Vakataka patrons, had h ad to flee , it is still po ssi-ble that he had associates resident at the site, who would be will-ing to carry out his bidding.

The assumption that the idea of painting rather than carving afigure such as the kneeling devotee supports our dating of the paint-ing (as opposed to the sc ulpture ) on thi s panel to the Period ofDi sr uption, gains credence when we note that the fl ying figuresflanking the arch of one of the nearby sma ller intrusive image s (thatat the lower right ) are also rend ered with the brush rather than thech isel. It is also relevant to note that the combining of carved atten -

dant s and painted attendants is a feature of certain other monu-mental intrusive images also dateable to the Period of Disruption atleast one of which was donated by the monk Gunakara on cave 26'sfa<;ade return s. Painted attendants often flank ca rved Buddha s in



32 CAVE UP PER 6

intru sive p anel s in Cave U pper 6's front aisle , as we ll as in Cave

22 and man y o th er co nt ext s.

Th e :flying dwa rf carved at the up per right of this single pane lm ay also have been de fined after the deci sion to carve only a single Buddha on th e left w all had been made , sin ce it is specifica llyfocuse d on the pr e sent ima ge; note ho w its cou nt erpart on the ri ghtwa ll :flies forward , sin ce it is shar ed by both ima ges there. Thu sthe dwarf in question (and quite po ssibl y the dwarf in the upper leftcorner too ) was not yet there when w ork on th is left wa ll was in terrup ted by H ar isena's d eath, and sub sequ ently adju ste d . Thi s givesus some idea of ho w far work had progressed , both on the left andright wa lls; for the po sit ionin g of the :flying dwarfs, like the adju sting of the po sition of the stan din g Buddha it self, mu st belon g to47 8. The ea r liest examples of dwarfs holding cauris are in the sma llpanel s in Cave 26 s triforimn , whi ch ma y we ll date from 478 andin any case w ould no t be ea rli er tha n 477. Thu s the motif developed very late.

As for th e re st of the left wall , where th e s ixt h im age was tob e, it see m s not to hav e b ee n smooth ed down , eve n enou gh for a

preliminar y sketch to have been mad e . vVe can con clud e this b ynoting the small a rea of still-rou gh st one at the lowe r right , whichremained as evidence of th e earlier conception , even after th e newintru sive im ages abo ve h ad be en cut durin g the Period of Di sruption.We sho u ld also no te ho w rough and wa rped ou tward t he whol elo we r mar gin of the left an techa mber wal l is whe n compared withthat on the r ight, again support ing the view tha t wor k on the leftsid e of th e an t echamb er la gge d som ewh at b ehind that on th e right.Areas such as the se mar gins ca n pro vide u seful evidence , since (be ingve ry low-priorit y elements ) they were prob abl y not tou che d b y t h ecarvers durin g th e anxious continuation of work in 4 78, or in the

following Period of Di sruption. 4

I t is h a rd l y surpri sin g that work on the se three differen t wa llareas the priority front one , the right , and the lef t w ould haveproce e ded at quite diffe rent rates, s in ce suc h va riation s normallycharacterize excavatio n wo rk in pro gress . It also see m s likely, if we

4 I t mi gh t be no ted that t he raised level at which this roughed -out m argin isset m ay have been sug geste d by the arrange m ent in the antec h amber of Cave 4,wh ere the stan ding Bu ddha images mu st have bee n started at app rox im ately thesa me date (in 4 77) as here .




assume a reasonable rate of activity on these important images, thatth e y had not been start ed prior to 4 7 7, for the work involved in

gett in g them to that point of development was not particularl y extensive , and of course a study of the development of the rou ghl y con-

temporaneous groupings in Cave 4 and Cave 7 wo u ld support such

timing, showing that this impre ss ive co mbination of six Buddha s wasa notably lat e development in the history of the site's consistentpatronage.

Such a dating is further su pported by a consideration of the statewhich th e an t echamb er and shrine areas as a whole had reached

wh e n consistent wo rk was interrupted at the time of Hari se na' s death.The important shrine antechamber pillars had probably already been

roughed out, and their axial faces smoot hed , shortl y after wor k on

the cave was resumed in 4 7 5, for they are su ppli ed with modern

brackets, perhaps derived from the known wooden models seen insome of the Ajanta paintings (Cave 1, left wa ll), if not from prece-

dent s in Caves 26 and 19, as mentioned early. Yet their shaf ts are

not wholly finished, nor are th e related pilasters; it is clear through-

out the cave that this patron had troubl e ge ttin g his program com

pleted, especially since (perhaps because of the pressure from thecommunity ) he concentrated on getti ng the cells ready for residencerather than finishing many architectural features such as floors, walls,and pillars.

I t seems evident tha t the carving of the Cave U6 shri ne doorway,like the shrine image, mu st ha ve been underway during 477, con-

siderin g its importance as a feature in the shrine/ shrine antecham-

ber area. Ind eed, judging from parallel situation s in other caves where

wo r k was go in g on in this area at about this same time, it is rea-

sonab le to suppo se that its design wou ld have been established and

that it woul d have been underway at approximately the san1e timeas the main shrine image, and the great standing ima ges on theshrine antechamber walls. It is hardly possible that the designing and

carving of the doorway can be dated earlier than 4 7 7 consideringits trabeated character and the complex architect ural character ofits lintel d es ign . 5 Therefore, this h elp s to confi rm our assumptionthat neither the main ima ge nor the antechamber's standing Buddha s

could ha ve been started ea rlier than at this same date.

5Compare the porch doorways of Caves 5, 14, 15 (recut ), 22 Aurangabad 1

and the Aurangabad Cave 3 shrine doorway, all of which date from 477-478.



34 CAVE UP PER 6

The fact that the expected (by n ow conventional ) figu ra l carvingson the shrin e doon vay we re neve r sta rt ed furth er suggests th at it

could not have been underway befo re 477 . In early 478 , the patronmu st have decided to give up such unnece ssary deli ght s an d to pl aster and very ha stily pa int the unfini she d door way to compl ementthe exped iently co mpl eted main ima ge; but as it turned out , thi sma y have been done later, a lon g w ith th e va rio us ant ech amberfigures , earl y in the Period of Di sr up tion , whe n the whole antechambe r was pla stered and painted.

' tVhen th e trabeated doorway , with i ts stru ctural ch arac ter, becam ethe type of choi ce in 47 7, the co nve ntional go dde sses we re ge nerally di spl aced to the si de s into the wings of a T . Tha t thi s wasnot done here was s urel y becau se the great stand ing Buddha s wereunderway at the same time , and tho se flanking the door usurpedthe space nonnally rese rve d for th e godde sses. 6 Thi s agai n co nfirm sthe dating of the design of the doorway to 477. Th e same l ate tendency toward dropping certain major estab lished motifs may berevea led by th e fa ct that no prov ision appears to h ave bee n mad ehere to include proj ecting nagas at th e door base. Such proj ecting

figu res, quite standard in 476, no longer a re included in a nmnberof shri ne doorways who se lay out was defi ned in 477 . 17

Fu rthermore, th e fact that the doorway was obviously so veryunfini sh ed when work on it was in te rrupt ed at th e t i1ne of Hari sena 'sde ath st ro n gly suggests t h at it wou ld h ardly ha ve b een started prior

to 477 considering the ge ner al pace o f overall developments in thi spart icu la r cave, an d thro u gh out the site in tha t final year of consis-

• •

tent act ivity .The fac t that the shrin e door way was ne ver conve ntion a lly fini shed

with figural panels explains its unu sual imb alance d de sign, w her ethe lintel i s very elaborately carved , but th e jambs are s urpri singlypl ain for such a late doorway. It doe s not look unfini sh ed , becau seits fra1nin g pila sters had been carefu lly sm oo thed do wn in 4 77 inprep a rat ion for t he cutting of the expected figur al pane ls bu t it isac tu ally only half -deco rate d . T he richl y carved pa ne ls and mouldings which one wo uld expect on such a lat e doorway are mi ssing,the patron , in ea rly 478 , having settled for painted decoration in stead ,

6 This is true of the Cave 4 s hrin e doorway too; but d1at doorway was changedto focus on Bu ddha panels befo re its co mpl ex lintel was cut.

17 See C aves 2, 4, 26 L\ T a nd the Gh atotkac ha vihara.




even though as noted above ) this was appa rentl y not accomplisheduntil the whole shrin e antechamber was plastered and excep t for

the pla stered ceiling ) hastily painted early in the Period of Di sruptio n.The fact that the original donor , during the first months of 478,

did not take the tim e and money to carve the convent ional figuralpanels and 1noldin g on the shrin e doorway sho ws not surpri singl ·

that he was 1nore int ere sted in continuing work on the main i1na geand the great standing Buddha s during that harried year t han incompleting things such as doorways and pillars. It is safe to assumethat h e was intending to plaster and paint it along with th e la r gestandin g Buddha s as soon as their carving was completed; but as itturned out he him self was never able to see any of this wo rk finished.He had to be satisfied with getting the main image done, even ifnot as he had originally conceived.

Such observations provide useful evide n ce that the shr ine doorway and the large standi ng Buddha s we re not finally completed andthe images put into worship until the Period of Disruption. But par-ti cularly str ikin g proof that this whole c ru cia l area in the cave wasnot plastered and painted until thi s same tim e is to be found by

considering the s ix small ima ges at the rear of the left wa ll in theshrine antechamber. As suggested a bo ve, all of these sm a ll imagesclearly belong to the Period of Di sruption; their carving can be nomeans elate prior to micl-4 78, and obviously their surfac ing must beat lea st this la te too. vVha t is significant is that preci sely the samemix of pla ster which is used to surface these sma ll intrusive panelscontinues withou t a break over the arch of the Buddha to the leftof the doorw ay lower down it h as disappeared ) and over th e la r gestandin g Buddha s on the adjacent left wa ll tying them all togetheras havin g been plastered and pre sumably painted ) at the same time.Furthermore it is likely and reasonable ) that the rest of the antechamber using essentia lly the same 111ix was also plastered at this sametime. 8 Thu s since all of th ese elements in the shrine antechamber

11\ Th ere may be a minor difference in shade but not in composition ) betw eenthe mix on the shrin e doorway and that which cove rs th e Buddha panels at either

side of it. One might co nside r the pos sib ility that th e doorwa y was clon e befo remid-4 7 8, when the main Buddha image was plastered and painted with what appearsto be an identical mix. Th e original patrons, in 478, often attempted to finish th eshrine doorways eve n if hurri edly) at the sa me tim e as the imag e: see Caves 2, 4,17 20 26 LW.



36 CAVE UPPER 6

area appear to have been plastered (and painted ) at the very same

ti m e as th e six s mall intru sion s, we can be sure that all of th i s

fini shing work was done in the Period of Di sru ption i.e. aftermid- 4 78.

It is po ss ible that, of these six sm a ll intru sion s the sma ll padma sana im age near the upper left was added som ew hat later and

pla ste red separat ely. Thi s is because th e plaster, like that w hich

extends over the arch of the large Buddha to the left of the door

way, appears to be of a somewhat browner mix, with poorer adher

ence. Note too that th i s is th e only one of the six small intru sion swithout peg -h oles (for gar lands? ); again this suggests that it ma y havebeen added in this area after the other s were done , probabl y evenin 48 0.

Needless to say, it is essential for establishing the se quenc e of work

in the sh ri n e / shrine antechamber area, that we show w hy th e se sixsmall image s mu st belong to the Period of Di sr uption . The fact that

they break the consistent progra1n of itnagery in the shrine antecham

b er, by re placin g the mi ss in g s ixth lar ge Buddha , is nearly in con

trovert ibl e ev idence b ea rin g upon their intru sive character. H owever,

a consideration of so me of their icono grap hic pecu liarities is equallytelling.

We might first note the unprecedented and somewhat illo gical arrangement of the ba se of the lowest of the padmasana i1na ges on

the left wa ll, wh e re the deer and wheel are placed beneath the

Buddha 's lotus pedestal rather than beneath his throne. Similar ima gescan be found among the intru sive panels under the Cave 26 arch;and we would not find any counterparts in padma sana im a ges beforethis ti1ne . Ind eed, the u ltimate source for the arran gement was probably the so me wh at similar but more comprehensible or gan ization ofmotifs at the ba se of the enthroned bhadrasana Buddha s, w here the

deer , w heel , and dev ot ees are placed in front of (or ju st beneath )the Buddha 's fe et, which in turn re st upon a lo tus pedestal; the first

rele va nt example in 478 would be panel R2 in Cave 26's right ambu

latory. Their new popularity probably was s timulated by their widespr ea d use in th e triforium panel s of Cave 26 (th ey are not u se d on

the slightly earlier Cave 26 fa<;ade ), but until the Period of Di sruption

they are more often omitted than not.The iconography of th e sta nding Buddha below the above-men

tioned padma sana im a ge is also unusua l, and g ives equa lly su ggestive evidence bearing on the dating of the shrine antechamber panel s.




The latter Buddha has both hands raised; the proper right in abhaya

mudra , whi le th e left ho lds the garment slightly out from the shoul

der. The type , further characterized by a directly frontal bod y presentation, rather than a fluid walking posture , is relatively rare at

Ajanta, a surprising fact when we realize that it was originally introduced for the main Buddha in the sumptuou s Caitya Cave 1

originall y intended a s the de votional focu s of the site. Ve r y sh ortlythereafter , in 4 70/4 7 1, the type is repeated a number of times onthe shrine doorway s of Cave 17 and 20, which might well be expected,since these caves were spon sore d b y the same roya l donor the kingof Ri sika as Ca ve 19. But then it is largely absent throughout thevigorous years from 475 through 477, when Asmaka , having defeatedRis ika , dominated the site. It only became popu lar again when theAsmakas' control over the site had ended 9 I have suggeste d elsewhere that thi s particularly authoritative icono graphic ima ge typewas avo ided for so man y years during the very heyday of the sitebecause of the Asmaka takeover. 20

Th e mann er in which thi s standing Buddha in the Cave U 6 panelis rai se d up on a doub le lotu s ped es ta l, over a group of devot ees,

also confirms its relat ively late date , for one never finds devotee sbeneath the lotus pedestal of stan ding images prior to the Period ofDisruption. 2

One further feature which sugges ts the appropriateness of a verylate elate for these small figure s on the left wall of Cave U6's antechamber is the arched format of the paclma sana panel at the upper left.This arched panel type may ultimately look back to the image e merging from the stupa in Cave 19 , wh ile rich ly decorated form s appear

9 H oweve r, there are a number ascribab le to early 478 in the antechamber ofCave 7 their presence perhaps allowed by the br eakdown of discipline in this troubled period.

20 n impressive examp le o f the type a pp ears at the left end of the porch ofCave 26 R, I\T Two even more developed examp les occupy panels L5 a nd L6 in theCave 26 a mbul atory , whil e minor exam ples ca n be found among the helter-skeltersculp tures a dd ed in 479/480 to the fayade returns of Caves 10, 19 , and 26. Somewhatanomalous exa mpl es appear at the left s ide of the shrinel ets in Cave 19; in thesetwo insta nces the left hand m ay have been raised more for reasons of compos i-

tional symme try than in emulation of the main Cave 19 image. See discussion withCave 17 in Vo lum e I, Chapter 15.2 For parallels see Cave 17 intrusive pan el at court left; Cave 26RW , sma ll panel

set in to left frame of large Buddh a at porch left; a nd Ri ght Fr ont shrinelet of CaveUpper 6 itself.



38 CAVE UPPER 6

in 477/478 in Cave 26; but in the Period of Di sr uption it is much

simplifi ed, as h ere and in other intru sive example s (e.g. large stand

ing Buddhas on rear wall ) in Cave Upper 6.

Another conside ration of very parti cu lar interest is that the character of the small images on the left w all of the shrine antechambersugge sts that they are not only intn1sive but that they can be assignedto the e rlier part of the Period of Di sru ption , sta rting in mid-4 78,rather than to 480 . Such a co nclu sion is important , since it help s toconfirm the priority of the intru sive work in the antechamber , in

relation to that in the rest of the cave.The high -priority location of the se six intrusive itnages in the

antec h amber of course reco mmend s such a relatively ea rly datin g,since the ne w intru sive donor s, typically, wo uld have se lected the

more de sirable spot s first. Furthermore , the fact that , un like so man yother intrusions in the cave , these were all fully plastered and painted ,and also have been suppli ed with hol es wh ich once mu st ha ve he ldgarland hooks , also adds we ight to such an asse rtion. Fina lly, thefact that the three seate d image s in the gr oup are all sea ted in the

padma sana mode i s very s ugge stive: sm a ll seate d intrusive ima gescarved in other contexts at the site for a yea r or so after mid-4 7 8are invariabl y in this mod e, whereas durin g 480 the bhadrasanamode comes to be very popular for suc h smal l in tru sion s, being

widely used both in Cave U6 itself, and throughout the site. 23

Havin g establ ished that this whol e gro up of small ima ges mu st beassigned to th e p eriod of Di sruption and probably were cmnpletedso m ewha t b efore 480 it is of part icular int ere st to note that thedark gray pla ster w hich covers nearl y all of them is of a di stinct ive

fine- gr a ined mix , full of tin y elon ga ted whitish seeds as that whichcovers th e shrine doon vay, and nearly a ll of the la r ge Buddha pan-els in the antechamber. 4 And wha t is mo st significan t is that it was

22 Th ere is at least o ne brok en iron hook (and one hol e) remainin g below theBuddh a at the low er ri ght. Th e po sition is untypi cal for ga rland s; co uld th ey hav ebeen used for incense?

23

M aj or bhadrasana figur es, however, are carved fr om 4 77 onward Smallbh adrasana figur es a re found from this per iod too , but in form ats other than intrusive p anels.

24 A t th e upper level over the intru sive group, t here is a differe n t b row n er) plaster , but thi s p a tch a lso extends in th e area above the sta nding Bu ddha to th e




ap plied to all of these areas in one continuous application , eventhough a different mix ap p ear s to hav e be en thickly applied to th e

antechamber ceiling , but without a discernable break. 5

Thus if there shou ld be any question about the assertion that theplastering over the grea t Buddha at the left of the shrine doorwaywas done in the Period of Di sruption it need no longer be asked ,sin ce the surfacin g ap p lied over this panel and over the small intrusive images on the adjacent wall i s so uniform that it mu st havebeen put on without a break. And as if to further confi1m the factthat the se two areas, w ho se carving was undertaken by differentdonor s in different yea rs were surfaced at preci sely the same time,durin g the Period of Disruption , each of them also ha s a sma ll area

which was covere d with yet another distinctly browner , le ss seedymix , with poorer ad h es ion the latter perhaps reflecting the prox-imity of bats at a higher level. Perhap s the finer see d-filled mixgave out before either of these separated area s had be en co mpletel yplastered. Or pos sibly the little padmasana Buddha at thi s low -priority upper left was added slightly la t er by a diff erent donor; thi smi ght exp lain th e fact that it is th e only one of the six small intru

sion s that doe s not ha ve holes for ga rland s (or po ss ibly a screeningcloth ) over it.

The application of the fine seed-fi lled plaster continue s withoutany di scernible break over th e whole of the shrine doorwa y and overthe three la rge Buddha s and their enframement s on the right sideof the antecham ber. vVe shou ld also note that a simp le painted designcovers the plastered wall area which extend s beneath the large Buddhaat the right of th e shrine doorway and th e two-Buddha panel adjacent to it. Although e vidence of its (presumed ) continuation on theframes of the panels hi gher up is lacking because of surface dam age,what we can stil l see on tl1e ba se area reveals a simple geomet ricpattern similar to that still visible on part s of the shrine doorway .Parti cularly be cau se the pla ster on all the se area s wa s applied all at

left o f th e shrine doorway, so it too cove rs both the o riginal a nd th e intrusivesculptur es .

25

t should be noted that the pl aste r over the last -carve d sta nding Buddh a atthe front of the left wa ll h as a so mewhat differe nt mix of plaste r. Ho weve r, it isunlikely tha t it wou ld have been fini shed in 478, w h en the four ot her standingBuddhas were n ot. I t is more likel y that a n ew m ix was used h ere (as in th e upperleft rear corner of the antec hamber ) b eca use the other m ix ha d run out.



40 CAVE UPPER 6

once, there is every reason to believe that this painting representspart of the same single effort undertaken shortl y after the beginning

of the Period of Di sruption in order to finish and decorate the se features in the antechamber. At the same time we sho uld note that the

donor s concern in the P erio d of Di sru ption was chiefly focused onthe imagery rather than the architecture. T h ey some time s did decorate already -carved architectural feature s particularly important oneslike the shri ne doorway, bu t the plastering and painting (and any

necessary final carving ) of the imagery obviously took precedence

over finishing th e cutting of elements such as th e antechamber pillar s and pilasters a task w hi ch the hurried donors of this late periodprobabl y considered as beyond their time, means, and intere st.

Not surprising ly the still rough fronting elements of the antecham

ber were apparently n either plastered nor painted as was po ssib lyalso the case wit h the untrim1ned ba se on the antechamber s leftside . These unfinished areas were of no interest to the new donorsin the Period of Disruption.

The la r ge Buddha on the lef t wa ll of the antechamber is coveredwith p laster of a so m ew hat different color and texture; but thi s by

no means suggests that it was pla ste red at a different time, sincesuch var iation s often occurred when any extensive area was p lastered. There are dozens of different mixes of plaster used at the site,of very different colors, textures, and co mpo sit ion s. Generally any

given area was surfaced wi th a sin gle mix or, particularly in the caseof walls and ceilings, wit h two or th ree superi mpo sed mixes, la yered

from a rough base plaster, to a fine surf ac ing , some time s with athird la yer in between . Ho wever, in some cases different mixes were

used for a sin gle task. The porch ceiling of Cave U6 is a case in

point. It appears to have been done all at one time, and then extendeddown the main wall; but the ceiling s surfacing, in particular , is com

po sed of a number of differently colored and composed batches.

Such differences in mix are not particularly telling (as thi s ceil in gpro ves); but when the mixe s used in any two or more areas proved

to be identical , it strong ly supports (even i it does not pro ve ) the

contemporaneity of the application.Surprisingly, this apparently well -coordinated effort so untypical

of donative activity in the P er iod of Di sruption extended evenbe yon d the work so far de scribed. It includes some s ign ificant carvings on the areas of the hall s rear wa ll closest to the sh rin e antecham-




ber entrance, as we ll as the pla stering of the larger part of the relatedceiling of the rear aisle.

In fact, it wou ld seem that the who le antechamber area was notplastered until the two la r ge standing Buddha s at either side of theantechambe r entrance, carved in th e rear wall of the hall, were alsobeing finished; this is suggested by the fa ct that the central portionof the rea r aisle ceiling, which extends to the area over these twoimages and which (conventionally ) wou ld have been completed beforethe pl aste rin g of the walls (and images ) below, appears to have bee ndon e at th e same time as the ceiling of th e antechamber. Th e factthat neither of the se ceiling areas wh ich , w hen de corate d, wou ld typ-ically honor' ' the images below, were ever pain te d, suggests that

time or money or the lack of workmen frustrated such plans; forafter all the important thing was to get the images finished (plas-tered and painted ). Since these im a ges presumably all were under-way in late 478 or sho rtl y after, when the intrusive work was goingon vigo rou sly throughout the site, the fact that expectations had tobe thus curtai led sugges ts that th e pressures in this particular cavewere very grea t an assumption cl early supported by the fact that

(more than in any other vihara ) the pace of work appears to havebeen quite turbulent, with do zens and dozens of images all under-way at essentially the sa ne time.

R E A R VV ALL GURES

In seeking to show the surpr ising ex tensiveness of the unified pro-gra m of work whic h sta rted in the sh rine antechamber, and wasoccupying the new donors who took over Cave U early in thePeriod of Di sruptio n , we sh a ll star t with a consideration of th e twolarge stand in g Buddha s on th e hall's rear wall. The se images, whichare conscious ly di sposed to fonn an effectively balanced pair, areextremely close in type to the pair flanking the shrine doorway,which had been carved at the behest of the original patron, and

obviously served as their models. Po ss ibly because they are at read-ily visible major points, the artist ha s made them particularly impres-

sive. Almost identi ca l with the shrine doorway pair in size and pose,they have sim ilarl y placed kneelin g devotees, as we ll as cle a rl y relatedarc hed and pilastered enframe1nents. They we re even pla stere d and



42 CAV E UPPER 6

painted , like the Buddhas flanking the sh rine doorwa y, before both

of them (see th e left im a ge) had bee n quit e fully carved; thi s ag ain

links all of the se figure s or at lea st their final stages in time , andwould further support our conclu sion that the y all formed part of asingle work-program which was expedien tly completed we ll befor ethe P eriod of Di sruption had run its course. It was as if the donor swere pr e sse d for time ; but not be cause time was runnin g out.

Ho wever, there are two minor , bu t non etheless re vealing , difference sbetween the figures flanking the shrine doorway and tho se cut intoth e rear wall of the hall. Th e ar ch es ov er th e latt er, in stea d of extend-

ing right up to the ceiling, are located we ll below it , w hich ha s theeffect of reducin g the size of the standing Buddha s. Furthermore ,their arche s only the one over the figure at the right i s completewere not de sign ed with peak s at the summit , w hich m ight be sur-

pri sin g cons id erin g th e overall co nn e ct ion of these figur es with tho seflankin g the shrine doorwa y . The probable rea son for these difference sis that when these standing Buddha s were planned , the row of seate dpadma sa na Buddha s ju st above mu st ha ve alr eady b een carve d , orat leas t und erway, or th e space rese rve d. T h ese sea ted Buddha s ar e

readil y v isible at the right of the shrine area, although a few (3 6,3 from the left ) have st ill undefined face s. On the left of the shrine

area, where the carving procee ded le ss expedit ious ly, their outline swere only lightly ske tched in , but still th e ir proximity to the bi gBuddha belo w was probabl y the reason that the peak s of the

Buddha 's arc h we re omit ted , in order to make the standin g ima geas large as po ss ible , as was also t he case with its counterpart on theright.

Because the repeated padma sa na Buddhas at the top of the leftand right rear wal ls are clearl y intru sive figures, related to man yot h ers w hich were also ad d ed to the cave du r ing the P er iod ofDi sru ptio n, they could not have been carved prior to mid-4 78 . An d,a ss umin g that the large Buddha s beneath we re p lanned in suc h away that room was left for the padmasana se rie s i t is clear that

these large standin g Buddha s too mu st have been conceived and

carve d durin g th e Period of Di sruption ; th at is th ey we re not und ertaken , or indeed even intended , b y the cave's ori ginal patron . Thi s

conclusion ga in s su pport from the fact that suc h standin g Buddh asne ver appear in thi s po sition on the rear wa ll in the orig inal pro-

g ram of work in other caves, although the idea of putting Buddhaim a ges in this position 1n ay have b ee n initiat ed in Cave 16 , where




a seated Buddha, sur rounded by devotees, was hurriedly painted ineach of th ese same po sitions (flanking th e antecha mber ) in Cave 16

in ea rly 478.nother factor suggesting that the se two la r ge standing Buddh as

were not undertaken until 4 79 involves the character of the wa ll surface in these areas. Parti cu larl y in the case of the left image, therock su rface into w hi ch it was cut was much rou gher than wouldbe expected i the panel had been clone during the original phaseof work; in the Period of Disruption, however, images were oftencut into such previously unfinished areas, even though more desirable surfaces we re of course preferred.

On the lef t image, which is better preserved, we can see that itsrough margins were first smoothed over with typically " la te" redplaster, and then given a finishing coat of the same mix of finema n y-seeded plaster as the main shrine image and most of the pan-els (and doorway ) in the s hrine antechamber. Thus it seems clearthat these two lar ge Buddhas were made as part of the overall pro-gram of finishing th e shr in e an tec hamb er which a new donor ordonor s undertook in 4 79.

A consideration of the plastering of th e ce ilin g in this area further confirms the intru sive nature of these large stand ing Buddh asat the rear. Durin g th e consistent phase of activity at the site , theplastering of cei lin gs typically proceeded from front to back, following the course of the excavation-work. The fact tha t this procedure

was not followed in Cave U6, but that the rear aisle ceiling wasplastered at a time when the main hall ceiling stil l had not beendon e (and never was ), clearly s ho ws that this was not part of th eoriginal program; furthermore, the fact that the central aisle ceilingarea appears (from its different mix ) to ha ve been done before and

independently from the plastering of the side s reinfor ces th e point,for such "selective" plastering was never done during the heyday ofwor k at the site.

I t is evident that the limited plastering of the rear aisle ceilin gwas done specifical ly in connection with the la r ge stan ding Buddhason th e rear wall and the sac red areas beyond, since it only ex tend son either side for the length of those wa ll panel s Furthermore , the

same plastering, which continues clown over the wa ll su rfa ce below,is similarly limited there, for it covers only the portion of the rear

wa ll into which these Buddha panels had been cut . The only otherplastering on the hall and aisle ceilings involved narro w "honorific



44 CAVE UPPER 6

canopies over the seemingly endless rows of now missing but oncesea ted Buddha s along the top of the walls and above t h e beams over

the hypo sty le. Mo st of the se ca nopie s of p laster have fallen off,but we can tell they were once pr e sent by the clean condition ofthe ceiling which the y once covered, affording (quite ingenuou sly)protection from srnoke deposits and other grim e until they eventually perhaps only after some centur ies fell away.

Significantly, pla ste r of preci sely the same mix as that on the rearaisle ceiling very different from the finer many -see ded mix on the

pan els cove rs the whole sh rine antechamber ceil in g while it appearsthat the same mix al so never comp leted with a painted su rfaceonce covered most of the shrine ceiling too, even though most ofthe latter has now fallen away. Onl y in the more finely chiseled (butstill unfinished ) area over the image is the treatment different ; asnoted above, that small area was probably decorated in connec tionwith the main image 's rushed completion before mid-4 78.

The overall consistency in color, texture, and mode of applicationof the plastered ce iling areas sugges ts that they were a ll done at oneand the same time . One can also assume that they must ha ve been

done some what before the decoration of the wa lls (and images ) below,since this was normal procedure. However , they obviously would not

have been pla stere d until the sculpture s belo w them were well under-

way. In fact, as we have noted in th e rear aisle the extent of plasterin g done on the ceiling has been clearly determined by the presenceof the new ima ges there. Thu s it see m s certain that the ceilings in

this rear area of the cave could not have been plastered prior tomid-478. Th ey are very obviously an und er takin g of the P eriod ofDi srupt ion , for the ceilings throughout the cave which in normal

times wou ld ha ve been finished sequentially from front to backhad never been touched at all at this ti1ne . Indeed , when Hari senadied, not a single bit of plastering or painting had yet been accompli shed in the cave.

One of course must ask why the ceilings in the antechamber andthe adjacent ones in the rear aisle were not painted, as they surel ywere intend ed to b e; otherwise they would not have been plastered.The answer see m s clearl y to be that the donor or donors re spon sible

for the fairly ambitious program of work underway in this area during the first part of the Period of Di sruption must have run intoproblem of time , money, or help problem s which were all-toopr e ssing during the troubled time, as th e unfinished charac ter of the

who le cave pro ves .




One would think that the two large stan ding Buddhas which flankthe antechamber entrance wou ld ha ve been carved before the sim

ilar but smal ler Buddha ju st to the right of the right rear wa ll image,but there is no certainty about this. Ho wever, even though work onth e pair of large Buddha s may not have starte d im m ediately, theseprime lo ca t ion s must have been spok en for by someone w ho couldmak e his intentions hold. It is quite possible that th e small i1na gewas started b y a different donor at the same t ime , for the cave is

flooded wit h intrusions started as soon as the cave was open to suchan invasio n . Th e very fa ct that it seems to vio la te th e generallysym metrical (or we might better say, expedient ) program which wehave di scussed above might support this vie w rather th an otherwise;for then the little image could be considered, like the six simi larl ysma ll int rusions on the antechamber's left wa ll , as a separate donation starte d at the very beginning of the Period of Di srupt ion , fittedin a clearly desirable position. Supporting this notion that the littleimage was undertaken at the same time as the large one, or possibly even s tar ted before, is the fact that the la r ge image on th e righ trear wall is much more cramped than its co unt erpar t on the left

rear wal l; furthermore, its unavoidable proximity to th e smaller imagem ay ha ve been the reason that the sc ulptor s of the larger im agedest ro ye d their com mon margin in order to properly com pl ete thepilaster; as their very narro w shar ed mar gin was worked on, it wasdecided to cut this margin away, and newly reveal the right edgeof the pila ster.

What is interesting is that this smal ler image was not plasteredand paint ed as part of th e larger general program which we havede scr ibed above, and which included the plastering and painting ofthe immediately adjacent large Buddha. The smal l image was quiteconsciously ex cluded from this program, for the margin of the plastered area done in connection with the lar ger pro gram, lies ju st toits left, both on the wall and (a bit less precisely ) on the ce ilin gabo ve . By way of contrast, on the lef t rear wall, in the equivalent(although narrower ) space next to the large standing Buddha , thefinal plastering (with the familiar fine whit e-seeded mix ) extends allthe way over to the pillared cell-comple x. 26 The elaborate but almost

entirely obscured figure only part of the yagnopavita can be s e e n

26 Coarse red plaste r, typical of the period of Disruption, has been used to first



6 CAVE UPPER 6

was probably part of the overall program too , since otherwi se the

pla stered wall surface would have re1nained unpaint ed, and th i s (at

such an important spot ) would be hard to explain.The two other standing Buddha s on the right rear wall (one barely

be gun ) which flank th e doorway of the right rea r shrinel et will beconsidered lat er . The y almost certa inl y date to 480. Not having yetb een s tarted, they were not a factor when the ge n era l progra1n in

this area was being de ve loped early in the Period of Di sruption.The little padmasana i1nages, seen at the top of the right rear

wall, are another matter, however, because they certain ly were startedalong with the lar ge painted Buddha and the adjacent smaller one,which we have just described. As I ha ve pointed out above, thi s

fr ieze of thirteen sm a ll Buddha s must have been conceived at leastas early as the large standing Buddha ju st below, because the lat-ter's positioning, and the form of its arch, have both been adjustedto make room for them. I t is even likel y tha t the y were conceivedand undertaken before the large Buddha , for if they had been con-ceived together, or if the padma sana ima ges had b een positionedafter the large ima ge, they might ha ve been lined up with it better. 7

The fact that they do not line up might be becau se the la r ge itnagewas starte d after both these padma sana images and the small Buddhapanel to it s right had been fixed in position . If so, we can see thatthe scu lptor of the la r ge i1nage had to place it whe re it is tightlyfitted in bet ween the sh rine antechamber pilaster to the le f t and thesmaller Buddha panel to the right. By contrast, we can see that thelarge Buddha on the left rear wall does line up with the sketched -in padmasana images above, and that even if it was laid out afterthey we re , it cou ld be adjusted in po sition , becau se there was noother adjacent panel in its way.

No matter in what sequence these various ima ges were begun,however, it is clear that they were all underway at the same time ,and that work on all of th em had ended by the time the extens ivepro gram of plastering and pain ting t he two large sta ndin g Buddha sand the main features of the antechamber had been concluded. This

level the very rough wall surfa ce both u nd er the painted figu re, and on the areaaround the carved image.

27 Such alignment is not the rule in the Period of D ismption , but often the arti-sans opted for it.




is evident because , just as the paint on the large standing Buddhacontinues around the pilaster which it shares with the sm a ller

standing Buddha (proving that the latter had been carved w h en thelarge image was painted ), so also the plastering of the large standing Buddha was continued right over the three (or pos sibly four )padmasana i1na ges ju st above when it was joined up with relatedp lastering on the ceiling above. The fact that these few padmasanaimages of the fu ll row of thirteen were the only ones surfaced asif their proximity warranted it suggests that , like the smaller standing Buddha below, this whole row of padma sana imag es was notthought of as an essentia l part of the group of image s chosen forplastering and painting at this time.

The first four images (at the left end of the row) are the only onesfully carved the pedestals of all of the others , and even the head sof the fifth, sixth , and thirteenth, are not quite finished. Ho wever,it is not likely that the somewhat unfinished state of this series is thereason that it was not painted as part of the larger program men

tioned above, s in ce a number of similarly unfini sh ed motif s in theshrin e antechamber, were p lastered and paint ed at that time. O f

course it is po ss ible that the carving of the four images at the leftwas hastily finished by those responsible for the p lastering, or alternatively , that their fini she d state recommended them for the plastering , the remainder bein g put on hold until their ca rvin g wasfinished.

It ma y be that this group of paclma sana Buddhas , and possiblythe smaller standing Buddha on this right rear wall, had been undertak en by a separate donor or donor s who for so m e reason (not hardto i1nagine in this troubled period ) had stopped work by the timethe abovement ion ed painting program started. There are in sta ncesat the site where it is even more certain than here that certain donor shad to give up their work for per sonal rather than more generalpolitical rea son s even before the sit e's final collapse. 8 Certain ly littleor no work was clone on this row of images after 4 79, even thoughthey cou ld have been finished in a matter of days , and even thoughother carvings (on either sid e of the right rear shrinel et s doorway

28 See the ev id ence in Cave 26' right aisle and on Cave 9's right fac;ade area,where sketche d-in icons we re abandoned, and then recut, presumably by a differentdonor.



48 CAVE UPPER 6

as well as inside the sh rinelet ) were starte d in this sam e general area

in 480. Thi s again sugges ts that th ey had been abandoned by their

sponsor fa irly early in thi s Period of Di sruption.The sugge sti on that work on this row of padmasana image s had

be en abandoned eve n b efore the abovementioned program of pla stering and paintin g had b een be gun see ms quite convincingly confirmedb y th e paralle l situation on the left r ea r wall. H ere, 1no st intere sting ly, we find a se rie s of barely sketched-in padma sa na image s allshowin g the teaching gesture, i given sufficient sc rutin y. Althoughtho se at th e left ha ve b ee n mo stly oblit e ra t ed b y th e sup er i1npo se dbhadra sana image s trace s of an eighth (and final ) arch wou ld seemto prove that the y we re planned as a fami liar serie s of Eight Buddh as .29

It see m s that they we re conceived at the same time as the se rie s ofthirteen padma sana im a ges on the right rear wa ll, and sh ow a similar r elationship (or lack of it) to the la r ge s tandin g uddha below.Perhap s w ork on them got dela ye d becau se tho se on the right werebeing worked on instead; at lea st we can note that the large stan ding uddha on th e left is less finished than it s co unt erpa rt on th eright , quite possibly b eca u se it was started a bit la t er. Th e right

stand ing uddha could we ll ha ve been given pr iori ty becau se thewall su rface had been better prepared th ere before consistent workon the cave was abandoned.

If th e left uddha was s tarted slightly later than th e right, thi scould account for th e fact that its flankin g pila ste rs are so clearl y

reduced ve rsion s of those flankin g the righ t ima ge, and that the

arch was never defined at a ll. vVhethe r the merel y sketched -in pad-

ma sana im a ges above we re ori gin a lly the respons ibilit y of a sepa rat edonor who abandoned them, or whether (less likel y) the y and theirmore full y carved counterparts on the ri gh t were undertaken by thesame donor (s) who gave the large uddha s be low , the re sult was the

same: w ork on them was ne ver continued after 479 . But whereas if

we were to consider the ro w on th e right alone we co uld onl y sayth at w ork on them had stopped by the time that the major p lastering program was undertaken in the general area , in the case of

th e row on th e left the se qu en ce of eve nt s is mo r e spec ificall y revealed.

29 T h e first seven ud dhas show dh armaca kra mudr a, th e e ighth (Maitr eya ) withabh aya. Bu t Maitr eya's mudra is not in va ria ble .




We can no longer see if the sketched-in p admasana images directlyover the la r ge Buddha i1nage were expediently cove red with plaster

when the latter im a ge was itself surfaced although this wou ld seemlikely but we can see that those just beyond this point were quiteliterally disregarded when, sho rtly after their abandomnent, the rowof typically later bhadrasana images (plus a padmasana Maitreya )were supe rimpo sed directly upon them.

Thi s superimpo sitio n is fascinating, suggesti ng as it does some ofthe vagaries of patrona ge in this com plex Period of Disruption. ndit is sign ifi can t too , in helping us to work out th e chronolo gy ofde velopment s in the cave, since it see m s evident from a study of theimagery here, as we ll as in Cave 26 and various other excavations,that sm a ll carved bhadra sana Buddh as never appear in intrusive contexts until 480 that is in the later part of the brief P eriod ofDi srup tion. In fact, one can probably go even farther and assert that(except for the Maitreya in the left rear group ) all of the thirty-eightpadmasana figures, plu s the eight ske tched images of the same ti1ne,carved at the upper lev el of the main hall, and ind eed all of th eeleven stupas on the cap ital s were sta rted before any of the bhadrasana

images wh ich are found at the same upper levels.It is worth noting , in the intere st of establishing a secure sequence

of developments a1nong these various intrusions in the cave, howthe seri es of seven bhadrasana Buddha s plus JVIaitreya is positionedin relation to the la r ge standing Buddha just at their right. Had thelatter ima ge (wh ich we ha ve dated to the earlier part of the Periodof Disruption ) not already been in po sition, we can be fairly sure

that this lat er series would have been place more to the right, sincecloseness to the shrine was always a desirable feature. Indeed wecan see that the sketched-in row of padmasana Buddha s did indeedextend up to the shrine antechamber entrance in just thi s way, but

this was possible not only because they were smaller but becausethey were laid out either in conjunction wit h, or possibly just before,the large standing Buddha.

The orderliness so far seen in the disposition of the intrusive imageswas surely more exped ient than esth etic . Areas tended to befilled up according to the desirability of the areas involved, and this

almost automatically imposed a kind of order on the arrangement.The same effect is given by the genera lly uniform character of thelittle images carved on the capitals of the hall pillar s although heretoo the arrangement is ruled by exped iency . That these figures can



50 CAVE UP PER 6

be assigned a date quite early in the Pe riod of D isrup tio n is sugges ted by the fac t th at they occupy high priority location s very

visible and mo stly we ll-illuminated . Equall y suggestive is the fact thatlike the im a ges being carved alon g the top s of the wa lls at this same

time , th ey are all padma sana Bu ddha s never the later bhadrasanatype ne wly and widely used for small ima gery in 480.

Th e decora tion of th ese cap ital s ce rtainl y is to t ally different fromth at once planned by the ori gin al pa tr on , who se work pr o gram mu sthave calle d for the much more elaborate an d less iconic formswhi ch were being carved on the ca pital s in late vihara s right upuntil the moment of Hari sena's death. The pillars' squa re bases andcapitals wit h very late 3.5 ribs both reveal that the pill ars werenot fu lly defined until 4 7 5 or later. 30 Indeed , most of Cave U6's pillars and pillar capitals were s till in quit e a rough sta te whe n thecons istent program of wo rk on th e cave was abandoned; and a fewremain thi s way sti ll today. Thi s however , did no t faze the donorsof the Period of Disn1ption , w ho cut images on most of the capital s eve n on th e ext rem ely unfini sh ed L 3.

Althou gh , as m en tion ed above , mo st of the se cap ital im a ges ar e

flanked b y stupas , two of th em those on the two pillars to th e r ightin the fro nt ro w s ho w a kne elin g de votee in stead. It see m s likel yconsidering th e hi gh priority position of these capi tals, th at th esetwo 1nay ha ve b een done fir st, before th e id ea of usin g flankin g stup as h ad ga ined precedence. I t m ay we ll be that thi s latter formu lareflects development s in the prestigious Cave 1, where flanking stupa s we re introduced on the painted rear faces of the front centerpill a r capital s ju st prior to H ar isena' s death.

I t is typical of work durin g the Period of Di srup tion that the decora t ion of the cap ital s of th e pillar s was not as consistently pro-gramme d as w ould have been the ca se in th e site's heyday , when

gratui tou s om i ssion s wo uld not have be en allowe d by th e masterplann er . For in sta n ce, th e important ax ial faces of the ca pital s ofpill a rs R2 and R3 were not decorated ; nor was t he re ar face of thecapital of the right central pill ar of the fron t row carved , even th ou ghits co unt erpar t on th e left cent ral pill a r was . Admitt edly, thi s se lec -

30 Th e relatively low sq ua re bases may have been necess ita ted by the ir being cutfrom roughed-out octagonal forms; Cave 5 has sim ila r types, also defined in orafte r 475.




tivity was probably determined by the relative condition of the availab le surfaces, for all of the above-mentioned undecorated capita ls

ha ve flaws runnin g through them ; and eve n though these flaws aregenera lly not very severe, one still can understand why the capita lswit h the more ideal surfaces wou ld have been chosen first by thesen ew and uni n vited donors. The extremely faulty capita l of R3

would have required repair with a mud -plaster or even stone fill

before it cou ld be prope rly decorated; and this is harclly the kind ofthing that donors in this hurried late phase of work wishe d to dealwith.

The randomness which can be noticed when we stu dy the carving of these cap itals for in stance, a Buddha was carved on the capital of the right front pila ster but not on that of the left front is

ve ry typical of intrusive donation s as is the gratu itous br eaking ofconve ntion which allowed one of the images to be cut on th e aisleface of pi ll ar L2 ; less important faces suc h as this someti me s werede corated with painted motifs during the heyday of the site , but

carved motifs were never found on such minor faces then , when th eguid ing impulse was appropr iate decoration rather than th e se lfi sh

acqu isit ion of merit.31

The fact that the faces of these capitals were a ll still availab lewhen th is work was done; and the fact that all of th e images carvedon them were fully comp leted, not being m erel y carved but alsopainted : the se are further significa n t pieces of evidence suggestingthat a datin g very early in the Period of Di sruption is an appropriate one for these particu lar intrusions. Their pro gramming may

h ave in vo lved the same donors who occupied themselves with th eundertakings in the shri ne antechamber, and in the rear of the mainhall , starting as early as mid-478.

R eturning to our cons ideration of the small seated Buddha imageswhich form (or formed ) a kind of fr ieze around the wall of the cave,and cons idering the probable sequence of so m e of these undertakings , it see m s likel y that the rear wal l padmasana ima ges (carved onthe right and sketc hed-in on the left ) were begun earlier than thoseon th e side walls, although they are obviously part of the same bur stof intrusive activity, and might we ll be separated by no more than

3 Th e single excep tion involv es the carv ing of the rear faces of th e ca p itals ofthe highl y decorated po r ch pillar s and pilasters of Cave 20 .



52 CAVE UPPER 6

a few months or weeks. The generally higher priority accorded the

important rea r wa ll of such caves recommends this co nclu sion , as

doe s the fact that the wh o le ser ies as ori ginall y planned , was notinterrupted b y any bhadra sana images a later type-such as appear

on the left aisle wall.Of all th e in trusive im a ges on the l eft and righ t aisle walls, tho se

visib le at the ends of the front aisle 1nay have had som e priority,since the y we re much more readil y vis ible when entered the cave,both by virtue of their placement and of their lighting from the largeporch windows . Thu s it see m s reaso nable to assmne that th e gro upover the shrinelet at the right end of the front aisle would be veryearly in fact it i s po ssible that it was carved there even before thepre viou sly unfini shed cell (R l ) was converted (in 479 or 48 0) intothe present elaborate shrinelet. In any case, the row of padma sanaBuddha s inter sper sed with lo w relief stupas was cu t prior to the timewhen the front of the shrinelet, and the ceiling above, was painted

(probably in 480 ), for they appear in the midst of thi s door and ceiling deco ration , but are essent ially unrelated to it. 3

It is not always clear why lo w -reli ef stupa s are in t ers p erse d among

the sea ted Buddha s in certain groups su ch as th is one , which incidentall y extends a few feet onto the front wa ll with a padma sanaBuddha at tended b y two stupa s, just as on many of the cave'scapitals. Such a c01nbination of Buddha s and stupa s is see n in va riou s contexts at the s i te. Sometimes, as is of ten the case in Cave

U6, the stupas are p laced in areas whe re the stone is flawed, andwhere it wou ld have been harder to carve images proper, but sometimes the subst itution ma y have been made 1nerely to save tim eand/ or mone y or because of space considerations. I t also see m s thatthey are used more frequently in 480 than earlier, as if the convention of subs titutin g them for sea ted Buddha s develo ped durin gthe period.

The case of the space over the pi llar ed cell at th e left e nd of the

front aisle is somewha t different. Althou gh this is an area which onewould expect to ha ve been used for intru sion s very early, particularly sinc e the narrow area over the pillar ed entranc e was alreadydecorated with the attracti ve elephant frieze, the stone had been left

3 The configuration of the painted area just over the left end of the doorwaylintel suggests , as we would expect, that the painting of the door-front proper wasdone after the frieze had been carved.





5 CAVE UPPER 6

when the figures above were started. But (if painted ) there could not

have be en iconic forms in the upp er (now illeg ibl e) ar ea , since th e

four bhadra sana Buddha s to the left cut into the space. Li ke the fivebhadra sa n a Buddha s at the farther end of this same wall , they wou ldbe later than the eig ht padmasana Buddha s-cum- stupa s, both from

their po sit ion and from their i conog raph y. Indeed , throughout the

hall , the bhadra sa na Buddha s typi ca lly po stdat e the padma sanaim a ges, the pa limpsests " on the left rear wall bein g t he mo st convincing examp le of all. In this same regard , one sh ould note thatther e ar e no bhadra sana images amo ng th e relativ ely early intru

sions in the shrine antechamber (w hi ch ha s four padma sa na ima ges,includin g the re-cut de votee , while the very late ima ges carved at

eyeleve l on the front wal l include onl y one p ad ma sana Buddha but

nine bh a dra sana ima ges On th e rig ht ai sle w all , a long ser ies of sixteen padma sana ima ges

extends from over the ce n tra l pillared cell (R3 ) all the way do wn tothe rear pila ster. The fact that no low -r elief stupa s are interspersedw ith them cou ld refl ec t th e different attitude s or finan cial re sourcesof the donor s in vo lve d , for stupa s (as we can infer from a stu d y of

the paintings in Cave 19 's vau lt) we re cheaper than Buddha s.33

Butthe prime reason is probabl y due to the fact that the st one surfacehere is all ve ry sound, s o that Buddha ima ges co uld be carve d verye P editiou sly . In fa ct, no gr eat labor was put into th e ta sk, for the

unvaried carvings are quite summary the ears , for in st a nce , are

hardl y defined at all.The number of images in the series on th i s wall may or may not

b e signifi cant; it p erhaps ca n b e thou ght of as compri sing two gro up sof eight hi storica l" Buddha s each eight (sometime s but not alwayswith Niaitreya as the eighth ) being a popu lar gro upin g at the site .34

In fact , there were probably eigh t painted ima ges of the same typein the spa ce remainin g b etwee n the end of the carved series andthe right front pila ste r; we cannot be sure of th i s, sinc e w hat eve rpain tin gs were there have complete ly fa llen away , bu t exactl y the

33 n Cave 19, Buddhas alone are used at th e front of th e vau lt, and alternate

wi th (presumably cheaper ) stup a s as one proceeds rearward. Similarly, in th e redecoration of C ave 1 Os aisle va ults , the Buddha s give was to s im pler lotu s med a llio nsas one pr oceeds rea rwar d.

34 There are va rious g roup s at the site w here Maitreya (if intend ed)is not specifi call ydistin guished .





56 CAVE UPPER 6

Disn1ption , suggesting that the various donors in the cave all had

some interest in creating an almo st continuous frieze of such figures

along the tops of the var iou s wal ls in the hall. Here again, as in theway the shrine antec h amber area was finished , and more than inmost caves which were used for donations durin g the P er iod ofDi sruption, there see ms to be evidence of some qua si-pro grammaticintent , although it was hardly of a very rigid type. Per h aps therewas a lso an interest in leaving the areas below for larger iconic paintings , althou gh there is no evidence either from traces of plaster orpaint or hole s for garland ho oks) that such a program , if int ende d,was comp le ted or even very much developed.

Of further interest in th is regard is the likelihood that a borderof mudplaster went around the whole ceiling in the central area

bounded by the interior pillars, as we ll as on the ceilin g area adjacent to the pillars in the left, right , and front aisles; where it hasbeen better protected , some of this border remains but with no evidence of painting extant ), as it does along the front edge of the central hall ar ea , ju st over pillar LC of the front row. Thi s m ay we llmean that a friez e of painted Buddh a imag es covere d the edg es of

all the beam s over the centra l hall pillar s.Thus , although it is obvious that this cave was by no means fully

or consistently decorated , it certainly had far more extensive painting added to it during the P eriod of Di sruption than a cursory viewing would today suggest. This is perhaps partly because , althoughreadil y h abitab le, it had no t been decorated at all prior to th e Periodof Disruption . It is clear from studying the evi dence in the cells thatmany monk s lived in it , so it may well hav e attracted large num-bers of donors many of them the monks themselve s) for that reason. Many monks lived in cave s suc h as 1, 2, and 17 also, but thosecave s had few areas available for intrusive imagery.

Although it seem s unlikely that all of the series of sma ll padtnasanaim a ges on Cave Upp er 6 can be ass igned to mid-4 78/4 79 alone, itdoes seem likely that all of the bhadra sa n a images belong to 480.Of this new type, the first may well be those over cell L2. This is

suggeste d not only by th eir more forward placem ent as comparedwith the other bhadrasana group on the left ai sle wal l, but by their

rather elaborate treatment; each of the four i s seated on a welldefined throne and flanked by flying dwar£ 3. It may well be th at

with this new type of figure , which was so late in making its appearance in such contexts in any case, the artist who made th is first




group had not ye t work ed out a qui ck and appropriate formul a forth eir r ep eti tiou s pr e sentation. Th ose over ce ll L4, by way of con -

tra st, are much more simplifi ed in type, as are tho se w hich coverove r the padma sana sketche s on the left rear wa ll the latter per-hap s being don e la st of a ll. Th e situation is som ew hat differ ent onthe cave's front wa ll (discussed below ), w hi ch was utilized for a num-

ber of lar ge r bhadra sana panels, all datin g to 480, and som e neve rfin ished.

The walls near the front had already been smoothed at the upper

leve l when th e or iginal patron 's work on th e cave had been givenup , so the y would ha ve been hi gh priori ty spot s for intru sion s. I fthe lar ge s moothed area be twee n ce lls L2 and R2 had already been

pain te d when the intru sion s ove r cells L3 and R3 w ere car ved , thiswo uld explain why such ro ws of intrusive carvings were not sta rtedfarth er for wa rd. Th e carve r of th e four bhadra san a Buddha s overcell door way L2 seem s concerned ab out the inte gr ity of the areabelow. T his ma y be becau se the Litany Sce ne w hich occupie s that

area h ad alr eady been dr aw n when the pan el above was carve d; ifso th e sc ulptor of th e panel would hav e known how far h e could

extend it without cutting away any esse n tial (i.e. iconic ) part s of theLitan y .35 O f course it is also po ssible that the Lit an y scene was sta rtedafter the bhadrasana images , and composed according ly; the loss ofdetail s at the upper levels make s it h ard to d ec id e.

The area just above the inscribed Li ta ny Scene (In scr # 18) ha sfall en away , so that it is im possible to no w kno w ho w far its compo sitio n extended upward , if all, and with wha t motif s althoughslight tr aces of plaster an d p a int remain. t see m s likely th at the ar eaabove was being (or had been ) reserv ed for the seated Buddha s w hichborder most of the interi or at this level; the pre sence of what appearsto b e a hole for a garla nd hook (now ca pped wi th a wh ite in sec tdepo sit) ju st below the frieze of seate d Buddha s approximatel ycenter ed over the 1nuch-ob scured Litan y ima ge w ould support su cha conclusion. Tra ces of pla ster an d p ain t do suggest tha t such seatedBuddh as ma y ha ve indeed ha ve been painted above; indeed , the

35

D onors would neve r destroy a previo usly co mpl eted ico ni c im age, b ut floralor geometric motifs assoc iated with suc h imag es co uld be cut away . T he tree ofthe Parinirvana scene in Cave 26 is cu t into , as are th e lotuse s in the SravastiMiracl e sce ne on Cave 2's left r ea r wall. Th e Mahayana painting s in Cave 9 andl 0 often partly cover ea rlie r Hin aya na narrative or floral/ geo m et ric m ot ifs.



58 CAVE UPPER 6

imaginative eye can make out what may be traces of the white robeof a bhadrasana i na ge near th e cen ter of thi s area, sugges tin g that

it once contained three (or po ss ibl y two ) painted ima ges of this type.The Litan y scene is very ruinous today, an d in any case was orig

inally only sketc h ed; rath er than paint ed . In the center of the compo sition only the great and two adjacent toes of Avalokitesvara'sright foot no w remain , along with the sketched lotus pedestal beneaththem , and the expected flourishing lo tus spray risin g just to the right.At the lower left a man, drawn with great freedom and assurance,hurriedly escap es from one of th e conve ntional threats, but ju st wh ichone cannot now be see n . Ju st above a man , also boldl y drawn , isescaping from a se rpent , while on the other (right ) side a mother

clutche s her child and seeks sa lvat ion from one of the other dre ads.Th e rather mannered sharpness of the skillfull y drawn facial feature srelate s them to simil ar preliminary drawing visible abo ve th e Parinirvana scene in Cave 26. Thi s is hardly surpr ising, since the lat termust ha ve been dra wn late in 4 78 , and the intrusive Litany sometime after mid-478 .

It is of cons id erabl e int eres t to note that wh en th e wa ll surface

(already finely smoothed down in the original pha se of work on thecaves ) was prep are d for thi s composition, the plaster u se d was of thevery same fine mix wi th small thin wh it e seeds wh ich was used when

the main image and an te cha mber scu lptur es were c omplet ed in lat e478, or 479; it ma y b e that this pla ste rin g was done at the sameti me and b y the same worker (s). Such a rela tive ly early date is recomme n ded too by the de sirabi lity of this loca tion in te rm s of thewall's preparation , po sition , and fairly goo d light. Th e fact th at theessentially unpainted ima ge was apparently (or exped ientl y) considered as completed for it is inscr ibed ma y be ascribed to the troubled character of the se time s. Either the ru sh ed donor intentionall yopted for a merely drawn com po sition , or he decided once the drawing was underway, to g ive up any plan to color it. Th ere are numerou s other such sketc hes at Ajanta, bu t in every in sta nce it is clear,as here , that the image in question was left unpainted not fr om

inten t but because time was runnin g ou t . 6 Th e i na ge's in sc ription ,

6 See var ious details on Cave 1 s front wall, Cave 2's left wall, a nd in Nidh ish rine, and over Cave 26 Parinirvana; but in the latte r case the pa in ted surfacewas probably lo st.




too , gives evidence of haste; it is written rather than incised (in itselfnot surprising ) and is rather carel ess ly ha stily po sition ed beneath

the figure , angling so me what upward. It is int ere sting that the donorwas a private individual , the Sakyabhiksu Gunakirt ti , who musthave b een one of the many donors who took over the cave in th ePeriod of Di sruption. 3i Th e ico ni c rather than narrative nature of theima ge of course supports it s ascription to the Period of Di sruption,for suc h wall areas , in an earlier day , wou ld generally have beenused for J ataka scenes or the like; nor would they have been paintedwhen th e lower leve l of the wa ll was still rough , as it is here andindeed throughout much of the cave.

The equivalent wal l surface on the right side of the hall the area

between cell doorways R2 and R3 had also been nicely smoot hed

durin g the earlier course of work on the cave , even though it tooremain s rough near the floor level. It too wou ld ha ve been an ideallocation for use durin g the Period of Di srup tion. I t seems likel y thatit was once decorated with a major intrusion like the Litany sceneon th e left wa ll , but no trace s of eith er pla ster paint now remain.

It see m s right to conclu de that , with th e except ion of the hast ily

completed shrine Buddha and the first stages of work on the la r gestanding Buddha s in the shrine antechamber , all done by the original patron in 4 77 and 4 78 , all of the other ima ges or groups ofima ges in th e cave mu st, like the Litan y sc ene , ha ve b een given byne w donors. Ho weve r, mo st were e ither not in scri bed or ha ve lo sttheir painted epigraphs. Be sides th is record , only one other in scri p-tion , also donative (and intrusive ), has be en found in the cave. N oticedonly rec ently , it appears ben eath a mu ch damaged painting of abhadrasana Buddha painted close to the doorway of the Ri ght FrontShrinelet and recording the religious donation of the Sakyabhik suGovinda . It is discus sed below.

\tVhere Cave U6 s walls were not so smooth , or pre sent other

problems , intru sive donation s were ge nerally not made , or weredela yed, even where plenty of space was available. Thus the imageson the side and front walls of the shrine itself are all very late , as

7 Co hen 19 95, 337: In sc ripti o n 18: Thi s s the reli gio us donation o f theSakyabhiksu Gu n akirtti. 'Wha tever m er it th ere is in it, [may that serve J ll sent ien tb eings' [attainment] of unexcelled knowledge. Ch habr a (Yaz dan i 1946, 88 # 1A)trans la tion: th e Sakya monk Tar a na-ki rttana



60 CAVE UPPER 6

well as often unfinished , as are the two standi ng Buddha images (onevery in com pl ete ) which flank the doorway of Cav e U6 s right rear

shrinelet. Indeed , the barely-started state of the one on the rightstrong ly suggests that it must date to the end of 48 0, when work onall such intru sive images was abruptly interrupted. That ju st to the

left of th e doorway , in a somewhat more des irabl e lo ca t ion , appearsto ha ve been undertaken first, but it too i s somewhat unfini shed;note , for instance the hair. I t almo st certainly belong s to 48 0 too.The anomalous po sition of the Buddha s proper right hand is sounu sual th at it should be not ed. Apparently th e standard va radamudra was started whe n the rock broke , necessitating thi s surpr ising adjustment. 38

The late dating of these two images can be explained in part b ythe fact that this wa ll area wa s still very rough when consistent workon the ca ve ended in 477; th u s it was not immediatel y attractive tonew donor s in the Period of Di srup tio n. Fur ther, it shows a majorflaw five to six feet up from the floor level , a feature which made

the lo cation even less de sirabl e and indeed accounts for th e reducedsize of the se two imag es as we ll as for the sm a ll size and leftward

pla ce m ent of the third small sta ndin g Buddha in thi s area. The la tte r , however , is a slightly earlier intrusive image, as we ha ve noted

earlier.The least ideal po sition for vot ive ima gery in Cave U6 was the

interior ha ll s front wa ll an area treated as a very low-priori ty onein other ca ves as we ll. Not only was t his w all poorl y lit and relatively far from the cave s shrine, but in the ca se of Cave U6 it hadnot eve n b een pr operly cut back and smooth ed down before th ecourse of the ca ve s excavation was interrupted in 4 77. Thu s eventhough there was more space available here than in most other areas ,it is reasonable to a ssum e that this dark stretch of rock was one of

the las t areas which the new donor s durin g the Period of Di sruption ,wou ld choose for intru sive offerin g. Th e a ss umpt ion that the ca rvings done her e are indeed very late can be further su bstantiated b yobserving that three of them were ne ver painted , while two otherswere not eve n full y carv ed. Furth ermor e, so m e of th e availabl e spac estill remain s un u sed; this is sure ly becau se tim e ran out while thi s

38 Th e attendant Buddha on th e pr oper right in th e ad j acent s hrinel et has a simila rly a nomal ous gesture; co uld one have copied the o th er?




wall was st ill bein g worked on , at the end of 480 , he re in Cave U

as in at th e site in gene ral.

There are eleven h aphazard ly pla ced Buddha im a ges on the frontwa ll. One of them , a small padma sa na ima ge which appears alon gwith two low-relief stupa s hi gh up on the right en d, was carved a longwith the adjacent ima ges (all once painted ) over the hi ghl y decorated doon vay of th e front ri ght shrinel et in late 4 79. O f the otherten , dating near th e very last momen t of the site s anxiou s pa trona ge,two are late padma sa n a type s, all of the other eight bein g in thenewly p op ular bh adra sana m od e. All of th ese im a ges we re very hast ilydone. The wa ll areas around them w er e left in their earlier rou ghcondition , while the mar gin s of the relief s, i de cor ated at all , werecovered with a ve ry thick la ye r of mudpla ste r, upon which motif swhich 1night oth erwise ha ve been carved we re oft en painted in.

All of th e bhadra sana Buddh as follow a som ewhat standard co m-po sitional formula, as i one or two artists were turning ou t the sameeffectively ornate but some w hat crudely rendered types quickl y and

cheaply , and were ab le to acco mmod ate mor e d onor s by utili zin g ahigh and narrow format in stea d of th e wid er co mp o sition s which

character ize the slightly earlier bhadra sa na composit ion s suc h as wege nerall y see elsewhere.

In most of the se bhadrasana panel s, carved detail i s redu ced con-sider ably, the l egge d throne in particular b ein g rel ativel y simple. Intw o panel s at the ex treme left all carved throne detail s, except thethrone le gs, are omi tt ed even the nub s are mi ssing, as is oftentrue in Cave U 6, since the main image ba se copies that of the earlyima ge in th e lower stor ey . Relati vely simpl e dwa rfs (rath er than com-ple x flyin g couples ) fly abo ve; beneath , onl y two deer and a latetype ga rl anded wheel are sho w n beneath the im a ge, w ho se feet areplant ed upon a lotu s p ede stal also a typically la te motif. The sefigures , apparentl y done by the same artist , we re n ever plastered orpainted, nor was th e w all around or above them. Thi s, to ge th e r w iththeir lo w-priorit y po sit ion , suggests t hat the y w ere bein g w orked onat the very moment that all patrona ge in the cave ended.

A pair of even s impler bhadra san a im a ges at th e ex tr em e right(east ) end of the wall mu st be almost equall y late , for here again

on e was ne ve r painted , although both we re pla stered , as was thelarge r (still unpainted ) p adma sana im a ge belo w . It seem s evident that

thi s pla ster ing was indeed a la st-minute effort, since in all three ofthe se in stan ces th e detail s of the hair we re neve r carve d, and other



62 CAVE UPPER 6

normally-carved details such as the arches above the uppe r figuresor thron e and base details in th e lower panel, either were left

unfinished al so, or were omitted altogether.The more ambitious bh ad ra sa na compositions on thi s wall , of

which th ere are four exam pl es, were probably start ed some months

earlier , s ince they are all 1nore centra lly located , and also have allb een plastered , while thr ee were fully painted. In th ese, particular

attention was accorded the two na gas beneath , perhaps reflectingthe influence of the ambulatory carvings in Cave 26 , which can be

dat ed betwe en 478 and 48 0 . Probabl y because of th e constr icte d format , the attendant cauri-bearing bodhisatt v as are relegated to theupper corners behind (or in one case stan ding on ) the throne. This

placement of the attendants behind the throne , as in the influentialCave 16 image , or in the later additions to the Cave 7 i1nage , is anotably lat e device at the site; except for these two major exa mple sdating to 477/478, it appears only in a limi te d number of intrusivepanel s. The elliptical fonn of the halo , seen not only behind the

bodhi sa ttva s, but even behind the Buddha in the panel to the l eftof th e right porch window , is another very lat e feature n ever found

in scu lpture prior to 4 77 , and rare until the Period of Di sru ption.39

In these bhadra sana panel s just as in the Cave 16 image , flyingfigures are omitted , although they may ha ve been shown on the plastered area of w all and ceilin g above, sin ce the total compo sition (now

very obscured ) continued above , be yo nd the bound s of the reliefproper , as i s so often the case with la te intrusions at the site. 40

The very simi lar paired images to the left (inside ) of the porch

doorway, like thos e at th e ext reme right en d of th e wall , were pl a stered at the same time, but only one ever got painted. Here againit seems that one is witne ssing the very final moment of patronage

in thi s cave , and indeed at the site . Incidentall y, the pla ste rin g which

39 T h e first example, n sculptur e, of an elo n gate d halo fo r fro n tally-positionedBuddha im ages is in C ave 7 (477 /8 ); for bodhis attvas, in Cave 2 (477 ) But p ar ticula rly for Buddh as the feat ur e is ra re until 479, as in Cave U6's right front shrinel et,and even t h en its shape ca n often b e ex pla ined as th e result of for eshor tening ,du e (as h ere) to the figures' bein g so m ew h at angled in th e ir positions. E ve n before

th e Hi atus, angled figur es of th e Bu ddha h ad su ch fo reshort ened halo, not onlyin painting , but in sculptur e as we ll: se for in sta nce th e two Buddhas flanking Cave19's entran ce .

40 On Ca ve Up p er 6's shrin e antechamber's left wall, the re are paint ed flyingfigur es ove r the intrusive sta nding Bu ddha at th e lowe r right.




extends over the wa ll and over both i1nages too, is characteristicallyla te, sho wing the br i ght red oran ge mix whi ch appears to be u sed

onl y in the site's last three or four years, s uperimpo sed upon a g ra ybrown layer; a similar two-layered treatment, with the red on top,is seen in various other la te c ont ex ts.

Th e other two bhadra sana i1nages flank a padmasana Buddha ;th e thre e, all very elaborate, appear to ha ve been p lanned and carved,and finall y p lastered (with a single consistent mix ) and painted , as agroup, quite po ssibl y the work of the same scu lptor. As if to confirmth e balan ce d arrangement, only the central figure shows hook-holes(three ) in it s halo , while another ga rland hook was once pla ce d underthe pa ws of each of the throne's makara s. Intere stingly, in the caseof the padma sa na ima ge, the no w nece ssa ry atten dant s w hich

accompany the carved central figure are painted , as in a numb er ofother very late conte xts too. 4 H owever, the se painted attendant s arecrowded onto the margins of the panel , perhap s as the re sult of aconscious plan to save s pace by keeping the format of the panelrat her narrow.

Th is padma sana im a ge depe nd s very dir ec tly upon the n ea rb y

i1nage in the right front shrinelet , carved in mid 478/ 479, for anumber of its features. It sho ws similar flying coup les above themal e at the left holdin g a vina, as in the cave's m ain im a ge as we llas runnin g na gas behind th e thron e. The base -1no tifs are also ve rysimilar , bu t more crowded and clum sily rendered . Becau se of theconstricted space , the simp le whe el has been lifted up on a lotusste m , to t he po int that it is above, rather than betwe en, the dee r;th e mo st likel y precedent for this solution is th e pan el probablycarved onl y month s ea rlier at the bottom of Cave 19 s right fa<;adefr ame. 4 2 No throne leg tops sho w above the lion-he ads here , althoughthe carver ha s at least s mnmaril y defined the nub s at the throne'scorners, as is so often the case in very la te padmasana compositions,whi ch we re in creas ingly influen ce d by featur es commonl y found inthe ne wer bh adra sana re liefs. Another such fea tu re , the conventionally la te arcing throne -cloth ha s a lso been included here.

4 See panel G n Cave 22; also note th e paint ed atte n da n ts behi nd the throne

in the panel at the left of th e porc h doorway in Cave 4. R 5 in Cave 26 mu st oncehave had painted attendants too.42 Th e un d eco rated wheel could also hav e been copied from the Cave 19 pane l.

Suc h ea rly-type wheels are occasionally found n late contexts; a few examplesappear in Cave 26's triforium pane ls .



64 CAVE UPPER 6

Also seen in this triad , and typical of very late imagery is the lavish use of blue pigment perhaps of a cheaper grade than the lapis

lazuli once used so sparing ly, but probably cheap now because thetrader's market had by and large collapsed at the time of Harisena'sdeath . 3 Also , a very thick white layer of lime plaster was used onmany of the form s; it has been widely eA POsed by the lo ss of thesurface co lors. The same characteristic use of blue in the adjacentbhadrasana image , next to the window, and the nearly identicaltreatment of border motifs , shows that these two panels were almostcertainly painted by the same artist; the other bhadra sa na im age,near the doorway, has a slightly different mode of paintings , so wasprobably painted by an associate.

It remains to mention the curious deep (20 ) recess located about

mid-way on the thick (really unfinished ) left front wall. This possibly was planned for an in set carv in g .4 4 It seem.s likely that it wasfashioned to hold a freestanding image , but probably because of thevery late date (480 ), it was never finished; no attachment holes orthe like were eve r made. In support of th e view that an imag e wasgoing to be carved wit hin it, one can note that the impre ssive pad

masana relief, whi ch occupies more or less the same position on theright front wall, has quite a deep setback. The closest counterpart

is on the right wa ll of the porch of Cave 25, where an unusualn iche may have been planned as an anomalous shrine, to hold a

simi larly inserted image.I t seems reasonable to assume that some of the comp le ted images

on this front wall once had dedicatory inscriptions in the panelsperhap s provided for ju st suc h a purpo se at the very bottom of th ecomposit ion s; the assorted appearance of these scu lp tures stronglysuggests that these carvings were gifts by different individual s. However ,such inscriptions , at this very late mmnent , wou ld almost certa inl yhave been painted rather than carved, and in part for this reasonmay h ave been lost becau se of the extensive surface damage.

Cave Upper 6 was still quite incomplete when the first pha se ofwork on it was interrupted in 468, for although the interior hall had

43

As far as I can d etermine, the different -app eari ng blues had n ever beenan alyzed .

44 The recess's positioning, so close to the present wind ow, makes it quite impo ssible to believe that it repr esents the beginning of another window; it would nothave been starte d from the back, in any case.




been lar gely blocked out by that time , the rear areas of the caveh ad barely been p enetrated; th e arrangem ent of th e cells at the r ear

and the design of the shrine antechamber pillar s ll bespeak a dating from 475 or later , as discussed earlier. But the progress of wo rkafter the Hiatu s seems to have been relatively slow, perhaps becauseof the competit ion for work m en in this very bu sy period. A s pointedout above, the shrine area it self had still not been completed in 4 7 7 ,when the consistent excavation program had to come to it s abruptend , so it is hardl y surpri sing to find that many lesser areas wereve ry unfini sh ed too at th is point; and of cour se th ey remain ed inthis state in early 4 78 , when the patron s efforts we re simpl y directin trying to ge t hi s main image into worship . Howe ver by 479, as

we ha ve pointed out before , the situation had drastically changed,with the involvement of many new do nors eager and now ab le tomak e their own gifts.

GHT F R O NT SHRINELET

One of the first and mo st ambitiou s ofthe very late undertakings inCave Upper 6 involved the conversion of cell R 1 into a Buddh ashrinelet. 45 The little chamber has an unu sual history . Like the nowdifferent Cell Ll , it wa s started and esse ntially shaped as a plainre sidence cell ju st before the Rece ssion , either with an A-mode doorway in 467 , or a thin-walled B-mode doorway in 468. After theHiatus , when work on the cave started up again, Ll was turned intoa v ery up-to-date pillared com pl ex with a D mod e inn er doorway .Ho wever, Ll s single-cell origin is clearly revea led by the unavoidab ly deep shape of it s vestibule and by the equally unavoidable thinness of its fronting pillars . (Thi s thinnes s is re spon sible for causingthese pillar s to resound mu sically when pounded a highly popularphenomenon which ha s in fact ma d e a significant depre ss ion in th efront of the pillars. )46

4 5 Both R l and Ll we re sta rted either as A mode or (possibly B m ode ) cells just

before the R ecessio n; L l was co nver ted in or after 475 to a pill a red co mpl ex (th eco nvers ion acco untin g for the thinn ess of i ts pill ars), whereas in R l only the vesti bulewas penetrated, w ith the space between th e fronting pillars defined, but the neith erthe pillar s for the intended inn er cell s tarted.

46 Such pounding mu st be discouraged. Children (and others ) do not un d erstand



66 CAVE UPPER 6

It is clear that a sim ilar conversion was started (but discontin ued )on R 1, ju st a s we would exp ect during the h ey da y of th e site, w h en

symmetrical architectural arrangements we re de sired and genera llyaccomp lished. The surpr ising w idth of R l s present door way (theoriginal narrow cell doorway having been cut away ) in fact reflectsthe initial sta ge of the cell 's conve rsion into a pil lared co mplex.' t\Thether or not an old cell was bein g converted or a n ew co mpl exwas being excavated from the st ar t , standard excavating procedurewas to define the spac e between the fronting pillars of such compl exes before th ey were actually carv ed. 4 7 Thi s opened up the spac e(in ne w complexe s) to faci litate the wo r k of the excavators , and wasa logical fir st step whet her whe n making a new complex , or cu tt ingaway the original doorwa y in a cell undergoing conversion.

Th e conversion of these two old (pre-Rece ssion) cells apparentlydid not start until 4 7 7 , th e final ye ar of untroubled patrona ge at thesite, whe n everyt hin g was developing with exuberance and confidence.This late date is suggested in p art by the fact that the placement of

pillar ed compl exes at th ese particular point s ap p ear s to hav e beenan inn ovation wh ich had no prog eny b ec au se ther e was in fact no

future to spon sor them. The asserti ve treat1nent of the D -mod edoorway of the inner cell of the Ll complex would support suc h alate datin g; at leas t in 475 (as in Cave 1) the D mode fittings arefar less well defined. But th e fact that wor k on R s convers ion nevergot past the cutting away of the old doorway and the definition ofthe space between the as-yet -undefined pillars is mo st convincing evidence of all bearing on a date of 4 7 7 and probabl y late 4 7 7 .

In cid entally , wo rk was still going on in the conve rted Ll at thi ssame point , as the presence of the red geo metric d esign s drawn on

its front atte sts; these were the scu lpto r's guides for wo r k he neverwas able to cmn pl ete . So this work-in- pr o gress links to the secon dstage in R l s thr ee-s ta ge hi story: pre R ecession, po st-Hiatus , and(starting perhap s as early as mid 4 7 8 ) its d evelopment in the Per iodof Di sruption , when the incomplete com plex was s imple taken overfor conversion into an intru siv e shrine.

th at the rin ging s made possib le by the thin ness, and therefore somet im es go throughthe site poundin g ma ny other pillar s, in a va in a tt empt to get a simil a r resu lt.Needless to say, thi s does not help the su rr ounding painted surfa ces.

47 See va r ious examp les : Cave Upper 6 right rear; Cave 7 left cou r t; Cave 23right rear, Cave 4 right rear, Cave 4 left co urt.




The intrusive nature of this new ly designed unit is clear; not onlydo es it disrupt th e carefully planned arc hit ec tural symmetry of th e

cave , but it violates the previously intended (but never sta rted ) orig -inal painting program as well. This is because only a selected por-

tion of the front aisle ceiling is painted , obviously as a pendant forthe n ew shrinelet. The fact that the ceili n g painting is more exte n-

sive than one might e:A Pect can be see n as attesting to the impor-tance give n by th e donor to this particularly elaborate shrinel et. Asnoted below , the fact that he took care to in scribe his gift furtheremphasizes th is point.

Th e sh rinelet 's fa<;ade and interior were very elaborately painted,even though most of the re st of the cave had not even been fullyexcavated. The doorw ay, w ith its rather plain carved format , is infact a close copy of the cave's main shrin e doorway , which was prob-ably pla stered and painted at just about the same time, between mid478 and 479. 48 Since the carvers of the main doorway had no t startedthe expected sculpture d figural panels prior to the Period of Disrup-tion , on e can un d erstand why they were also omitted by thi s tiine-con sciou s n ew (intru sive) donor. H owever, havin g more tim e than

the cave's anxiou s patron , it i s intere sting to note that he followedtradition , and included a fine group of lovely attended females and

attendant bodhisattvas on the jambs ; and since, not su rpri sing ly, hedid not try to ge t them carved but rendered them in paint, th eywould not have ta ken v ry lon g.

The nature of the carved Buddha grou p in this shri nelet confirmsthe appropriateness of such a dating to late 479 or early 48 0. Verystrongly influenced (like the doorway ) by its counterpar t in the mainshrine, the im a ge s it s in padmasana on a throne si1nilar to tha t ofits prototype, the carving of which must have been finished hardl ya few months before . It has the same con stricted front , with a late arcing throne cloth , a late garlanded w h eel, and a late mode oftreating the lion s as leonin e throne le gs, but with the expected nub smis sing. Ho wever, as we have mentioned above, t he artist ha s now

improved upon his pr o totype, wit h the addition of six kneelingdevote es, one crowded in dir ec tly behind each of th e two de er, with

48 See above, for the possibility that the m ain s hrin e doorway was plastered andpaint ed in earl y 478 , along wi th the main image.



68 CAVE UPPER 6

the others fitted under the late lotus pede stals of the late attendant Buddha s. According to Cohen the se six nuns are scu lpted as

donor figures ; this highl y dubious assumption is discussed below.The throne side and throne back motifs are less exuberant than

those of the spaciou s main ima ge, th e upper leve ls of which werecarved in the exuberant context of 4 7 7. However , they give a sim

ilar effect because th ey so ene rgetica lly fill the whol e space available.A particularl y striki n g connection can be see n wit h the great imagein Aurangabad Cave 3, which would hardly have been finished (in478 ) before this shrin elet image was begun. Th e 1nakara s with peculiarl y tasseled lotu s fronts arcing out of their mouths, the elephant

heads below , the running na gas just above, and the vya la s w ithdwarfs not only on their backs but under their bellies , are all features wh ich had been developed only in the past year or two . Ofparticular int erest is the fact that the dwarf under the vyala on eachside is four-armed; th is too is a typically late feature. The inclusionof strong ly projectin g garland-bearing flying couples above furtherstr esses this strikin g connect ion with the late Aurangabad Cave 3im a ge and with other lat e ima ges at Ajanta, such as the main group

in Cave 22 and the intru sive ima ges in the shrinelet s in Cave 19 'scourt.

The attendant figures at the side s however, are some thin g quitenew, for they are Buddha s rather than bodhisattvas. Thi s is the firstexample at th e site where Buddha s have replaced bodhisattvas at

the s ide s of the main image. The de ve lopmen t was of course anticipated (and p robabl y initiated ) from about 477 onward, by the appearance of impressive sc ulptur ed groups of standing Buddha s in the

shrin e antechamber of Cave 4 and in the sh rine of Cave 7. Ho wever,suc h a direct attendance of stand in g Buddha s upon the main seate dimage was never established durin g the consistent phase of the site'sdevelop1nent. Even during the Period of Di sn1ption, s tandin g Buddha snever repla ce bodhisattvas in bhadrasana images (as opposed to thepre se nt padma sana types ) until 48 0. Then , in the ambu latory scu lptures of Cave 26, attendant stan ding Buddha s finally become conventional, normally sho wing the varada mudra, ju st as th ey do in

the present shrinelet , w hich was probably completed early in 480.

The se attendant stand in g Buddha s in the Cave Upper 6 rightfront shrine let are relati vely sma ll, probabl y because the area available for the total composition was quite limited . Perhap s in part topo sit ion them mor e ideally in relation to the main i1nage, they are




supplied with stemmed lotus pedestals, a type of pede stal never foundat the site until 477/478 when one appears under the main im age

in Cave 26, and others appear under a few of the sta ndin g figuresof bodhisattvas and Buddha s on the stupa ba se. The area beneath

th e lotu s flowers h ere has been efficiently filled wit h small devotees,two b eneath each flower, their attent ion carefu lly directed towardthe main ima ge.

I t is of intere st to no te that the haloes of the attendant Buddha sha ve the elliptical shape common for bodhisattvas from 477 on, asin the Cave 2 Buddh a's atten dant s. Th e shaping is almost certainlya convention cop ied from painted images, where it implies foreshortening; it is quite appropriate here, since these attendant Buddhasare tur ned slightly inward. Ho wever, the fronta l centra l image a lsohas a very slightly elliptical halo , for gradua lly in both sculptureand painting, the new shape s tarted to be used for central ima gestoo. The first example is probabl y that in Cave 7 (477 /478 ), eventhough the halo, defined at this late date , has in fact been cut fromthe surf ace upon which an ea rlier (presumably round ) one was o riginally painted in that image's first fonn , in 469 .

A fina l suggest ion of the very developed character of the presentcomposition , as well as its deri vation from the main im age in thecave, is the inclusion of ext ra converging devotees in the formof flying dwarfs above the heads of the Buddha images. Thi s doub ling of the groups of flying attendants never occurs until very latein the Vakataka sequence . The first instance in other caves is foundin the Ghatotkacha image , where the same combination occurs,althou gh with the gro up s reversed . Th e mode in which th e block ofmatri x upon wh ich they are carved thrusts for wa rd is also a char

acte ristically late feature , both effective in its three-dimens ional impactan d at the same time as a labor-saving feature. The se carvers,unlike those wo rking a few years earlier, did not have to troub le tocut back the rock ve ry mu ch before carving the flyin g couples orfor that matter the sta ndin g Buddha s below.

The shrinelet's interior is fully painted , with an elaborate medalho n ed ce iling and rows of Buddha s on the sid e walls. As we mightexpect , and as a few points of overlap confirm, the main image was

painted before the images on the side w alls. More surprising ly itappears that the ceiling was painted after rather than before theimage. Of course , we can assume that all of these areas are part ofa more ge neral single effor t. Th e image group itself still shows traces



70 CAVE UPPER 6

of surface paint and of the thick white pigment characteristic of veryla t e image s in thi s and a few other caves.

A considerab le amount of soot appears to ha ve darkened thepainted surfaces , leadi ng one to conclude that, even though so much

of the rest of the cave is unfini shed , this image was in worsh ip fora least a short period. Thi s conclusion is further supported by thefact that the hol es in the doorway 's pivot -pol e proj ec tion s show sign sof wea r. 49 It is interestin g to no te, also in this regard , that two ironhooks pre sumably to hold garlands are still in place ju st behind

th e femal e's ba ck in eac h of th e flyin g coup les. Hid den from view,these are the onl y hooks in the sh rinelet which ha ve not been takenout (probably since 1819 ) either for use or curiosity.

However , there were once man y more. Five carefully dispo se dhook-holes can be seen on the ma in Buddha 's halo , and two other son the halo s of the Buddha attendants. There is also a hole thehook again missing at the center of the painted ceiling medallion ;however , it is clear that a hook was once there , and that garlandswere hun g from it. Thi s is because th ere i s characteristic breaka geat thi s point , caused by dama ge sustain ed by th e mudpla ster when

the garlands we re changed. Thi s revea lin g breakage , as throughoutCave 2 and elsew here , was clearl y caused when the monk (?) whodaily (?) changed the garlands carelessly hit the surr oundin g pla ster

with the end of th e ga rland- chan gin g pole.There is a now-ruinous bhadrasana Buddha painted near the top

of the rig h t face of the righ t fron t pila ster. It is of particular interest becau se it is inscribed : T hi s is the religiou s donation of theSakyabhiksu Govinda. What eve r [m erit th ere i s] in it. 0 It seemsalmo st certain that this bhadra sana ima ge, and the in scription beneath

it, were put there by the donor of the right front shrinelet , when

the front of the shrinelet was being elaboratel y painted. And sin ceboth the shrinelet and the ad j acent inscribed image are intru sive , itis reas onable to think that the in script ion probabl y refer s to the giftof the whole shrinelet , not ju st the small bhadra sana image under

49 Th is approx imates th e B (or C mode, and avoids ma king a deep D mod e

recess in th e (origi nal ce ll 's) thin wa ll. Bu t to m ake pr ojection s the ceiling level (iforigi nal ly defin ed) wou ld have to be cut ba ck som ewhat, as wo uld th e floor in thi scase . Qu i te ap a rt from thi s, such pr oject ions, on either side of th e ope ning , we reoften u sed, eve n very l ate, in shrinel ets .

5 Cohen 1995, 337; inscription # 19 .



ORIGI N AL AND IN T R US IVE PHA SE S COMPARED 71

which it i s placed. Since the variou s surround s of the doorwa y arenarro w, th is adjacent area would see m to hav e been the mo st con-

venient place to put the donative record .The very fact that this figure and the in scription were cro wded

on th e side of th e pila ster adjacent to the shrinel et s entrance wouldseem to be significant. f the im a ge and the inscription we re inde -p endent of the shrinelet , on e w ould ex pe ct th em to have b ee nplaced on the more ample main pila ster surface. A s it is, nei therthi s mai n surface or the farther face of the panel appear to h avehad an ythin g paint ed on th em .

One reason for makin g such a connection is that the simple redand white floral scroll painted ju st beneath did not continue all theway up , as one would expect it to. It appe ars that space was inten-tionall y left for the in scrib ed Buddha when the door wa s bein g dec-or ated, and in fa ct it share s the same r ed g round prepared for th esc roll. Tha t this decorati ve panel is to be seen a s part of the deco-ration of the shrinelet s doorwa y and not of the right front pila ster ,the sid e face of whi ch it d ecorat es, is eviden ce d b y th e fa ct that asimilar p ainted panel ap p ear s a t th e right of th e doorwa y. H ere

again it is clear that it belon gs to th e door s de coration and no t tothe carved Buddha im ag e which it flank s, be cau se the equi valentsurface on the other sid e of the Buddha ima ge is not painted at all .That is, th e shrinel et's door way is fram ed by painted bord ers onboth sid es, and the pr e sence of the bhadra sana ima ge within one o fthem can be st (or only?) be explained b y reco gni zin g tha t a specialpla ce was re served for it , as w ould lo gicall y be the ca se if the i ns crip-tion we re th e donor s.

Cohen (1995 , 337 , # 19) says, as a note follo win g hi s tran slation:Spink ha s specul a ted that thi s record commemorate s the con ver-

sion of Cell RI into a shrine , but th e placement of th i s reco rdbene a th a typical intru sive im age as w ell a s the f a ct that six nu nsare sculpt ed a s donor figur es ben eath R 1 s main Buddha militat eag ain st Spink 's view. Ho wever , the se figure s are surel y con ventionaldevotee s, not donor s, as is the ca se in mo st and probabl y all othersuch in stances, as explain ed earlier. 5 I assum e that h ere, in a quit echaracteri stic w ay, the sculp tor , adherin g to the con vention s devel-

op ed after 4 7 5 b y w hich such de votee s we re required to b e incl uded

5 See Volum e II , C ave 10 disc ussions.



72 CAVE UPPER 6

if at all possible, has crowded this disparate group below the imageas mention ed above. It wou ld be hard indeed to believe that six

nuns donated this shrinelet , particularly since of the dozens of thesite's intru sive in scription s on l y a single one definitely refers to afemale donor and sh e is certainly not a nun, being referred to as asakya -upasaka rather than a sakyab hiksu (In scr 13)

RIGH T REAR SHRINELET

Also quite early in the Period of Di sru ption , a shrinelet similar tothat at the right front was started at the right rear, in lieu of thepillared cell complex which the original p lanner must have alreadybe gun in that po sition prior to Hari sena's death . However , the original cell comp lex wh ich would certain ly ha ve eventua lly been in

symmetrical balance wit h its counterpart at the le f t rear had notprogres sed nearly as far as the latter by 4 77, when the origina l pro-

g ram of excavat ion was broken off. The spa ce between it s intendedpillar s cut out by 4 77, later beca1ne the sh rinel et s unconvention

ally wide doorway, and of course the intended inner chamber wasnever cut. The apparent delay in this shrinelet 's cutting may havebeen due in part to the seriou s fault in the rock still evident todayin the cave's right rear corner. In fact , it was probably mu ch le ssfully penetrated by 477 than cell R l which, as we ha ve just noted,was similarl y converted to an intrusive shrinelet. Thi s may be whywork on it, which must have begun quite early in the Period of

Di sn1ption , progressed much more slowl y than on the front rightshrinelet. In 480, it still had not been finished or put into use, as isevident from it s remaining incomplete state today.

The Buddha image on its rear wall, how ever, appears to havebeen fully carved, except at the floor level, where it is very rough.

t copies at least in its general format the Buddha in th e slightlyearlier shrinelet at the right front. Although less constricted, it showsthe sa me basic compositional arrangement, with stan ding Budha s in

attendance, doubled g roup s of flying devotees above, and relatedthrone motif s. A few minor changes occur: the makara has a gar

land hanging from it s probo sc is (as in the Cave 2 image , as well asin a number of very late examples ) rather than a lotus frond springing from its mouth, while the elephant belo w has been omitted, asoften was the case in very la t e i1na ges . The vyalas ha ve ga rland s




han ging frmn both their mouths an d their p aws; this is another verylate featur e never occurring in sculptur e prior to 4 77; the Cave 6

ima ge ma y be the fir st wh ere it appear s. The whee l is no t ga rlanded ,as mo st later w heel s are; th is is probably the result of the artist'sdec isio n to save s pac e by cr ow din g th e deer (th em selves mad e parti cularl y s1nall ) ag a in st th e wheel as closely as po ssible to ke ep them

within the bound s of the throne cloth. J ust as in the main i1nagewhich it c opie s , devotees are omi tte d for lack of room.

Since it appears that the very lowest part of the image group inthi s right rea r shrin elet w as not full y carve d , it m ay be th at th estandin g Buddha -attendants at th e side s w ould ha ve been suppliedwith lotu s pedesta ls h ad work continued ; indeed , such feature s a ppear

to ha ve been rou ghed out , as is part icularly ev ident on the proper

right. Such ped es tals were, of course , quit e conventional b y th is d ate .T h e fa ct that the lo we r mar gin of the im age gr oup (un d er th e s tandin g Budd h as at either side ) w as never quite finis hed make s it understandable that the image w ould ne ve r have been properl y painted ,whil e th e total lack of any traces of pla ste r on th e ima ge group, oron th e ceiling and sid e wa lls reinforces thi s v iew . H oweve r , th e

Buddha im a ge proper and the halo were painted very hurri edly butwith some concern for appropri ate detail s dire ctly on the stone . Itsee m s most likel y that thi s was the re sult of an anxious effort to ge tthe Buddh a d edi cate d ju st as tim e was runnin g out. t is in t eres tin gto no te th at the details of the thron e back, and eve n the flankin gBuddha s sho w no co lorin g wh a tsoe ve r, nor is the re an y p laster onthe ceiling, nor any pivot hole s in the projection s cut for them (asin th e Ri ght Fr ont Shrinelet ) at th e back of th e door way .

Th e two carved standin g Buddha s on the left side wa ll, like themain ima ge, are also still a bit incomp lete , although the more incomplet e of the two sho ws traces of mudplaster on th e panel back .Pre smnab ly it was the work of a sepa ra te donor , who like th e do n orof th e main Buddha in this shrinelet was ru shi n g to ge t hi s donative offe rin g c ompl ete d before pa trona ge at the site had to endonce and for all.

\tVith regard to th e very late d at ing- i .e ., th e end of 480-wh ich wewou ld suggest for s uch fin al effo rts, it is very s ign ificant that o ne of

the most incomplete images in th is shr in elet is a b h adrasana Buddhaon the r ight wall. Since no sepa rate b hadrasana im ages had bee ncarved in this cave until after all of the best locat ions had bee n u sedfor ot her types of intrusive im ages, it is almost certa in that this re lief



7 CAVE UPPER 6

should be assigned to 480. Its unfinished state of course s upport s sucha view too, wh ile the fact that it was to hav e had standi ng Buddh asrather than bodhi sattvas as attendants eve n more decisively con firm ssuch a dating, since all such groups in other co nt exts at the site alsoappear to belong to the very latest moment of activity. 52 Although nostanding Buddh a has been started on the left in th i s group, it can beassumed that this is because work on the cave and at the site wasdrastically interrupted la t e in 480. All such evidence su b stantiates thehypothesis that this shrinele t, even t hou gh it must have been sta rt edin 4 79, progressed quite s lowly, and was still waiting to be comp letedwhen time ran ou t .

One reason to think that th is right rear shrinelet, although still not

completed by 480, had been undertaken in 4 79, is that in the earlier part of the P eriod of Di srup tion patrons see m to have preferredpadma sana images. However , by 480 bhadrasana ima ges had become, by all counts, the most popular type, as evidence elsewhere in

this cave, as well as ev id ence throughout the site , clearly sho w s.Furthermore, this image s throne ba se, like that of the right frontshrinelet s i1nage too, seems less we ll wor ked out than the throneba ses of the image s probab ly datable to 48 0 at the ends of Cave

Upper 6 s court .Another goo d reason to ass ign the beginning of the shr inel et to

4 79 is that it is hard to belie ve that such an important and available area would not have been appropriated for u se as so on as sep-

arate donor s started taking the cave over for their own votive purpo sesin that first year of the site s disruption. In fact, th e presence of ase rie s of seated image s above the doorwa y of the shrinelet support sthis view. It seems clear, as we have pointed out earlier, that thi srow of seated Buddhas , even though it was never finished, was carvedin 4 79, but that this was done only after the lotus -petal edging around

the doorway of th e sh rinelet had a lr eady been carved . Thi s is veryevident when we study the adjustments made in the design of thelower frames of the six seated images which appear directl y over thedoor. Note in particular th e very different way that the low er edgesof the lotu s pedestals and the ve rtical di vide r s bet ween them aretreated in the six si milar images ju st to the left. At the same time,we shou ld no te that other details of the doorway surr ound s are still

52 Such groups appear n the latest Cave 26 ambulatory sculptures, and in Caves9C, 9D, and lOA among others.




only half-carved; so it seems a lmo st certain that this work and thaton the padmasana im ages was essen tially contemporaneous.

o u R T SHRINELETS ( LEFT AND R IGHT )

Th e character of the images in the shrinelets at either side of CaveUpper 6's narrow court suggests that they were under ta ken at aboutthe same time, in late 4 79, or in 48 0. It would appear that the yh ad been co mpl eted during 480, too, sinc e the less exposed im agein the left shr inelet sti ll sho ws many traces of paint , and traces ofplaster still remain on the ceiling of the much damaged right shrinelet.In the left shrinelet one can a lso see two holes for gar land hooks(the hooks now missing ) on each of th e sid e walls, close to the flankingbodhisattvas, and within the smoot h area connected with the fineimage group. Furthermore, holes for the door-pivot poles have b eendrilled , suggesting that doors had been hung. The fact that the hole sshow no signs of wear w hat soeve r is understandable, when we realize that th ese im a ges were probably not put into worship until very

short ly before the time of the site's collapse if ind eed they wereput into worship at all.

Here , ju st as in the case of the interior shrinelets, it i s evidentthat cells had earl ier been begun at these points, and were subsequentl y appropriated and enlarged during the Period of Di sru p tionby the later donors, who put them to a different use than that originally intended. However, here the original cells were started verylate, i.e. in 477 when, finally following the lead of Cave l , patronssudden ly decided to add court cells to their caves whereve r thiswas feasible. VVhether they were tnlly needed, or whether the patronswere merely follo wing fashion (as was so often the case in de velo p-ments at Ajanta ), nearly all suffered the sa1ne fate, being abandonedat Hari se na s death. Howe ve r, as here in the court of Cave 6, theseareas were often appropriated during the Period of Di sruption fornew private donations, even if they were unfinished.

Ho wever, especia lly on the left, partly due to the prior presenceof the yaks ha flag -bearer there was not suffic ient room to allow

the original planner , in 4 77, to conceive the court cell as the pillared types general ly placed in such positions. Thus a mere sing lecell had b een started here in 477, and wor k on it was then (withH ar isena's death ) sudden ly broken off, well before the lower 1nargin



7 CAVE UPPER 6

of the doorway had been fully defined; as discussed below, the excavators seem to have worked down to the level of a slightly angled

major flaw a logica l place to stop and then proceeded no further.At this point we can assume that the interior had been penetrated,but only shallowly. ' \Then, in the Period of Disruption , the aban-doned cell was converted into the pre se nt shrinelet , the new excavators were concerned about the man y serious flaws at the lowerlevel , which would seriously affect the bhadrasana Buddha to becarved inside. Therefore they opted to extend the old cell upward

to avoid difficulti es, even though, as it turned out, the im a ge st illhad to be raised up a bit more than normal.

Thi s accounts for the relatively inaccessible p lacement of the unit ,for the original plan was to have the doorway thresho ld some 18 lower (on the average ); this i s evident frmn the cut visible at thispoint , which roughly matche s the level of the right ce ll. The abnormally low cei ling level probabl y also reflects the fact that the revision of the interior was expedient, while this later upward processof excavation also fa cilitated the addition of the projecting door-pivotholders (typical for such double-doored shrinelet s even in the la t e

period ). Had the ceiling level of the original cell alread y been defined,the matrix needed for the holders would have been already cut away;late single cells always had recessed door fittings . Indeed , this musthave been the case in th e normal ly placed ri gh t sh rinelet , whichhas untypical (for shrinelets ) recessed fittings, the matrix needed forprojections ha ving been cut away when the ceiling at the expectedlevel was revealed.

Th e doors of th e right sh rinel et were fitted into pivot hol es in asi mple rece ss, while those of the left shrinelet were provided withprojecting pivot pole-holder s both above and below. In the left chamber , this type of fitting (conventional for shrinelets ) could be used,as mentioned earlier, becau se the ceiling level was rai sed, whereasin the right shrinelet , the fittings had to be expedient even if ofthe familiar type (D mode ) used in ordinary cells. The projectingholders below were included, quite probably, to compensate for theweakness caused by th e troubling flow-lines at the floor level of thi sshrinelet; those above are fairl y conventional in type, and made it

unnecessary to deeply recess the back of the doorframe. Althoughsuch projection s are not used for the door fittings of residence cellsafter the Hiatu s, they re commonly used in shrinelets and cisterns,both of which normally ha ve double sw inging door s.




LEFT o u R T SHRINELET

Th e peculiarly trimmed area over the left shrinelet continued do wnto wha t was apparentl y the position of the "origina l" much nar-

rowed doorway, and the consistency of its cutting appears to provethat it was cut back in part to reveal the proper left side of the na ga

above. Consequently, th is fascinating figure (his outstretched armno w broken away ), which together with the yaks ha belo w (with ahole thro ugh its hand ), functioned to hold some kind of banner

(probably with a flag ) must be also dated to 4 77, at the peak of th esite's heyday. And the fa ct that the cu tback was never completed,nor the original cell below ever finished, eloquentl y speaks of thecollapse of proper patronage at the time of Hari sena's death.Typically, when the cell was converted, in the Period of Di sruption ,no heed was paid to the "irrelevant" unfinished area above.

The surprisi n gly high placement of the lef t shrine le t much higherthan its n onn ally" placed counterpart at the right of the court is

almo st ce rt ainl y but one more example of th e architect's sense ofexped iency, w h en faced wit h geo lo gical problems. Th ere are a num-

ber of heavy and closely spaced flow-lines beneath the pre sent th re shold level , while the seven or more feet above show rock of particularlygood cons istency on th e face of the cell. Thus the who le was raised,and in fact the Buddha group at the rear was raised even higher,to get it all above a heavy flow-line which exists ju st above the floorlevel. This fault drops sharp ly downward at the right of the door,so the planners probab ly thought wrongly as it turns out that itwould not be much of a pr oblem inside.

By the same token, the top of the Buddha s head has now split(and the left bodhisattva's is in danger of doing so ) because of thevagar ie s of another flow-line, which is not at all evident on the faceof this shrinelet . Similar flaws must have caused the breakage of theproper left le g and of th e hands; the repair hole in the proper leftarm dates from this period, as doe s another repair on the properright shoulder. T he chiseling on the chest was certainly willf ul , butis hard to exp lain; perhaps it had something to do with locking th ereplacement -hand s into position, although part of it see m s too high

for that.The intrusive bhadrasana Buddha in the left sh rinelet fits we ll into

the context of other such impressive types which we have dated tolate 4 79 or 480. As in th e Cave 24 court s hrinelet , the Buddha and



8 CAVE UPPER 6

accompanying bodhisattvas are rendered in assertively high relief ,while the conventional thron e side and ba se motif s are treated with

a particularl y vital touch. Somewhat like the very late Cave 24 courtshrin e le t image , naga couple s in stead of single na gas are carved abovethe throne top , while both the figur es leaping out of the makara s'mouth s and the equa lly exuberant figur es ridin g the vyalas are rend ere d wit h a spe cial energy. The elephant s are omitted , as is frequen tly the case in very late ima ges. Even the conventional lions(reall y leonine throne leg s) at the throne ba se now are tea sed b y littl e figur es who pull their tail s; the lion s , in a remarkabl y vigorou s and unpreceden te d re spon se (perhap s sugg ested b y the Ca ve 24shrin elet image ) twist violentl y around toward them. Becau se theBuddha 's feet and lo tus pedesta l are rai sed up very high off thefloor to ge t above the sam e troubling flow-lin e (which also define sth e doorwa y's thre shold ) certain adju stment s had to be mad ein the po sitioning of the lion s which are rai sed up on 8 pede sta ls.53

The top s of the throne leg s as is u sual at th i s late date , appear overthe lion s' head s and the expected late nu b s are see n above, on th ethron e sea t .

The bodhi sattv as are hard to identif y, but it is clear that the oneon the left is not Avalokite sva ra , who so often appea rs at this point ;for he ha s none of the expected attributes . The motif in the lefthand , for in stan ce, is merel y th e end of a swat h which goe s acrosshi s hip s; nor is it a va jra. In fac t the figure on the right al so uncertain of identification ha s a much more jata- like headdre ss . Ther ight bodhi sa ttv a also varies from the norm by h olding h is cauri overth e prop er l eft should er althou gh it i s still gra spe d in th e prop erright hand. Such a peculiari ty s u ggests an ad j ust1nent made to compen sate for a break during the course of carving; for the stone isvery faulted. As in many late examples , includin g tho se associatedwith the main im a ge in Cave Upper 6 itself , the bodhi sattvas h avecarved haloe s and the y are of th e e lon gate d type so often found atthi s late momen t. Both stand on late lo tus pede stals which are inturn raised on platform s similar to those under the lion s; this is prob

abl y becau se th e bodhisattvas ar e relatively small , reflecting th e limited space at the side s of the throne and the unusual throne ba se

53 For simil ar pedesta ls un der the lions n a ra ther similar co ntemporary composition, see Cave 9 over Pill ar R l 0.



ORIGIN L AND INTRUSIVE PH SES COMP RED 79

height caused by the need to elevate the seated image; thus somefurther mean s of elevation was needed .

The expected lotu s pedestal under the feet of the central imagemight once have been fronted by a projecting wheel and deer , but

if so, they have broken away completely, probably because their positionin g would ha ve coincided exactly with the serious flow -line justabove floor level. Thinking in this same vein, we can im a gine whythe expected flying coup les are also mis sing from this otherwise conventional late composition. The same thin but very trouble some flowlin e which was responsi ble for the spl itting off of the top of theBuddha s head, angles right through the areas where such a flyingcoup le would have appears; so the carvers wisely left these featuresout , although it seems likely that they were painted in , on the nicelyprepared surface; such painted substitutes were often made in thePeriod of Di sruption.

As we have noted earlier, the first intrusive bhadrasana imageswere probably created no earlier than late 479 , drawing (as this onedo es) upon both develop ed padma sana composit ion s and also usingthe major images in Caves 16, 26, and urangabad 3 as pr ece d ents .

Needless to say, padmasana types continued to be donated throughout the Period of Disruption , but they were waning in popu larity as

that of the new type waxed.

RIGHT o u R T SHRINELET

Th e right court shrinelet , less constr icted than the left , had proba-b ly also been started as a conventional late cell comp lex in 477, butjust as in left court ce lls of Caves 4 and 7, only the space betweenthe intended p illars had gotten cut before work broke off; then, whenthe very unfinished cell complex was converted into a shrinelet, thisspace be ca me the wide door , ju st a s in the front and rea r ri gh tshrinelets of Cave Upper 6.

The padmasana Buddha image in the right court shrinelet of CaveUpp er 6 appears, from it s location as well as from the character ofits motifs, to have been undertaken at almost precisely the same time

(say late 4 79) as the bhadrasana image in the left shrinelet , althoughthe rough state of the shrinelet s walls, and even the fact that it hasno hole s for garland hooks , suggests that it was finished even later ,and that the image was painted and dedicated in a ru sh. t may be



80 CAVE UPPER 6

that we are witnessing here that moment when both types were in

approximately equal favor. H ere too, adjustments ap p ear to hav e

been made because of the flawed nature of the rock. J ust as the leftshrinelet was placed particularly high , probably to avoid the flawsbelow , this one (or one might better say, the cell which preceded it)was placed somewhat lower than mi ght be expected, probably toavoid the weakening of the cei ling which would have resu lted if ithad been placed too clo se to the very ob vious flaw which can beseen about four feet above the top of the doorway. In fact, this lowplacem ent res ult ed in th e throne ba se encountering another seriou sflaw , but the planner s when they started the work, cou ld hardlyhave ant icipated this problem , to which we refer below.

The right shrinelet image has a number of developed featureswhich it clearly shares with images such as the bhadrasana Buddhaat the rear of Cave 22, su gges tin g either a common source , or directinteraction. The same type of single running nagas appear abovethe throne back , while the makaras spout forth birds ' heads fromwh ich garlands depend , as th ey also do from th e makara s' pro-

bo scises . The vyalas too ar e quite si1nilar, and elephant s are again

omitted. Although the Buddha's pose i s obviously different, the Inanner in which the deer and garlanded wheel, accompanied by devotees , project s and the dispo sition of the leonine throne legs againsh ows how thi s padma sa na type , like the quite similar i1na ge in Cave

26L W , appears to re spond to current trends being manifested tooin the new b h adrasana type compositions. Even the arc of the thronecloth may have been suggested by the disposition of the robes of

the influential b h adrasana imag es in Caves 16 and 26 .54 The stronglyprojecting ca ndrasila in front of the image group was quite po ssibly suggested by the similarly pronounced one in Aurangabad Cave

3 and in Ajanta Cave lOA . I t s inclusion here is anomalous, lendingsupport to the suggestion that this image was originally planned asa b hadrasana type, mirrorin g that at the co urt left . At the sam etime, a ll of these throne ba se motifs bear some connection too withthe nearly contemporaneous padmasana Buddha images in the shrineand shrinel ets within thi s s ame cave, where one finds th e st ronglyprojectin g flying coup les above, among them the vina -p laying male.

;4 Th e un u sual disposition of the upper garment , which covers both arms, finds

a precedent in the first phas e of wor k o n the Ca v e 15 im age, finj shed jn 469.




The placement of the Buddha image is surprising ly off-center,being so m ewhat to the left of th e axis estab lished by th e position

ing of the doorway in the front wall. It is rea sonable to suppose thatthe original cell doorway (as in the opposite left cell ) was enlargedas soon as the decision was made to convert the cell into a shrinelet,and the planner may not ha ve noticed how this front wall angledoutward in response to the side plane of the adjacent pilaster, whichis skewed outward. Bu t when t he sh rinel et's left wa ll was cut, thisangling was correc ted , probably because the space in wh ich theshrinelet was being placed was so constricted; the subsequent fallingaway of the shri nelet s right wall eloquently attests to these constraints. The result was that the chamber was not precisely square ,and consequently the ce nter point of the rear wa ll was we ll to theleft of th e center of the doorway .

Plann ers at Ajanta were quite concerne d to have suc h images cen-tered, and thus here the y shifted the Buddha rightward, bu t at thesame time made a kind of compromise. Already the shift crowds thethroneback reliefs and th e bodhisattva at th e right and at the sam etim e leaves too much space at the lef t wh ere, as a consequence th e

images are more am.ply disposed. Thi s accounts for the curious po sitioning (forward and angled ) of the Avalokitesvara, which togetherwith the super-flo uri shin g lotus and his open stance, does much tomask the compositiona l problems in this area. Thi s may have hadthe added benefit of keeping the Avalokitesvara im a ge from bein gcarved too clo se to the very thin front wall of the porch the thi n-ness of wh ich was of course caused by the (jnterru pted ) cutting ofth e original cell now converted into this very s hrin elet . Thi s is prob-ably why such smal l sha llow images were carved on this wal l insidethe porch; and wou ld suggest that the shrinelet (responsible for thethinness of the wa ll ) was already underway when these little Buddha

images were carved in 480. 55

Th e most cruc ial difference between this right court shri nel et imageand the ima ges in the two shrine let s within the cave, is that (likethe left court shrinelet image too ) it is flanked by conventional bod-

hi sattvas, rather than attendant Buddha s. H ere, the im a ge on th e

55 The much larger and more deeply-cut bhadrasana image in this area is placedwell beyond the boundary of the right court shrinelet , so there would have beenno co ncern about a breakthrough.



8 CAVE UPPER 6

left is almost certainly Avalokitesvara, with his lotu s on a late lon gstem and hi s jata1nukuta. 56 The figure on the right, with th e con

ve ntional princely crown, cannot be identified with assurance, particular ly since the proper left side of the image is broken.

Vve might be te1npt ed to think that, since the sub stitution of attendant bodhisattvas by attendant Buddha s is a very late developmentat th e si te, that th ese court shr inelet im a ges mi ght therefore be earlier than tho se in the sh rinele ts in side the hall, but suc h an assumption need not be made, since bodhisattvas continue in general useright up until 480, apparently at th e pr edilect ion of th e patron.Furthermore, it shou ld be noted that the re placement of bodhisattvas by sta nding Buddha s occurs much earlier in padma sa na

than in bhadrasana images perhaps due to difference s in the poseand conse quent composition of the grou p. I n bhadra sana images,Buddha s never appear as attendants unti l th e la st yea r of activity atthe site i.e. 48 0 - a n d probabl y only in the last few months. Therefore,at least in the case of the left court shrinelet, which may have been

conceived before the idea of associating attenda nt Buddha s w ithbhadra sana images had developed in sculp tural format s th e use of

bodhi sattvas is ju st w hat one wou ld expect. Thi s being the case, itis hardly surpri sing to find that the more or less parallel right courtshrinelet image , undoubted ly conceived at the same time, has similar attendants.

In fact it seems po ssible particu larly considering the sligh tlyuncharacteristic di spositio n o f the ba se motifs, including the candrasila on the floor that this right image was at first intended asa bhadra sana type and that , because of ser iou s flaw s discovere d in

the rock, where the proper left calf and foot wou ld ha ve been carved,it was changed in the course of excavation to a padmasana type.Such expedient ad ju stm ents of form (and conse quentl y of icono gra

ph y) are fairly common at the site . Th e problems caused by such amid- co ur se revision mi ght exp lain the anomalous treat1nent of the

throne ba se .Finally, we should note that the bodhisattvas are somewhat anom

alous for thi s lat e period in not havin g lotu s p edes tal s; again, thi sma y be due to the unusual (and a dju ste d ? ) treatment of the throne

56 The plain crest co uld have been decorated with a painted Amitabha; for possible parallels see Cave 26 , panels 1 2 and 17.




base, which meets the angled rock under the bodhisattvas' feet inan unusual way . More likely still , since wo rk was rushed, th e carv

ing of the pedestals was omitted, although their later carving (orpainting ) may have been planned. The same ha ste explains why thelower legs and feet of th e figure on the right were never fully defined,and why the expected haloes are missing. Of course, the mi ssinghaloe s cou ld have been painted in ; th e traces of plaster and painton the grou p are so minimal that they yield no specific evidence.

T H M A I N SHRINE INTR USIONS

The intrusive Buddha figures in the main shrine probabl y all dateto 480 , carved in a final (and finally abortive ) rush fo r tnerit. Althoughthe large s tand in g Buddha s on the right wa ll we re fully carved, andprobably plastered and painted, those on the left we re still bein gwor ked on when time ran out. Note, for instance, the unfinishedhair (lack in g the conventional cu rls) and th e pedestal of the lef tBuddh a. Th e fa ct that th e side wa lls of the shrine had not b een

appropriated for intru sions earlier in the Period of Di sruption mu stbe because they were all in something of the same bad state thatthe front wall, like the lower level of the left side wa ll, still evidencestoday. Thi s would have discouraged intrusive donations , particularlysince there was an abundance of smoothed wall ready for use inboth the main hall and the porch.

The u nfi ni she d state of the chamber was certainly most evidenton th e front wall, wh ich was s till in an extre tn ely rough and unfini shedstate when consistent excavation work on the cave was abandoned

in 4 77. Except for the expedient rece ssing of the back of the doorway and the cutting of the pivot holes just before mid-4 7 8 whenthe tnain image was put into worshi p , the front wall was left veryrough in d eed. Th en, at about the sa me time that the side wa llBuddha s were bein g carved during 480, four sm a ller sta ndin gBuddhas two on either side , in separate panels, one above theother were sta rt ed in th is area. Surely because thi s undesirable surface was utilized so late, these images were quite unfinished when

time ran out at the end of 480. There is no evidence of plaster orpaint on them, while the enframing pilasters of the lower panel at

the (proper ) right and the hair of the Buddha in this same position,were nev er carved.



8 CAVE UP PER 6

Although these four ima ges ar e gen erall y similar , and all showthe po se so c hara cteristic of such intru sive s tandin g Buddh as, w ith

the proper left hand holdin g the robe end at shoulder level and theproper right hand held downward in varada mudra , one (at thelowe r l eft) ha s an a rch ed, instead of a plain , pan el. Su ch incon sis-tencies sugges t that the y were probabl y sepa ra t e donation s, w hichwould hardl y be surpri sin g at this tim e. By th e sa me tok en , the lar ger

standin g Buddha s on the side wall s sho w va r iation s which suggestth at the y were not pla nn e d as a sing le un ified repre sen tation o f the

Six Buddha s d esp it e th e appropriateness (and convent ionality ) ofassociating such a groupin g w ith the main ima ge, even thou gh thelatter was comp let ed earlier.

Donor s in thi s Period of Di sruption we re obviou sly more inter-ested in the inte gr ity of their own off er ings than in c mnplem en t -ing th e main ima ge, eve n thou gh they wo uld never hav e put theirintru sion s in a cave withou t such a dedica te d ima ge . Althou gh the

six (three on each side ) fit so well ont o the two side wa lls theirpla ce m en t in the shrin e w as probabl y d etermin ed mor e by concernsof format and indi vidu al donati ve int eres ts th a n of icono gra ph i c pro-

gramming. Such a selfish fo cus ma y expla in the motif s at the ba selevel of the Buddha s on the right wal l, where kneeling de votees -in two cases single figure s and in one case a pair are pla ced next

to re serve d and smoothed areas whi ch on ce undoubtedly held dona -tive inscriptions recording separate gifts . Howe ve r, if such dona tivein scription s indeed appeared here , the y w ould ha ve been pain tedrather than carved; as we know, the vast majorit y of in scription s in

th e P eriod of Di sruption were reco rd ed in th i s qui cker an d cheap erway.

We can onl y surmi se that similar in scription s mi ght also h ave been

int en ded for the th r ee itnages at th e left , for (although the space issuffi cient ) the rock beneath that group is still rough. At the sam etim e it i s in t eresting to note that the Buddha s on th is left side arestandin g on lo tu s pede stal s sugg esting that the y were no t plannedwith tho se on the right as part of a single unified group. This w ouldsupport th e hyp othesis th at th ey ma y we ll ha ve been spon so red b ya different donor or donor s from those on the right. Ind eed, thi s

lack of unity is evident even within the left group it self where thecentral figure appears to h ave been done fir st and somewhat inde-pendentl y of the other two. It is much more full y carved the other

two are both clearly unfini shed and obviou sly tak es up mor e th a n




its fair share of space. This is particularl y evident at the base, whereth e lotu s p edesta l and pairs of kneeling devotees are so cominodi

ously disposed that the other two bases (that at the left not yetcarved ) had to be constricted as a consequence. At the same time,th e right Buddha s ba se was probabl y already und erway when th emiddle one's base was being finished whi ch wou ld hardly be surprising if we can judge by the unusually cra mped disposition ofthe farthest devotee on the right.

The central Buddha on the left wall also crowds tho se which flankit by virtue of the fa ct that its shoulders are so excess ive ly wide.Thi s ma y be why the two other Buddha s are both placed higher,and it probably also accounts for the uncomfortable placement ofthe raised arm of the left figure. Ho wever, what is most surprisingis that because of thi s crowding b y the central figure the expectedand who lly co nve ntional va rada mudra of the right Buddha' s properright hand has been replaced by the abhaya gesture, whi le the otherhand sti ll holdin g the robe end, is lowered in a kind of reversedapprox im ation of the familiar varada ges tu r e. But it i s clearly not

makin g a gesture of offering. That would h ave been a highl y inap

propriate for the proper left hand which, holdin g an end of the robe,is carefu lly turned palm inward.

Thi s change in hand gest ure s, whic h certainly could have beenavoided if the three Buddha s had been laid out at the same tim e,is indeed remarkable, for of all the hundreds of carved and/ or paintedstandin g Buddha s at the site, this is the only one wit h i ts hands disposed in this way . What is important (and instructive ) to rea lize is

that this particular change was genera ted and sanctioned not by anytextual or ritual prescriptions , but merely because there was both aneed and a willingne ss to change the hand positions due to thede1nands of the constricte d format. 7

Such observations and there are 1nany other similar icono graphicanomali es at the site serve as a fine corrective to a too purist

approac h to iconography and iconographic change in this period ofcontinual ferment. P articu la rly during the site's la test anxious years,exped iency was often the rule, and confus ion and care lessness cameall too frequentl y into play. One need only look at the many va r

ied and often ille gible representations of mudra s in the 1000

7 Compar e Ca v e 19 co urt- cell intrusions, wh e re th e ftankjng att e ndant Bu ddhasha v e balanc ed gestur es.



86 CAVE UPPER 6

Buddha painting in the shrine antechamber of Cave 2, to realizethat the arti st was either not sure about the proper representation

of the gestures, or could not care less.As mentioned above, it seems likely that different donors were

responsible for the gift of these six Buddhas , all of which were prob-ably to be in sc ribed sepa rately. It also is likely that they had no

great interest in the meaningful connection which suc h a conventional grouping could have with the main image , which of coursehad been completed and dedicated earlier. Such self-interest was of

course characteristic of this late , anxiou s, and very egocentric pha seof donation s. It seems too that , in such late groups as these, theartist and the patron could decide between them just how theirimages would appear, without benefit of the controlling presence ofany master planner. O f course we do not know if the same sculptor carve d all six figure s but the co nsiste ncy (one could say the consistent clumsiness ) of the top-heavy figures suggests that this was thecase. Indeed , the fact that the right group was completed , and the

left no t , might be du e to a single arti st s having undertaken both

groups, the one after the other, with his time running out befor e

the latter group was done. However , if so, he certainly did not plotthem out carefully; otherwise the more detailed central figure on theleft wall obviously the first carved would not have usurped somuch of the limited space. Thi s sugges ts that the six figure s althoughultimately forming a significant grouping, were ordered separatelyby different donors , and were worked on in sequence, with little concern for esthetic or compositional unity on the part of either thesculptor or the donor s.

C v U6 PoRcH

Although the new donors taking over Cave Upper 6 after mid-478may have been particularly drawn to working in the impressive shrineantechamber, there were enough already-smoothed areas throughout th e cave to satisfy many new and eager donor s, so that it i s reasonable to suppose that work in various p laces began at the sa me

time early in thi s troubled period. And certainly, the well -illuminatedand airy porch of Cave U6, with its striking view and previouslysmoothed wall surfaces, attracted votive offering s right from the start.Even though abso lute evidence for the priority given to the porch




is limited , it is very s uggestive, involving iconographic considerationswhich appear to be quit e compelling .

If we make a tally of the many small padmasana Buddha s (gen-erally flanked by relief stupas ) added to the pre vious ly undecoratedcapital s in th e interior of Cave Upper 6 and carved (or sketched ) insequen ces at the upper levels of th e wa lls of the hall, they numberover sixty , not count ing the rnyriad , but now illegible , cou nterpart sonce painted on the stone beams over the pillar s at the top of nearl yall of the wa lls even in the left rear cell complex. Significantly , and

p erh aps surpri sin gly, th ey all show the dharmacakra mudra as dothe bhadrasana im a ges w ith wh ich they are someti me s inter spersedin these upper friezes . The same teaching mudra applies to thefour seated Buddh as found in the shrine antechamber, all of the distinctly late and often unfinished Buddha s on the hall 's front wall,the four late (i.e. 480 ) Buddh a im a ges in the cave' s intru sive sh rinel ets,and the one la te Buddha (seated upon a la te lo tus pede stal) onthe facade wall of the cave at the left.

It i s clear that th e bhadra sa na typ e became the Buddh a im ageof choi ce th r oughout the site starting shortly aft er it s introduction

in the great Cave 26 caitya hall , and the Prime Minister' s Ca ve 16.This wo uld seem to explain why the dharmacakra mudra , invariab ly used for the bhadra sana image type in the V akataka cave s hadd01ninat ed icono g raph y by 480; the alternatin g mudra co nfiguration sfound earlier in the Period of Di srupt ion , surprising ly had almo stcompletel y yie lded to t he teach ing gesture by the time that patron-age activity ended at the site.

No tabl y th e similarl y locat ed Buddh a im ages carved high up onthe wa lls of Ca ve Upper 6's porch except for those which are

almo st certainly very late (as I sha ll explain ) show a very differenticonography , which relates them to forms in other very ea rly intrusive con te xts at the site. 58 They are carefully varied, a lternatin gbetween dharmacakra mudra and dh ya na mudra , th e only exception being the image of Maitreya , as the last of the Eight Buddha sover the pillared cell complex at porch left.

Ho wever, th e unexp ect ed dhyana ges tu r e of th e Maitreya is prob-ably expedient, for remaining roughness on the stomach area (not

seen in the other Buddha s with the dhyana mudra ) stro ngly suggests

58 Cave 7 with it s in sisten tly a lternati n g mudr as, provides a powerfu l precedent;its shrin e a nd sh r ine antec h am b er were co m plete d by mid-478.



88 CAVE UPPER 6

that a break occurred when the dharmacakra mudra was being

blocked out, and that th e gesture was therefore changed. Such ad ju st

ment s were common at the site where, whatever the rules , thedonors were genera lly not overly doctrinaire when confronted withgeological realities. n alternative explanation namely, that lVIaitreya'sspecial character allowed or even demanded a special mudra, evenif th i s involved breaking an established icono g raphic pattern is

hardl y convincing, since his mudras at the site are by no meansuniform.

All in all there are thirty-four such padma sa na Buddhas , in alternating mudra s at this level , wh ile another group of eight, just belowthose on th e right front wa ll, also are carefully alternated, except inone in stance whe re dhyana mudra has been replaced by abhaya.But th is latter variant is surely due to breakage during carving , asthe anoma lous character of the remainin g lowered hand sug ges ts.This group may in fact have been carved ea r lie r than the padmasanaBuddha frieze above, because when the nine latter Buddhas (withtwo relief stupa s int ersper se d where the rock i s bad nea r the righten d), were finish ed, the space below th e four at the l eft was filled

at the left with painted supporting lotu s stems. Ho wever, this cou ldnot be done at the right because the row of seven padmasana Buddhasbeneath usurped too much of the necessary space; therefore a Greekmeander motif was exped iently added here.

Had the top row been planned first, it is reasonab le to assumethat the lower one wou ld not have been placed quite so high. Ofcourse, it is quite possible that adding the painted motifs was an

afterthought, aimed at usefully and qu ickly decorating thi s un u se dspace, but eve n so we mu st ask why this chunsy intervening areacame to be there. The likel y answer again would support the priority of the row of seven Buddhas below. If, as I believe , these sev en

Buddha s were atnong the first intrusions in the porch , and if thebe ginnin g of work on intru sion s in the porch slightly pr ece des th estart of work on similar motifs in the main hall , it may well be thatthe se were done before the convention of de veloping friezes of

padma sa na image s alon g the top s of the wall had b ee n establishe d.Th at is , the carvers (and/ or the donor ) who made the row of sev en

ma y not ha ve had any thought that a frieze of padmasana Buddh aswould later be carved above this group, so they innocently and

expediently located their seven image s at whatever level was tnost•

convenient.




One can see with what little t rouble the artisans could have worke don these im a ges w ithout any need for a sca ffold by layin g a stron g

board across the top of the stairway's rock -cut ba lustrade; for thehead s of the Buddha s would then be on ly a bout 66 ab ove the working platform . I t would only be lat er on (perhap s a mere few weeksor month s lat er) that the in con veni ent interve nin g spac e w ould b ecreate d b y the continu ation of the porch's upper padma sana Buddhasequence s in to thi s area. Had they been done first, it i s unlike ly that

waste s pace wou ld have bee n left b y the w orker s m aking the sevenBuddh as belo w for it would not have bee n d ifficult at all t o raisetheir work platform suffi ciently to fill the wall spa ce more economic ally ob viou sly a concern in this period when so ma n y peop lewante d to put so man y im a ges in the limited number of ide a llocation s.

Th e sugges tion that th is area above the stairwe ll was appropriate d so early , wh en perhap s no othe r in tru sion s other than the Ei ghtBuddh a friezes over the porch 's pillared end cells had been begun ,could also exp la in th e anomalous sequen ce of seve n much smallerpadmasana Buddha s p lace d below the lar ge r seven ju st di scussed .

Workin g from the same sp ot , this group could ha ve been carvedvery easi ly . t see m s clear that the se seven padma sa na Buddha scrowded in betwe en the left margin of the gr oup above and the areato th e right where th e rock is corrupt , we re sta rt ed only after th eseve n ju st above we re underw ay, for o therwi se the y w ould ha ve been

p laced a few inche s higher to le ssen t he problem s pre sen ted b y t heflawed sto ne at their right end .

Vve sh all never kn ow w h y wh en th ere were w hat would see m tobe better spaces s till available , thi s particular on e was chosen. Perhap sthe donor was connected with the do no r of the gro up ju st a bove ,or perhap s th e latt er do no r himself had this ex tr a g roup againof seven, which is not a usua l seq uence at Ajanta de spite its Buddhi strele va nce mad e for good mea sur e. vVhat ahnost cert ainl y is th ecase is th a t the se are among the ve ry first in tru sion s an ywhere inthe cave, because the y conform not at all to the conventions whichdeve lop ed so rapidl y durin g the P eriod of Di srupt ion .

Wherea s throu gho u t the porch (except for thi s g roup and the two

excepti on s explained above ) ther e are only two carefully alternatedmudr as used for carved padm asa na Buddha s and wherea s throughout the rest of the ca ve, in slightly later conte xts ther e are (all told )seve nt y -two padma sana Buddha s all in variabl y sho win g the single



90 CAVE UPPER 6

dharmacakra mudra, the se seven little images sh ow no less than fourdifferent gestu res dharmacakra, dhyana, bhumisparsa, and abhaya.

It is as if this early donor as yet had no idea about how soon andhow doctrinaire ru les for mudras wou ld become established.

At a sligh tly lower level, another group of padma sana Buddha shas been sta rt ed, with three completed, whe rea s a fourth (presum

ably of an int en ded seven or eight ) ha s been barely begun at theright; the head, within its covering arch, is ju st blocked out. Thefact that this series is unfini she d , together with the significan t usageof the dharma ca kra mudra a lone, surely allows th eir dating to 480 .A smal l unfinished sing le padma sana Buddha to the left of this areamust a lso lo gicall y be dated to this late st phase , along with the barelyre ve aled large bhadrasana Buddha on the wa ll ju st to the right ofthe right pillared cell's entrance . The fact that thi s st ill-rough figureis the only bhadrasana ima ge in the porch wou ld again seem toconfirm its very late date, stron gly suggesting that dona tion s continued in the porch area right up to the sudden ending of such patron-

age act ivity at th e s ite. Neither of th e latt er two intn1sions werepla stered and painted, because th ey we re so unfini sh ed; but it is of

int ere st that the three Buddha s from the unfinished sequence didindeed get painted, suggesting that the donor was concerned toachieve what ever merit he could, wh ile time remained. It is impossib le to det ermine i th i s latter painting was done at the sa me timeas that of the va riou s earlier groups above , bu t it see m s unlike ly;they we re probably completed sometime in 479.

These carved images, ju st discussed , were b y no means the onlyintru sion s in th e porch area . Th e major wall areas already nicelysmoothed durin g the heyday of the site on either side of the porch

doorway , were once filled with a serie s of painted images , almost allof which are long since eroded away. There is no question but that

they are intrusive. Not only do they repla ce the expected welcoming bodhi sattva s but the plaster surfac ing upon which th ey are paintedextends ove r the abandoned and unfinished border of the doorway,and continues right up to the very rough and unfinished margins of

the windo ws too, thus confirming the abandonment , ind eed th e co r

ruption , of the original patron's we ll-laid p lans. It seems likely that

these paintin gs, wh ich cou ld be ac compli shed very quickly, precededthe carving of the various scu lpture s we have just discussed, and that

this priority is responsible for the location of th e latter in som ewhatless desirab le lo ca tion s.



ORIGI N AL AND IN T R US IVE PHA SE S COMPARED 9

At the same time , it wou ld appear that this n1inou s group of paintings, apparentl y compri sin g a vari ed group of seat ed Buddha im a ges,

ma y ha ve been spon sored b y different donor s. At lea st there appear sto have been a number of different type s of image s in volved , witha few ar eas betwe en them which we re nev er paint ed , even thou ghthe p laster wa s applied in a single campai gn. The fact that the whol epor ch ceilin g and th e rear por ch wall wer e p laster ed all at on ce suggests th a t it w as spon sored b y a single donor , or a connec ted group ,even thou gh their intended control appear s to have been somewhatfru strat ed b y th e pr essur es of thi s di srupti ve p eriod. I t is not sur -pr isin g to find the ceilin g plastered in the same single campai gn ,even if the intended honorific decoration planned for it never gotapp lied. Cei lin gs were al ways given low priority in time s of cri sis.

All e vid enc e ha s disappeared at the right of the doorwa y w herethe m erest trace s of p laster and paint remain. H owe ve r , at th e leftwe can see that the Buddha repre sen ta tion s w ere di vided b y paintedpillar s (with pot-like ba ses) which perhap s hav e been bette r pre servedthan the ima ges b etw een b ecau se of the b ett er adh eren ce of th e re l

pi gment used ext ensively in th eir paintin g. Betw een th e first two pil

la r s trace s of the two legs of a Buddha 's throne can still be seen.T he ne xt pane l, of a different type , is now quite ille gible , but theon e beyond that ag ain ha s trac es of a single remainin g throne leg .In the tier belo w ben eath the fourth pa inted p illar (or divid er), on ecan make ou t two ellip tical haloe s w hich , becau se of their inward

an glin g, probab ly be lon ged to tw o boclhi sattv as who attended a no wm issin g Buddha ima ge. 9 Farther to the left , another late ellipticalhalo enclo ses a Buddha s head ; th e im a ge, mo stly lost, wa s appar-ently part of a ra ther lar ge iconic compo sition. Thi s is suggested b ythe fact that two rat h er large peg hole s probab ly for a co verin gcloth (con siderin g their size) but po ssibl y for garland s ha ve b ee ndrilled at what we can suppo se we re the upper corner s of thi s g roup .Th eir pla cem ent is not qu ite symm etr ical, but thi s may be becau sethe lef t ho le could no t be p laced farther o ver becau se of the location of the left windo w.

Th ere is o nly o ne sculptur ed intru sion on th e porch wall to th eleft of the door way a stri ctly fron tal A valokite svara holdin g a lon g

59 Th e d esign and co lor ing o f the haloes can be co mp ared to d1ose in the S ravast iM iracle scene at th e left rea r of Cave 2, date abl e late 478 . See a lso the s im ila rlyclosely pl ace d h aloes o f a ttend a n ts on th e righ t wa ll of C ave 11 .






found only during the site's heyday. All we can assume is that itwas probably a mc0or single composition that fill ed up thi s appar-

ently very desirab le space next to the elaborate pillared cell and that,like the paintings therein was probably among the first of the cave 'sintrusions , datable to late 468 or 4 79. The fact that it was donewithout regard to the unfinished window any thoug ht of finishingthe latter now being inconceivable typifie s the urgent and eA Pedi

ent nature of all work during the Period of Di sruption , and of coursereinforces the conclusion that this composition, like all other painting s in the porch , ha s nothing to do with the patron's original plan sfor decorating the ea ve.

Cave Upper 6's left ce ll complex's pillared vestibu le is the onlysuch porch complex at the site which was ever painted during thePeriod of Disruption. This , like the plethora of intrusive images sca ttered throughout both the porch and the interior of the cave stressesits popularity as a devotional lo cus in the time of the site's decline.The two very similar cmnpositions on either side of the vestibu le'srear wa ll, flanking the do orway of the inn er ce ll , elaborately hon-

ored the Buddha , traces of whose halo can still be seen at the cen

ter of the left panel. He was placed within a hand some palacestructure, similar to the even more complex building shown in asimilar iconic intru sion on the right rear wall of Cave 11. The seedifices, surely ba sed on contemporary wooden model s, are supportedby a comp lex group of beautiful pil lar s with kumb ha capitals, and

are hung with a rich array of flower garlands. There are holes forpeg s or eye-hooks at the upper corners of each of these panels; theywere probably for garlands but, since th ey ar e quit e large , it is possible that they were used for covering cloths in stead.

On the right wall of this same chamber is a tantalizing ly ruinedpainted Litany scene, even tnore complex than its sculptured counterpart in the porch of Cave 4. Avalokitesvara' s figure i s most obliterated touche s of the jata headdre ss and lock s on the should ersremain but the identification seems clear because one can still makeout the figures of a few terrified travelers moving toward him forprotection through a rocky land scape . Th e be st preserv ed app ear sat the upper left where a pair of supp licants (one with arms raised

up for help ) appear to be fleeing from a serpe nt , one of the familiar eight dreads . Of particular interest is a paired standing figureat the right of the panel, also seen in a mountainou s landscape wherea kinnara pair and the traces of a few other figure s can be see n.



94 CAVE UPPER 6

This equally ruinous figure ha s been reconstructed and described b yZin as a crowned bodhisattva k ing. 60 Between and above both figu r es

is a seated padmasana Buddha , reminding u s of the similarl y p lacedbhadra sana Buddha (probably Amitabha ) in the famou s Cave 4Litan y scene .

Thi s co mp o sition also once had, se t into the hole s at the upper

corner s pegs or hook s for ga rland s or for a covering cloth. Th e leftho le obviou sly was shared with the right rear panel. I t can be assumedthat some major painting also filled the left wall of th i s vestibule ,for a similar pe g or hook arrangement is eviden t there too , althoughthe composit io n ha s been totally obliterated by Time. The precedent for dec ora ting" t hi s area is to be found in Cave 2, where forthe first time the painting pro g ram for the cave was extended toinclude these attractive, accessible , and well-lit areas , which had neverbeen de corated at the site before. Ho wever, in Cave 2 the se weredone under the order of the original pa tr on , in 477 , or po ssibly early478 , and are totally different in significance, bein g as a number of

in scriptional "lab els" show , repre sentations of ataka s, rather than

"s elfi shly " sign ificant icon s c rea ted in an attempt to acqu ir e la st-• •

mmute ment.One would like to think (rightly or not ) that this e laborately (and

uniquely ) decorated cell comp lex may ha ve been the residence of aparticularl y important monk. Since the excavation of the porch wasver y much in process when wo rk on the cave wa s taken up againafter 4 7 5 under the ori ginal patron , it is unlikely that either thevestibule or the inner (re sidence ) cell wo uld have been finished before4 7 6 or even 4 7 7. (Th e main porch doorway and w indow s nev er didget fini shed ) Ho weve r, a monk or monk s could then ha ve mo ved

in , for the cell doorway has the expected D-mode fittings dateablebetw een 475 and 4 7 7. From that point on until sometime in the

480 s w hen vi rtuall y everyone had vacated the site , this ce ll co m

ple x ap p ear s to ha ve been u sed, since th ere is signifi ca nt wear in

the doorwa y's excavated pi vot hole , as we ll a s in the still- survivi n gin se rted teak pivot holder at tl1e bottom of the doorwa y .

60

Zin 20 03 , 18a : "Beca use thi s king (of a m ountain ous landsca pe) is eq ual in sizeto Avalokitesvara, one can co nclud e that h e is also a Bodhi sattva . Th i s pro ves thatall of the kings su rround ed by mountainous land spaces a nd geni es o n va r iousent r ances in Ajant a we re viewed as bod hi sattvas as well. " I wo uld pr efer to sayth at th e bodhisattvas were viewed as kings, rather than th e other way aro und.




It is remarkable that so much survives in the left porch end cell,since its stn1cture has been disturbed by a major geologica l shift cre-

ating a wide (c. 4-6 ) flaw (now cemented in ). This wide flaw, whichobviously did not open up unti l some time (perhaps centuries ) afterthe porch was fin ished , can be seen in the ce ll, and continues throughthe 1niddle of the cell doorway (visible at both the top and bott01n )and then across the ve stibule and between the pi llars to cau se apainful dis location of the proper right shou lder of the fourth seatedBuddha from the left in the sequence above the pillars. Out in theporch itself it did far more damage, for the whole porch colonnade ,except for the right pilaster and one pillar stump , was sheared awa yand is now reconstructed in cement. Fortunate ly it left the adjacentleft court ce ll relatively intact , although the very flawed nature ofthe rock in this area is evident .6

The pil lared cell complex at the right end of the porch , which isa favorite residence for bats , and probab ly has been so for centuries ,shows no traces of either plaster or paint now , and quite possiblynever had any , for unlike it s count e rpart of the left, the s ignificantholes at th e top of the wall s were never cut. Thi s is perhaps under-

standab le since it is hard ly a desirab le area , its access being par -tially blocked by the monolithic stair ba lustrade , and its locationbeing so far back (to compensate for the placement of the stair s)that it is very dark. 6 2

That the plan s to fill the porch with imagery involved a concerted ,hasty, and probab ly single , effort is proved by the fascinating evi-dence of the p lastering of the ceiling , just as the fact that the ceilingsurface was n ever painted reveals som ething of th e mounting problems in this period. I t is clear that workers using different mixes ofp laster put this together piecemeal , ending up with a revea ling patch-work of plaster of different colors and textures , the whole partiallycovered with a standard lime slip . This work , which surely couldhave been comp leted in a day or two with so many different work -men apparently in on the act , was clone with the intent of providing

6 Th ere is a long proj ec tion o ve r th e door , insid e, like L2 s , though shallo w;po ssibly left unfini shed , as a re the s ides of th e door way .

62

T h ere is a proj ec tin g blo ck of ston e at the floo r level, which rese mbl es thosefound in th e C mod e, ald1ou gh it n eve r had a pi vo t hole, and wo uld b e ha rd toexplain if it did , s ince C mod e w as on y used in 470 and 471. Con ce iva bl y whenthe D mod e fittin g w as cut afte r 4 75, th e excava tor look ed ba ck to thi s typ e, po s-sibly for support; but if so, h e left it unu sed.



96 CAVE UPPER 6

a kind of appropriate canopy for the anticipated imagery on the

high priority rear porch wall.

Such painted ceiling canopies were almost conventional duringthe Period of Disruption for major wall images or series of images(either painted or sculpted ), even though such honorific de sign s have

little or nothing to do with the carefully p lanned and cornprehen

sive ceiling design s executed durin g the site 's heyday. Cave Upper6 i s full of such expediently painted canopies , both very narrow

and quite extensive. However , only one fortunately a major on e

still r e tain s it s painted de sign s . Thi s extensive paint ed area wasspecifically created when the new shrinelet at the right end of the

cave's front aisle was being comp leted, and though it is of the s tan-

dard beamed and cross- beamed design, it vio lates rather than inaugurates what mu st have been the originally planned decoration ofthe unfini shed front aisle ceiling. n even clo ser example is in the

shrine antechamber, where the cei ling was p lastered, almost certainlyalong with the three major walls below during the Period of Disruption ,but then , und er the pressure of tim e, was never actually painted.

During th e h ey da y of the site it would have be en almost unthink

able to have left an already plastered ceiling unfini shed , except whentimes were sudden ly worsening; then they were su ddenl y accorded

low priority. 63 In the Period of Di s ruption , ceilings are generally leftbar e, totall y devoid of pla ster; so the fact that in the Cave U6 porch

the plastering work started on the ceiling and then (with the same

mi x ) continued over the extensive rear porch wall and over the

vestibule and pillars of the left porch cell complex shows a particu-

lar ambitiou sne ss on th e part of the donor or donor s.64 T h e rightend of the main (rear ) wall was probably p la stered at the same timeas the central and left portions , but it sure ly had not been painted

at that time , since carved i1nages were subsequently added in thisarea , ju st as they were on the porch' s dark front wall, over the

sta 1nvay.The intru sions within the very rough (and thus low priori ty) win

dow frames mu st be among the latest of all the undertakings in the

63

See Cave 16 left and rear aisle (reflecting different crises ), 2 1 porch, 1 7 shri n e,hall, 20 sh r ine antecham b er; the Cave 26 Parin irvana was cut before th e leftaisle ceil in g was plas tered (and p ainte d).

64 App are ntl y the ce ilin g of the left porch-end vest ibul e was no t plastered; likethe main hall ceil ing, it was a low p riority co ncern by thi s tim e.




porch We can assume this in part from the developed and/ orunprecedented nature of their icono grap hy note, for in stanc e, th e

relatively co mplex bhadrasana panel in the right frame of the rightwindow , which because of it s very hastily carved and painted character may well date from late 480. The padmasana figure opposite,better located and with a particu larly developed double lotus seatfor the centra l ima ge and long con ne cted lotu s suppo rt s for the caur ibearing bodhi sattvas is an unusual type found elsewhere on ly amongthe late intrusions under the caitya arch of Cave 26. The bodhisattvaat the left also ho ld s a la t e long-stemmed lotus .

In the right frame of the left window, there is a sligh t ly la r ge rpane l with a stan ding Buddha and two cauri-bearing bodhisattvasall on lotus pedesta ls Again, the left bodhisattva ho lds the kama ndalu ; the r ight had what appears to be a stupa in the crown, whichma n y wou ld see as spec ific attribute of Ma itreya, although this is

much disputed , considering the fluctuatio n s of bodhisattva iconography at the site. All of these window figures, along with the surround-surfaces into wh ich they are cut , were plastered and paintedseparately from the ad ja cent areas of the porch's main (rea r) wall;

being less ideal locations and on stil l very rough ro ck they certain ly postdate the nearby painted and/ or carved rear wall images,and can surely be ascribed to 480.

A fe w int rusive panels also appear on the outer en d -wa lls of theporch. Loca ted in hard-to- see spots, the late date of those at the leftseems to be confirmed b y the fact that one of them , a standingBuddha (with conventional varada mudra ) at the top of the seriesof three im a ges, is very unfinished. Th e two others co mpri se a teac h-ing padma sana Buddha on a late lotus pede stal and a very s horthand representation of Ava lokitesvara on a similar pedestal , with hislong-stemmed lotus and jata h ea dd r ess; a devotee kneels in supplication at his feet , suggesting that th is is th e familiar Litany scene,where Avalokitesvara is called upon to protect travelers from th edan gers of the road. On the right end-wall, a relief stupa appearsa motif typica l of the Period of Disruption, bu t not found at the sitebefore .





CAVE 9A-9 D

INTR US IONS

Th e very limit ed spa ce available between Cave 9 and Ca ve 10 h adnot been used for excava tion s during the site 's he yda y. Po ssibly thiswas beca use the in teg ri ty of tho se old monumen ts was respected dur-

ing the yea rs (462- 477 ) whe n the s ite was under stron g administrative controls . Ho wever, the fact is that the old Hina yana caves ap pearto hav e bee n neg lected until ab o ut the ve ry ye ar that Hari sena died.We mi ght better say that the grea t patron s no more than a do z -

who clear ly ruled the exclusive site wh ile it was flouri shin g, wereuninterested in such a restricted area . Th eir aims were more ambitious .

How ever, when con trol s were finally relaxed, new intru sivedonor s eagerly took over these limit ed but no w ve ry de sirable locations for the creation of four small shrinelet s. As we mi gh t expect

at thi s late and strai tened moment, the y are far from elaborate inarc hi tec tural tenns, but th ey are filled with ima gery of a very deve loped character, very consistent with a date in the Period of Di sruption ;the lower pair in the group were sure ly be gun in 4 79, wh ile thela ter niches above b elo ng to 480 . For clarit y I ha ve numbered the sefour sm a ll relati ve ly shallo w shrin elets, all lo ca t ed close togetherbetween Caves 9 and 10, as follo ws: 9A (lowe r left ); 9B (lower right );9C (upper le ft); D (upper right ). Tho se at the lo wer level, and moreimmediately accessible, were u ndertaken slightly before tho se in the

relatively inconvenient area ab ove, w hic h logically was utili ze d last .Th e fact that th e latt er conta in bhadrasana ra th er th an padmasanaBuddha s help s to establish their slightl y later elate, but still more suggest ive is the fac t that the image in one of the upper shrinelet s ( D )was never qu it e fin ished.

Th e tr ea t m ent of th e ima gery in 9A a nd 9B is so simil ar, thatth e two s hrinel ets appear to ha ve b een th e wo rk of both the sam ep lanner and the sa me sculp tor. Takin g the latter as an example, we

can see a number of

notably d evelop ed featur es .The

image, inpad

m asana pose, is seated upon a thron e base of a st rikin gly lat e type,show ing the scal loped throne-cloth kno wn from ma n y examples during the period of Di sruption , and throne legs who se lowe r portion s



100 C VE 9 A 9 D

are in the form of supporting lions , secured by nubs at the frontcorners of the throne ba se . N eith er of these featur es appears in sculp

tures at the site before 4 7 7.1

The conventional late nubs, present in the throne seat of 9A, forsome re a son have been omitted from 9B , even though the two groupswere virtually identical in every other way. The explanation may

si1nply be that by 479 nubs were not so in sistently standard as ayear or two before , their precedence having been violated during

the expedient rush to complete the shrine image of Cave U pper 6in 4 7 8. 2 Their occasional omission may be a lso be du e to the factthat in padmasana images (as opposed to those in bhadrasana ), the

throne pad , and/ or the image's knees , sometimes extend out to the

corners of the throne base , making the positioning of the nubs

difficult. 3

The throne ba se pede sta l in 9B appear s to be more c01nplex , butthis is probably on ly because that in 9A has been obscured by adeep layer of cement on the floor. 4 Above , flying couples bearing

lotu ses converge upon the figure. Such flying coup les nev e r appear

until at le a st 4 77, starting with the influ entia l Cave 26 main imag e,

and become increasingl y popu lar after that. The ex t ra cauri -bearing flying naga s just beneath very ruinous in 9B and lost com

pletely in 9A are an added feature never found in images finishedprior to 478. The throne side s of 9B are totally fallen away the

rock being very friable here but one wou ld probab ly be right in

assuming that they were once virtually identical with those of 9A,where the expected elephants, vyalas with riders (cramped here but

in such late imag es ex pect ed) and makara s are still som ew hat intact.Perhaps the most suggestively developed feature of all is the Inan

ner in which the image is flanked by standing Buddha-figures on

Th e sc allop ed form of the throne cloth-actually the dependent portion of theBuddha ' s robe-may ha ve been suggeste d b y the fact that in bh adrasana images,the cloth falls down in loops between the Buddh a's legs .

2 s explain ed in Volume I Chapter 11, the nubs are omitted from the mainimage of Cave Upper 6 because its expediently added base followed the lead ofthe im age in the lowe r story; they a re also om itted in the lat e r (intrusive ) images

whi ch co py the m ain image.3 Ho weve r in both Cave 7 and Cave 15, nubs were squeezed in when thoseimages were revised early in 4 78.

4 Th e co mpl ex pedestal at the bottom of 9D's thron e base is si milar to that ofthe simil arly intru sive padmasana Buddha on the left rear wa ll of Cave 15 .



IN T R US IO NS 1 1

either side , w hile sma ll sea ted Budd has also appear ju st above. T heearliest sh rin elet where th e im a ge is flank ed b y Buddha s rath er th an

b y bodhisattvas is at the front ri ght of Ca ve Upper 6. That im agewas no t undertaken until at le ast mid- 4 78 and the pre sent exampl e goes even b ey ond th a t in th e c ompl exity of th e arrangement .

Vve should al so note that lar ge st andin g Buddha s attended by

flyin g dwarfs (som e no w mi ssin g) ap p ea red in their own panels onthe side wall s of the se shrinele ts too. The la tter stand ing Buddha sin 9A appears to have be en flanked b y two kneelin g devotee s (mostlyoblit era ted); on ly th e exa mp l e at th e left in 9B h ad such attendingfigures , no w mu ch damaged. All of the se larger s tandin g Buddha sstood on lo tus pede sta ls (mere st trace s remain in 9A ), b ut the tw osmaller stan din g Buddha s in 9B (tho se on th e rear wall) did not,p ro babl y because a flaw runs along at thi s lev el. Ho wever, thi s nowexpected fea ture ma y ha ve b een painted in. H ere as we ll a s elsewhere , whe n li ttle flankin g pillars appear, th ey a re very de ve lopedm type.

Thu s th ere w as a tota l of six sub sidiary Buddha s in th e shrin elet,and p er hap s this wa s in t end ed as a way of in co rporatin g th e Six

Buddha s of the Pa st, w hi ch became a ne w and signific a nt groupin gintroduced in Caves 4 7 an d Upper 6; admit te d ly, the var ied arran gem ent found her e w ould be un ch a racterist ic, but Aja nta was ne ve raverse to chan ge . Ho wever , th e reduction to, or emphasis on , t w

atten dan t Buddh as (as oppo sed to six) does no t occur un til the Periodof Di srup tion , so th is formu lation was dev eloped when the fea t urewas in a state of flux. 5

Th e shrin elet front s of A and 9B were fitt ed with doubl e sw in gin g door s the la r ge (4 diameter ) pivot hole s at the upper cornersof the openin g sh ow clear sign s of wear . Tho se w hi ch r ece ive d the

lo wer pi vo ts are now ob scured b y cement restoratio ns . T wo other

large hole s, under the lintel and caref ully round ed, s ho w no eviden ce of havin g b een worn by turnin g pivots. It is clear from th eir

positioning that they we re no t for door s; in stead, wooden (pr esu m-ab ly) pillars must have be en fitted into them , wh ile angled bracket swo uld have sprun g from th e pillar s a nd locked into the sm all squar e

5 In painting , both at t endan t Bu ddhas and bhadra sa na image s appear on wa llsof Cav e 9 (and elsewhere) a d ecad e ea rli e r. Thi s difference be twee n paint ed an dsculptural forms has not bee n exp lai n ed.



1 2 C VE 9 A 9 D

holes nearby. By fixing such pillars and bracket pillars to the frontof the niches , just beyond the swing of the double doors, the new

donors were able to add to the decorative and sacred impact oftheir offerings, and simultaneous ly keep up with the times. Thepalaces painted in Cave 1 (e.g. l\1ahajanaka Ja t aka) sometimes showwooden brackets at the pillar tops, and of course monolithic brackets are a com mon feature on shrine antechamber pillars after 4 7 5.

I ron eye hook s for garlands were once inserted into four holesdrilled at the four corners of the ceiling of 9A , and two of these , at

the rear corners, s till re1nain today. 9B had the very sa m e arrange-

ment, although only a sing le eye-hook , at front left, now remains.Related holes, in both shr inelet s appear on the ceiling over theheads of the flying couples (fragments of the hook s remain in 9A )while holes were also cut at the centers of the largely missing painted

ce iling medallions in both shrinelets. Th e mere stub of an iron hook(one of a number th at can be found ) still remains at this point in

9B.In 9A one can eas ily see the paired holes over the standing Buddhas

at th e rear, for insects have capped them to protect their larvae with

a distinctive white plaster . A pair of hook-holes also appears nearthe upper corners of the right standing Buddha in 9A and must

have also been present above its counterpart on the now-ruinousright side. Both pairs of holes appear in 9B, the front left one stillwith its eye-hook whi le the other h as been obscured by a conservator's cement. Since these hooks must have been intended for thehanging of gar lands, their lavish presence gives us a good idea of

the richness which must have attended these areas w h en they werein worsh ip . The impact mu st have been intentionally pa latial ; oneneed only look at the m any representations of palaces in Ajanta'smurals, to see garlands, looped or dependant, everywhere . That suchfixtures were indeed for garlan ds rather than lamps is evident throughout the site from the fact that the cei lin g above never shows localized smoke deposits. But one might ask , nonetheless, why they are

almost always eye hooks instead of open hook s upon which the garlands might more easily have been hung?

It is of course possible that so m e of the hook s in other caves or

placed along the tops of image panels cou ld have been used for curtains or cloths to shi eld the images. Such ce remonious protectionwas often used, at least for major figures , desp it e the fact that shrinesupon which work had to break off often did not get th eir doors





1 4 C VE 9 A 9 D

Buddhas is of course a notably late device. Since it seems very likel ythat these adjacent images with their many comparable details in

figure treatment costume and other features were done by the sameartist it ma y well be that this more developed icono gra ph y in thestill unfini sh ed D reflects the way in whic h h e was responding tothe surge of cha nges c hara cter istic of this intensely creat ive even ifdoomed final phase of work at the si te.

There is no evidence that 9C and D were pain ted and the fac tthat D ha s various unfini she d carved details suggests that time ranout before the final decoration cou ld be accomplished; even holesfor hooks were never cut. Onl y the slightly earlier lowe r shri nelet ssurel y got painted s their slight remaining traces of pla ster and pig-ment prove.



CAVE lOA

INTRUSIONS

The sh rinelet between Cave 1 and Cave (called lOA) bear s man yrelationships with 9A and 9B, but is even more elaborate and ambitious in its complex grouping of imagery. It is a verita ble repositoryof highly developed motifs, which must ha ve been conceived by oneof the mo st progressive of the artists seeking out work from thene w intrusive donors during the Period of Di sru ption.

The central image is an assertively posed bhadrasana image ona conventionally late lion throne. Hi s feet are placed on a highand lat e double lotus p edesta l, so mewhat rem ini scen t of that in

urangabad Cave 3 which was finished onl y a year or so ea r lier,in 4 7 8. In front of this a very impressive candrasila, again sim ilarto that in the shrine antechamber of urangabad 3 sprea ds out with

elaborate floral scroll s exte ndin g right up to the right and left sh rineletwa lls. The expected deer and wheel were apparently never carved;possibly the expedient positioning necessitated by the bhadrasanamode made the planner s think they would be in the way in thiss1nall cere1nonial spac e. But surely they were painted on the availab le smoothed fiat surface below the lotus pedestal.

Above the im a ge, strong ly projecting flying couples converge withtheir offerings, as in so many very late exa1nples. The running nagasat th e top of the quasi -structural frame of the otherwise ruinou sthron e back are also comparable to very late exa mple s springingoutward and holding both cauries and multiple scarves . The throneback, though clear quasi-structural detail s remain at the top, is badl yerod ed . The expected makaras can sti ll be seen, w ith strin gs of b eadshanging from their mouth s. The left makara ha s his foot on an intermediary cross-beam in the t h rone structure, confirming its very late

stn1ctured character. But nothing more can be made out.One would expect nubs on the throne sea t of such a developed

ima ge; the fact that they are not visible today is ce rtainly due to th efact that the upper surface of the throne seat is much eroded. Eventhe associated throne leg tops, once assertively rendered, are hardto see today, but are clearly set above the lions' heads .





INTR U SIONS 1 7

the central bodhisattva , is surely a sign of very late date. The haloof the image show s a degr ee of elongation , often a featur e of late

images. The bhadra sana panel , although very small , is surpr ising lydetailed , with its bench-like throne supported by tiny lions , abovewhose heads the late throne nubs are defined. The arcing throne

cloth is also a late feature. The attendant bodhisattva s hold cauries ,but other attr ib ute s were probably fina lly defined when the panelwas pla stered and painted; traces of this surfacing are sti ll visible.

The treatment of the left wall of shrinelet 1 OA is equally unusual.It is decorated with a va r iety of small padma sana Buddha s, rangedabo ve a somewhat larger padmasana Buddha seated on a nowruinous lotus pedestal and attended by two surprisingly small nowruinous haloed attendants , the left now nearly gone. The smallerseated Buddhas above have no obvious compositional or iconographicconnect ion with the la r ger ima ge below, and may well have beenindependent donations b y another donor or donors. At the upperlevel a unified group of four images , all of the same size , are separated by asser t ively carved demi-pillar s, who se large flut ed capital sb ear certain connect io ns with the sim ilarly str esse d form s found in

Traikutaka and Early Kalacuri monument s dating from the late fifthand early sixth centur ies.2 Need less to say , Ajanta's craftsmen , and or

their sons , must have worked at such site s after all work stoppedhere at the end of 480.

The small candrasalas carved on the vau lt-mo tif above the demipillars contain smal ler padmasana Buddhas , with the exception ofthat at the far left. There , perhap s because the rock wa s so badlyflaw ed, a low er priority dancing dwarf wa s carv ed inst ead an ir r elevanc y unusual in the Period of Disruption. The fact that the srnallimages and the larger are aligned would appear to be an outcomeof the de sign , rather than to have any particular iconographic

significance. 3 The placement of Buddhas at so many points surelyreflect s the compul sion , so familiar in the P eriod of Di sruption ,to donate more and more images. By the same token , the nearly

Co mpar e w ith 4 80 ima ge o n ri gh t wa ll of shrin e o f cave 4.2

Su ch at tenu ated pilla rs with ex pa nsive c ushion ca pital s a pp ea r a decad e ea rlier in Ajanta 's paintin gs, obviou sly reflec ting fa miliar wood en form s.3 Alth ough th ere a re e igh t figur es here, th ey s urel y do not repr esen t the p opu

la r (Eight Buddh as (act ually seve n plu s lVIa itreya ) as th eir different sizes alon ewould pro ve .



1 8 CAVE lOA

obliterated row of five seated Buddhas just beneath appears to havebeen squeezed in to utilize that still-availab le space. H owever, reflecting

the pillared format of the row above, this constricted (and probablyjust slightly later ) row is not a ligned structurally with the groupabove, and so would see1n to repre sent a separate donation.

It is interesting to note how the planner s of the upper group ofBuddha s fitted the larger panels in between the parallel flow-lines(from the lav a ) near the upper part of the wall. Similarly the carverof the large image near the center of the wall took care to have thetop of hi s pan el coincide with the third parall el flow line. Th e ruinousint ermediate group had to be placed in the space left , and whereasthe scu lptor seems to have taken care to locate the faces of his imageswhere the rock was not flawed , the legs could not be kept out ofharm s way so well and have inde ed suffered as a result.

Th e flawed nature of the rock on this wall, be sides determiningto some degree the dispo sition of these figures, has affected theiriconography in even more specific ways. For instance , in the upper

row of large sea ted Buddha s one show s dh yana 1nudra , in stea d of

dharmacakra mudra like the other th r ee. The exp lanati on for this

need not be sought in the particular identification of the Buddh asinvolved; the reason for the difference would seem to be that thereis a vert ical flaw which runs through the chest of the third imagefrom the left, making it advisable to place the hand s upon the laprather than higher up. Similarly , the surprising ly informal pose ofthe second Buddha , who s its wit h hi s ankle s crossed, would seem toresult from nothing more esoteric than the fact that the particularlypronounc ed impuritie s in the rock below th e imag e 's proper rightknee recommended the unusual po sitioning of the legs. At the sametime , the scu lptor might not have felt justified in using such anunconventional and informal pose , i it was unprecedented . However ,it can be found (though perhaps not we ll explained ) in at least threepainted i1na ges at the site , all among the group s of sea ted Buddh aspainted on the shrine wal ls of Cave 2 and datable to early 4 78. Allof the latter, inciden ta lly show different mudras , only one beingdharmacakra , which was perhap s int ended for this carved exampleand was the mudra of choice in the Period of Di sruption; however ,

the unusual gesture see n in the latter can hardl y be read as that.The variety of imagery seen in Cave lOA wou ld seem to suggest

that although the small cave or shrinelet was probably carved bythe donor wh o gave the elaborate bhadra sa na Buddh a composition



INTR US IONS 109

at the rear , he did not have an overall unified program for the cave'sdeco ration , but may well hav e a ll owed other donors to make th eir

own independent offerings. Although all of the donations which wehave so far discussed have unusual and obviously very late features ,the most remarkable of all is a standing fe1nale figure , hold ing alon g-ste mmed lotus and standing on a double lotus pedestal in thelower rear corner of the left wal l Thi s fi gure , which bear s no particular compositional connection with the other images on either theleft wall, or the rear wall, was apparently an independent image,and would see m to r epr ese nt th e femal e bodhi sattva, Tara. As such ,it would be the first independent representation of thi s soon-to-bevery important and popular female divinity. Indeed , in sculpturalcontexts, "Tara " make s only one prior appearance at the site, evenas an attendant figure. Thi s is also in a relatively late context inthe upper righ t corner of panel L8 of Cave 26's ambulatory, a composition sponsored b y Buddhabhadra which can be dated to 478. 4

" Replacing" her male counterpart Avalokitesvara, she is paired withan attendant Vajrapani on the right.

Th e ceiling of Cave lOA ha s be en pla stered and rapidly painted

with a single simp le composition comprising a nearly -lo st medallionwith in a floral- sc roll border. A s we wou ld expect, t hi s was done afterthe main image was carved, since the pla ste r ground continues overthe latter's head. Th e sa me pla ster appears to ha ve been used around theAvalokite svara on the right wa ll, although the small Buddhas above,like those flanking the main image and those on the right wall, showa different and finer mix , as do portion s of the main image. All inall, it appears that th e whole shrine was pla ster ed at on e tim e (withat least two mixe s) and painted at one and the same time; at leastthe same simple pigments and bru sh techniques seem to have been

used on the 1nain and right walls, and on the ceiling. l\ Iere tracesof plaster remain on the more exposed left wall.

Th e two pivot holes in the ent ran ce lintel could hardly have b eento affix a pair of doors , for they are positioned more than a foo t infrom either side. Although the related lower soc kets have long sincebroken away, th ese hole s were sur ely used for se ttin g in littl e wooden

4 I t is possible that st a ndin g atte nd ant females in groups like that of th e greatbodhisattva on the left rear wall of Cave 1 may b e representations of Tara butth is is not certai n.



11 C VE lO A

pillar a sim pler version of those found in shrinelets 9A and 9B.Quite conceivably these were once fronted b y double doors who se

pi vot hole s have disappeared due to damage to the facade.Considering the treatment of so many other intn1 sio ns at the site

it is particularl y surprising that there is not a sing le hole for ga rlandhooks or the like anywhere in this little shri nel et. Thi s may we ll sugges t that the whol e was plastered and painted in a la st-minute ru shbefore the re was time to first chisel the holes in question. The p lastering and paintin g is indee d simp le enough to have bee n accompli sh ed very quickly . Th e cursory character of th e deta ils on thefragments of paint left both on the ceiling and on the bhumisparsaBuddha in the right rear corner support such a conclusion. Nor

would the pla steri n g beneath h ave taken very long; the pla stererscovered the smnewha t rougher underlayer with a fine red plastermixed with tiny wh ite see ds a type of plaster found on ly in veryla te contexts at the site.

We can assume that the image or images in the shrinelet werededicated sin ce its painting was apparently fully acco mpli shed . Butif it was used at all it was not used for lon g or wo rshipp ers might

themselves have applied hooks for ga rland s at least in the center ofthe now-ruinous ceiling medallion. Furthermore it s remaining paint

sho ws no evidence of soo t depo sit s as a result of wors hip.



CAVE 11

INTRUSIONS

Cave 's troubled history re sulted in its being a happ y huntingground for devotees in the Period of Di sruption , for it presented awide array of surfaces in both the porch and interior which hadbeen plastered just before the Rece ss ion , but never painted either atthat time , or durin g the vigorous years of work at the site from 4 75until mid-478 , when the Vakataka patrons had to leave the site.

During the Period of Disruption , starting in mid -478, the newdonor s appear to have taken over the inter ior hall fir st; at lea st thi sis sugge sted by th e fact that all of th e pad1na sa na uddha s (exce ptfor the man y tin y images in the right wall myriad uddha composition ) show dhyana mudra , while the more up-to-date dharmacakrafor padmasana Buddhas i s favored in the porch . Furthennore , the

interior hall was an idea l location , not only beca use it was so closeto the uddha , but because its wal l surfaces were unobstructed by

carvings or painting s from the original phase of the ca ve 's patronage.On the other hand , these plaste red surfaces had remained untouched

for a d ec ad e, and it 1nay becau se of thi s that th ey required r efurbishment in places. Whatever the reason , before paintin g the intrusions in many areas, the workers applied large piece s of cotton clothto a number of areas at the right rear , and on the left wa ll, and

then went on to paint over them ; they did not paint the cloth firstand then apply it , becau se as we can see on the left wall, the h ea dsof the painted image s extend up be yond the cloth s margin. Thi s is

very clear where, between the second and third cell doorway s, onecan th e shape of the appl ied cloth, which became d etached (fe ll offor was pu lled off ) at some point , probabl y well after the site wasabandoned. Impre ss ion s of the fabric on the plaster remain in a fe wpatche s, while along the margins one could once see the traces ofthe raveled edges, although unfortunately the se have now been masked

by (unn ecessa ry) filletin g . Th is effort at conservation is unfortunat e;

Thi s is almost imp ossi ble to see to day. Bu t see Spink 1968.



2 CAVE

but it is nothing to compare with what was done on the right rear

wall, at th e right of th e shrin e doorwa y. H ere a major compo sition

with two bhadra sa na images , also painted on fragile old cloth, wasliterall y wiped away by a worker who recei ved the order s to cleanthe de ep soot off of the ar ea but was not told that th e im a ges werepaint ed on cloth; althou gh it ma y be hard to believe , that was some

thin g h e him self n eve r di scove red in the proce ss of cleanin g. Sin cethe old paint was essen tially on the top of the old woven surface itwas unable to survive thi s assault; mere t races can be seen today.To get a better id ea of wha t used t o be th ere , on e nust refer tophoto g raph s in m y article (Spink 1968 ), which I had sent to theauthorities to appri se them of this fascinating situ at ion , which had

neve r been noticed before.The heavy burden of soot , which proved itnpossible to remove

from th e cloth without consequent dama ge, at least provid es us w itha certain amount of useful information. I t wou ld see m that the cave,with its remarkable Buddha image (backed by an unfini shed stupa ),remained in wors hip frmn th e time that th e im age was fini shed inearly 69 ; th e cells (all but one ) were fitted out for the monk s in

68 or earl y 469. The ca ve's use for wor ship frmn this time explainsthe smoke damage to the painted surface s.2 The porch (particularl ythe ceiling ) is also very smoked-up, but thi s was apparently du e to thepr e sence of a sa dhu (as a few painted trid ent s sugges t) who mo vedinto the cell at the left end of the porch in some future century and

apparentl y wa rmed himself or cooked in the porch area. There isunhapp y evidence on the beautiful ceiling composition that someon e tried to clean it with a broom .

Th e paintin gs (there are no sculpture s) in the interior are so ruinous,and so m any, even if not ruined , are mi ssing (especially at the lowerlevels) th at they threaten to elude detail ed di scussion. 3 Ima ges neverwere painted at all on the typicall y low-priority front wall, but allthe oth er wa lls were filled. Startin g near the front l eft , we find ,beneath a repetiti ve serie s of painted standing Buddh as, two splendidrendering s (the lower portion s now mi ssing ) of enthroned (bhadrasana )Buddha s at t end ed b y c auri-b earin g bodhi sattva s. Th e Buddha s' halo es

2 For the Buddh a image an d stu pa, a nd th e develo pm ent of th e cave, see Volum eI, Chapter 11, Cave .

3 Unfortunate , only the porc h pain tings of Cave are cove red in Zin 2003.



INTR US IONS 3

have the late elliptical shape popular in the Period of Disruption,as we ll as throne s with late quas i-structural fram ew orks. From the

convent ion al makara mouths , assertive bird 's heads emerge. The general style, together with the typically late coloring with blue andorange predominating suggests that these adjacent i1nages , quiteunderstandably, were painted by the same art ist Be yo nd, at the top

of the wall, the repetitive se quence of be g rimed painted Buddha scontinues, but now they are all seated, and sho w dh ya na mudra.

Just to the left of the fallen cloth (and the doorway of cell L2 ), there

is a ruined standing image of Buddha or Avalokit esv ara , and b eyon dthat , over the pattern left by the cloth , the top of the head s of afew smaller standing figures remain ; they were clearly painted afterthe cloth was app lied, for the heads still remain , since they exceedits boundaries.

Near the left en d of the rea r wall, there was once a stan din gBuddha , with bodhisatt va attendants, and flying dwarfs above. This

group, except for the very upper portions is obliterated , but one can

still mak e out the ja ta headdre ss of Avalokit esva ra at the left of the

ruin ed main imag e . Farth er to th e right , ju st to the left of th e shrine

doorwa y, the area is fi lled with man y seate d Buddha s (po s sibly aSravasti Miracle ), but th o se which can be seen show the dharma-cakra rather than dhyana 1nudra. The most visib le row, at eye level ,comprises seven sea ted (dhannacakra ) Buddha with a painted stupaat either end, as if enclosing the series. No other such stupas are

visible.To the right of the shrine doorwa y, where the images are par-

ticularly blacken ed, but were once mor e fully pr eserve d, there are

major bhadra sana figures , wi th (mo stly lo st) fine bodhi sattv a atten

dants and characteristic late throne features. One of these typically developed fonnulation s that at the right has an inscription,now greatly damaged. I t records the gift of the upa saka (lay1nan )Mitradharma. (In scr #64 ).4 Cohen record s another previou sly unnoticed in sc ription (In scr #65 ) at the feet of another large and verysimilar Buddha just to the left. A few seated figures nothing much

mor e than traces of their umbr ellas remain are painted along thelower level beneath these figures.

4 See also Dh avalikar 1968.



114 CAVE

At the farther end of the right rear wall there was once a splendid

and very detail ed pa vilion , which mu st ha ve framed a sea ted (?)

Buddha ; it reminds one of the fine pavilion, also intru sive, on theleft rear wall of the vestib ule of the left porch cell of Cave Upper 6.

A sim ilar ambitiousness invests the sin gle unified compo sition onthe cave's right wa ll. t is a representation of the Thousand Buddha s(not in fact that number ) centered upon a very damaged standin gBuddha in a wh ite robe, and flanked b y two bodhi sattvas if theyare indeed bodhisattvas? pla ying musical instruments. A sing ler ema inin g cauri, flying dwa rfs and kn ee lin g attendants (essent iall yin visible after cleaning ) emphasize this sign ificant fo cus of the com -po sit ion , which of course is a formulation popular in the Period of

Disruption. The quickly painted (reall y drawn ) tiny Buddha s have

suffered 1nany losses, exacerbated in the left half by parti cula rlyunfortunate attempts at conservation. Like all of these paintings, theycan be better seen in the publi shed article of 1968 , written prior toconservatiOn.

Ther e are equally int erest in g intru sio ns in th e por ch , where by

468 only th e cei ling, some support in g dwarf s on the wa ll, and the

splendid but sad ly ruinou s bodhi sattvas on either side of the hastilypainted doorwa y had been completed. lVIany areas are illegib le today,but at the left of the left porch cell doorway there is a large , evenif obscured, Ava lokitesvara Litany w ith a donative inscription below,recording the gift of an unnamed Upasaka (layman ) (ln scr #63 ).

On the adjacent portion of the rear wa ll, at the le f t there is anequally large but better pr e served flaming Buddha , which ha s been

associated with the Dipankara J ataka so popular at the sit e .5 Suchflamin g Buddha s in va riou s emanations, appear throughout the site,being particularl y popular during the Period of Di sru ption. Ju st to

the right, at the top of the wall, there is a se rie s of painted pad-

masana Buddha s invariably with dharmacakra mudra, suggest in gthat they may we ll have been painted in 480, when th i s mudra , atle a st in scu lpture , was the gestu re of choice. Some of these continueover the right window beyond the earlier bodhisattva. Be yon d thewindow, below mor e intru sive padma sana Buddha s, the painted sur-

faces are so damaged that virtuall y nothing can be seen, even though

there ma y we ll ha ve been a another large sta ndin g figure also an

; See Suresh Vasant 1991.



INTR US IONS 5

intrusion to the left of the right cell doorway; traces of the halocan still be made out.

A series of equal ly damaged seated Buddhas were ranged alongthe upper levels of the right wall, with perhaps three larger seatedBuddha s below , essentially illegible. Below these there are three intrusive carvings. The first and more elaborate panel at the center show sa bhadrasana Buddha on the now -conventional lion throne , withbodhisatt v a attendants, flying dwarfs above, and kneeling devotees ,three on each side, flanking the deer and wheel below. The bhadra sanaBuddha panel ju st to the left i s very similar , although th e kneelingde votee s now flank the double lotus pedestal , for the steps leadinginto the adjacent porch cell block the lower part of the panel. Thethird panel is much constricted, surely becau se this space was allthat was left; it shows a standing Buddha , flanked by two bodhisattvasand two small kneel in g de votees . Becau se there was not enough roomto include Avalokitesvara' s kamandalu next to the standing Buddha 'slowered hand in varada mudra, the bodhisattvas was expedientlymoved to the opposite side a surpri sing but not totall y untypi ca ladjustment. t the sa m e tim e, it was hard to fit in th e Vajrapani ,

now at the left of the composition; so hi s upper arm usurp s partof the frame separating the images. 6

There are numerous hook s and hole s both in the porch and inthe interior hall, althou gh none appear in the shrine. The ru in edcondition of the plastered surfaces , particularly near the ceiling level ,make s it hard to determine i the hook s were put in before the porchand hall were fully pla ste red in preparation for the painting whichwas su rely envi sage d in 468, b efore the R ecess ion aborted such plan sfor decoration. However , this was almo st alway s the case prior tothe Period of Di sruption , especially for garland hook s. It was prob-

ab ly the case with the many larger hole s here also, which may havebeen used for smne other kind of hangings . In one instance , however, the hol es clea rly are intrus ive : three small hole s hav e b eencarefully cut under the cen tral Buddha-cum-musicians painted onthe right wall during the Period of Di sruption ; de spi te their un u suallocation below the Buddha rather than above, we may im a gin e thatthe y were cut for ga rl and hook s or poss ibly for incen se holders.

6 See Spink Fla ws 1986.



CAVE 12A

INTRUSIVE

Th e very large and extremely unfini sh ed figure of a bhadrasanaim a ge above Cave 12 , close to the porch cells at the left of Cave11 , mu st h ave been among th e last undertakings in the Period ofDi sruption. Becau se it occupie s the space above th e old Cave 12,we have called it 12A. All other figures of bhadrasana image s inseparate shrinel ets can b e ass igned to mid 478 throu gh 480 , and th ever y in comp lete sta te of this particular one wou ld su gg est that itmust be among t he l atest of the type. We might a lso note that theother intru sive shrinelet s A - D ; 1OA) in thi s part of the site , near

the old Hin ayana nucleu s, also are very la t e in date. Th e po sitionswhic h the y occupy were probabl y not utilized durin g the site s heyda y becau se the y were not large enough for norma l-sized caves.



C AVE 15

INTRUSIONS

An intru sive bhadra sana Buddha and a similarly late padma sanaBuddha , in a rather haphazard arran ge ment , we re carved on the

left rear wall of Cave 5 during the Period of Di sru p tion , after the

original patron had finall y abandoned work on the cave in 478. Atthat point excavation work on all of the wall s of the cave had been

esse ntially fini sh ed , so that th ere wa s mu ch space whi ch cou ld b eutili zed for intn1 sive dona tion s no w that the o ld contro ls over the

cave w ere gone. Howe ver , donor s during the Period of Di sruption

took littl e advanta ge of th i s avai lability , quite po ss ibly b ecau se th eBuddha ima ge and th e whole shrine ar ea had b ee n so exp edi ent lycomp let ed , not b e in g properly de corated nor even supplied withdoor s t o clo se o ff the ima ge. Fur thermore , the hall wa s comp letel y

undecorated too , only adding to the unde sirability of the location ,even thou gh it is clear tl1at th e main ima ge, havin g b ee n dedi cat ed ,was alive . Ana logou s situation s are seen in the equa lly availab lebut little utilized Ca ves 21 and 4, or the low er ri ght w in g of the

Ca ve 26 comp lex.Ad1nitt edl y, th e re ma y on c e ha ve b ee n intru sive pa intin gs (as

oppo se d to th e extant sculptur es ) on some of the w alls . There isho w ever , no proof of thi s for if th e y once exi ste d , such paintediconic panel s particularl y at the more de sirable lower level s were

de stro yed when debri s built up in the ca ve. Vve kno w (from oldrec ord s) that su ch d ebr i s fi lle d th is hall ve ry d eeply so dee ply thateven toda y there is s till some of it filling the door latche s inside the

cell s.It is al so po ss ib le that donor s turn ed to such cav es as Ca ve 5

only when more id eal locat ion s, durin g th e P eriod of Di sruption ,we re filled up or spok en for. Thi s would support the a ssumption thatthe carved panel s here are re la tively late intru sion s as were the intru-

sive pla stered (and probabl y once p a inted ) a rea s in the porch , w hereth e typi cally la t e red pl a ste r ha s left its stain on th e ro ck.

The padma sana Buddha , the left panel on the left rear w all ,can re a sonab ly be dated to 48 , given it s notabl y late feature s. The



118 CAVE IS

elaborate makara-arch beneath which the i1nage sits link s this imagewith numerous lat e exa mple s created prior to the Period of Di srup

tion, but is a relativel y rare feature for intru sion s. Beneath the arch,flying d warfs hold a crown ove r the Buddh a's head , as if to honor

him with the very thing s wh ich he had earlier renounced; surel ythe impul se ca me not from the sage him self, but from hi s devotees.Th e complex 1nanner in wh ich a frontally placed dwarf is sho wnalong with the other tw o, suggests th a t their source was probabl ythe slightl y earlier (478 ) and very elaborate panels R2 , R3 , and R4on th e right wall of th e ambulatory of Cave 26.

Shown with hi s (dama ged ) hand s in the no w expected dharmacakra mudra , the padmasana Buddha is seate d upon a lotu s pede sta l,a mode of placement wh ich i s common in painted examples froma very early date. Th e earliest occurrences appear to be the tinyBuddha s on the Cave 17 shr ine doorwa y. It see m s likel y (even ifsurpri sing) that the lo tus pede stals first evolved in sculp ture at thesite as space -filler s beneath the sea ted Buddha s on the sides (notthe top ) of th e d oo rway sin ce it appears that th e pl ann ers had optedfor in co nv eni ently tall narrow p ane ls not takin g into account the

problem s this wou ld cau se with seate d im a ges on the jamb s. Althoughused much earlier in paintin g on the Cave 17 sh rine doon vay, itdid not b ec om e conventi onal for sculptured images until about 477 ,notably on th e ca pital s and triforium of Cave 26.

The flanking bodhisattvas are relatively small in size, due to thearched format, and perhaps for this re ason do no t have lo tus pedestals.They do , ho wever, like so m any other very late carved examples,have ellipti ca l halo s. Both of th ese attendants are badl y broken, buttraces of a typically late lon g-stemmed lotu s w ould seem to be sufficientevidence that the figure at the left i s Avalokitesvara, as expected.

The plac ement of the whole gro up upon a carved pede stal equallysugges ts its very late date ; the pede stal is ahnost identical with thatin th e very deve loped shrinel et 9D. Th e flankin g pilasters too are afeature not commonly found in connection with seate d Buddha s untilrela6vel y late in the Period of Di srup6on. The ultimate prototypefor such arc h pr otected im ages is of course th e ea rlier Buddh a frontin gthe stupa in Cave 19 , the format of which i s repeated in a number

of the original panels elsew here on the facade ; and in the interiorof that ea ve.

See Panels C and F in Cave 22, and on the left facade frame of Cave 19.



IN T R US IO NS 9

The adjacent bhadr asa n a uddha (to the right ) 1nust be essentiallycontemporary with th e padma sana uddha , bu t almo st certainly was

started fir st, s in ce it o ccu pie s the more covete d position n ext to theentrance to the shrine . It appears to be some what crow ded to theright , probabl y to keep the major ver ti ca l fla w at th e left in aninno cuou s pos ition. Th e la r ge r size of the bhadrasana uddha panel

can be explained b y the simpl e and sens ible decision of its sculptor sto adjust its hei gh t so th at the two other bad flaws would run ju stabo ve and ju st below the hea d of the right bodh isattva, rather th an

dam ag ing its face.Exce pt for th e exclusion of carved throneba ck detail s, the bhadr asana

uddh a clo sely follows precedent s de ve loped in 4 79 in Cave 22 , orin the intru sive panel to the l eft of Cave 4's porch door way, eventhou gh it is sm a ller an d doe s not have the el aborat e fram in g pila ste rs.A minor difference is th at the bodhi sattva Avalokitesvara (who seh ead, w ith its ja ta muku ta, is st ill in tact here ) h ad a kamandalu insteadof th e some wha t le ss common aksa m ala. As is ofte n the case, thebodhisattva on th e right appa rently had the vaj ra as an attribute,althou gh ab solute id en tifi ca t ion i s diffi cult b ecau se of br eakage . As

expected at this late date , the bodhi sattva s s tand on lotus pedestals,while converging flying c ouple s ne ver carve d ea rlier than 4 77-soa r over their h ea ds. The nu bbed leon ine-le gs of the throne arealso a ch ar ac teri sticall y late feature. A s we mi ght expe c t, the re wasonc e a wheel in front of the uddha s lo tus p edes tal ; however , likethe flan kin g deer (a nd knee ling devotees? ) it is hardly legible tod ay .

The plain treatme nt of the a rea behind the bh adr asa n a uddha 'sth r on e st ron gly su ggests that this area was pla stere d and painted w ithexpected motifs, in li eu of their ca rvin g. Thi s appe ar s to h ave been

increa singly the case with such im a ges in thi s late and anxiou s period,an d wo uld help to support the view that the im age s hould prob-

ab ly be assigned to the l ater rather th an the earlier part of th e Periodof Di sruption th at is, to 480 .2

N o traces of either pl aste r or of pain te d decoration r emain on theimage today, which i s ha rdly su rpri sing, g ive n the m ass ive accum ulation of debri s, whi ch wo uld h ave lit era lly m elted away any su chsurfacin g to w ithin a few fee t of the ceilin g. Ho wever, hi gher up ,

2 See Cave 4 porch panel, left of doorway; Cave 20 left rea r; Cave 22, PanelH , and Cave 19 left co u rt shrinelet.



120 C VE IS

significant traces of plastering remain on both the wall and ceiling.Thi s could hav e b een used, as in Cave 4's porch and elsewhe re, for

a painted canopy wh ich would extend onto the ceiling above theimage was planned. The fact that no traces of paint remain in thi sarea might suggest that time ran out, as did often happen at thesite at th e ve ry end of 480 before any suc h painting was accom -pli shed. Even though th e paintin g co uld ha ve been done very quickly,what could you do if the painter had sudde nly taken flight from thesite at this moment of crisis?

Th e cei lin g of the main hall had been fully pla stered (bu t notpainted ) before consistent work broke off on the cave in 477; andthere is evidence (toward the front of the left wa ll) that all or at

lea st part of the hall 's walls were plastered too , a lthough never

painted. This wou ld stron gly sugges t that the pla ster above the carvedreliefs at the rear is ind ee d this sam e plaster, and had been there ayear or two before the images below were started . The fact that thepla ste rin g actually extends, at the left, beyond the panel s furthersugges ts that it was applied as part of th e original and ultimatelyunrealized mural program. It should be added that there were no

hooks for ga rland s or cloths in the area immediately above the setwo reliefs , an omission which may suggest the ha ste with whichthey we re carved, painted , and dedicated .3

The cei ling of the porch still retains much of its su rfa cing of redpla ster made of grou nd brick with the addition of many tiny whiteseeds ) a typically la te type. There is a red stain on the right rearwall which sugge sts tha t it too was once covered with a sim ilar sur-facing. Thi s could suggest that the porch was painted, or preparedfor painting in 478; but no trace of such painting exists, and it may

well be that when work on the cave began again in 4 77 , the patron

opted for the (never completed )e decoration of the interior, ju st aswas done in Cave 21 in 4 7 8. Although red plaster was somet ime sused even as early as 4 7 7 to surface walls and ce ilin gs in normalcourse , the fact that both the hall ce ilin g and the somewhat su b se-quent surfacing (478 ) in the shrine and shrine antechamber area wasnot of this type, wou ld suppor t th e view that the plastering of theporch was done even later , in the Period of Di srup tion , w hen thi s

3 For the many ea rlier hooks (or hole s) at the very top of the walls, see Vo lumeI, Chapter 11 Cave 15.



INTR US IONS 121

type of mix was very common, and when this porch wall wouldhave been a very desirable location for intru sion s.

The absence of holes for ga rland hook s or for a cloth coveringhardly argues for such intn1sive imagery in the porch , even thoughsuch accoutrements are not always pre sent. There are, in fact , twola r ge ho les at either end of the left r ea r wall, well above eye leve l.

Th eir function i s hard to ascertain, for they are too lar ge for meregarlands. The y are functionally aligned with the broken pillar s somight have held poles which traversed the porch ; but this hardl yexplains their presence.

4 Full plastering and painting? ) of the ceiling wou ld be unusual n this finalperiod, but a somewhat parallel situ ation ca n be seen in the Cave U porch.





INTR US IONS 123

suppose that this Dharmadatta is the same Dharmadatta whomBuddh abhadra thank s as havin g co mpl eted (Ca ve 26) on his behalf .2

(Ca ve 26 in scription , verse 14) Perh aps he took particular sa tisfaction in putting hi s intru sive imagery in the cave of the now-ejectedVakataka mini ster . And sinc e he, like man y other monk s, rnay ha veremain ed at th e site probabl y with no where else to go he w ouldhave had th e opportunity. In deed, eve n if h e h ad to depart with th eAsmaka conti nge nt at the end of 4 78 , Asmaka in volvemen t in thesite was s till intense until the end of that year 478, so he could haveadded hi s intru sion s anytime between mid-478 (wh en Varahade vah ad to leave) and the year 's end . Bu t it is probab ly more rea sonable to assume that he was st ill at the site , with so man y other

monk s, throu gh out the Period of Di sruption.That Dharmadatta did indeed order these intru sion s early in the

Period of Di sruption is not on ly sugges ted b y th eir po siti on ing nearest t o the front of the cave bu t b y the fact that their hand gesture salternate: the fir st and third show dharmacakra mud ra , the sec ond

and fourth abhaya. At lea st in sculptur e, g roup s of intru sive seat edBuddh as prior to 480 ar e typi ca lly alternat ed , whil e tho se ca rv ed

duri ng 480 are typicall y sho w n with dharrnacakra.3

Su rpri sin gly·alm ost compulsively he not only put a dedicator y in scription under

eac h pair of image s (i.e . under 1 and 2, and 3 and 4), ass ignin g the{unerit to hi s In other and father and all sentient bein gs , but healso put brief labels (three no w lost) on each of lo tus throne s of thefour Bud dhas , usin g the formula b hadantadharmaclattasya ( b elon ging to Reverend Dharmadatt a ).4

2 Cohen, 1995, 35 7 arg ue s that ther e is litde basis for thi s iden tificatio n , D harmad a tta b ein g a 'J ohn D oe kind of nam e . Bu t his point wo uld b e more co nvincing if in all of the doz ens of in sc ription s at th e site, this ' J ohn D oe co uld b efound ag a in . Cohen also sugges ts th a t this ce ll m ay have bee n Dh ar ma d atta's,d espi te th e fact that it is th e only cell in th e cave wi thou t a pro vision for a door.Th e assumption t hat th e cell was Dha rm adatta's is grat ui tous. \ \Thy wou ld su ch animport an t m onk opt for the wo rst ce ll in th e cave? I wou ld suggest that the p a inting s app ear wh ere they do (above th e doorway of Ce ll L 4) be cause d1is was th emost de sirabl e wall area, s tarting (typica lly) where the origina l painting end edand thus as far forward and as well lit as po ssible, and wi th a pr evi ou sly pr epar ed

plaste red sur f ace .3 See Vo lum e Ill (Cave Up per 6).4 Yazdani 1946, 95 says th a t Dh ar ma d a tta 's n am e is still wholl y or pard y vis

ibl e on th e p ed esta ls of all fou r figu res. For full e r di scussio n see Cohe n 1995,363- 365; insc ription s 70, 71 , 72 .



124 CAVE 16

The monk Bapuka located four rather similarly inscribed seatedBuddha s directly above those of Dharmadatta , but in thi s case they

were apparently part of a conventional group of eight (the eighthbeing Maitreya ), although only six are now visib le. Judging fromtheir connections in style and icono graphy, as well as their adjacency, it is probably right to assmne that they were done at the

same time as those of Dharmadatta. (See Inscr #73, 74 )Cohen (1995 , 36 6 - 7; ins r #75 and 76 ) has commented on the

great number of illegible graffiti, often in a yellow pigment more

like chalk than paint on the old pla stered surface just below andbeyond these groups. Cohen suggests that, if they are from theVakataka period admitting t h at they might h ave been wr it ten bysomewhat later visitor they might be artists' guides or artists' names.This seems to me unlikely , since they are in areas covered by graffiti,some of it from the fifth century and th e se areas wou ld have nowbeen used only for intrusions , for which advance planning was unlikelyto be a factor, particularly considering the confusion of the records.It see m s more likely that , like the plethora of graffiti written in th ecaves in recent centuries, they were records of visitors, perhap s while

there were still monks in attendance at the site.Somewhat farther down the left aisle wal l, a large Sravasti Miracle

composition was painted, either at this sa1ne time or perhaps a yearor so later. If once in sc ribed , there is no trace now, becau se thelower portions have suffered greatly. Above , there were the con-

ventional soaring figures, now al so badly damaged; general ly identifiedas single celestials, closer examination proves that they were actually converging coup les

There is a row of four (remaining ) intru sive Buddh as on Cave

16's already plastered right wa ll, toward the rear , and above the

earlier narrative paintings of the Buddha legend . Like the offeringsof Dharmadatta and Bapuka , these Buddhas are seated in pad1nasana ,and show different mudra s. The painting is so damaged that if there

were any dedicatory record , it ha s lon g since vanished.Just as the original painting programs totally broke down in the

Period of Di sruption , the fitting out of numb er of sti ll unpreparedcells toward the left rear area of the cave , shows a similar break

down of earlier discipline s JVIonks were probabl y already living inthe cave when, sometime in 4 77, the Prime Minister presented (the

cave ) with devotion to the Community of Monks (Cave 16 inscrip-



IN TR US IO NS 25

tion , ve rse 30).5 Then , ju st after H ar i sena died , it see m s lik ely that ,while so much other anxious work w as continuing on the shrine ,

door s were rou ghl y and expedientl y fitted in Ce lls L5 , L6 , and inthe tw o extreme cells openin g from the left and right ends of the

rear wall . Th e fast and effective but clum sy looking n ew E mod ego t thi s final project accompli shed with expedien cy, but w ould hardl yha ve pa ssed mu ste r a ye ar before. 6

The pla stering of th e cells belon gs, typically , to the Period ofDi sruption. Perhap s there we r e co n straint s of time and or mone ywh en this was do n e for in four of th e ce lls at the r ear th e w all sbut not the cei lin gs wer e pla ste re d , wh ile (if our ob se rvat io n s arecorrect ) ce lls L6 and R5 ha ve no pl as ter at all. 7

5 Ac tu ally the cave (eve n th e grea t image ) co uld not h ave b een ready in 477, atthe time wh en th e insc rip tion was incise d , sin ce it men tions H a risena as ruling atthat tim e. Bu t no n e of th e m ajor inscribed caves (4, 17 20, 26 ) h ad been full yfinis h ed when th e ir recor ds were wr it ten. Ob viously the ir in cisin g was pa r t o f th ewhol e organized progr a m ; a t least thi s was true in Cave 16 .

6 See Vo lu me I , C ha pte r 3, re: do o rfi ttings .7 See Spi nk 1975, 168 (text figur e 4).



CAVE 17

INTRUSIONS

The elaborate panel at the left of Ca ve 17 's court yar d , which show sa padma sana Buddha flanked by standing Buddhas (only th e stand-ing figure s at the ri ght is still pr eserve d), may b e closely related interm s of both patrona ge and date to the Ca ve 19 court shrinele tBuddha s and that at the left rear of C av e 20 . Like the even moreambitiou s latter ima ges, it wa s front ed b y som e sort of con struct edlow platform surel y of wood which probabl y served a s a typ e ofaltar for offering s or de votional ceremon y. In all of the se example s,trace s of the fittin g arrangement s socket s and rece sses remain. t

is intri guin g that th ese major intru sion s front ed b y platform s app earin the three main ca ves of Up endra gupta 's c omplex , but nowher eelse at the site.

Is it po ssible tha t, with the di sru p tion of Asmaka contro l over thesite , Upendra gupta or some member of hi s fatnily took up thi s finalha sty pha se of work in th e kin g's old compl ex, as i th ey c ou ld claimit for their o wn a gain , after nearl y a decade of abandonmen t? Wekno w from Dandin s Vi srutac arit a that the king of Ri sika joinedin th e rebellion a gain st th e Vakataka empir e in th e e arl y 480 s, whichmi ght sug ges t that the power of Upendra gupta (or his successor ) overthe re gion had been re stored in som e manner or to som e d eg ree,and this mi gh t explain some re stora tion of hi s in volvemen t in thesite and in hi s own caves in particul a r. But thi s mu st remain hypo-theti cal , particu larly sin ce w e kno w of anoth er ruler , on e V ahar ajaGomika , w ho was rulin g in Khande sh as a contemporar y of Upend -ra gupta in the third year of Hari sena 's rei gn , accordin g to theTha lner in scription. 1 Wherea s Khande sh (rou ghly, ancient Ri sika)wa s ex ten sive enou gh to contain two separate kin gdo m s (the rul ersof which cou ld we ll be related ) th ere is as ye t no way of kno wingwhich of the se kin gs (or their succe ssor s) Dandin ha s identified a s

the kin gof Ri

sika .

' See also Vo lume I, C hapte r 15. For Th alner inscrip tion see Mir ashi 1982,arti cle 7 .



INTR US IONS 127

The intrusive nature of this important panel , locat ed (perhaps

significantly? ) directly beneath Upendragupta' s donative record , is

very clear from various features of its iconograph y, which relate itto other images created during the Period of Disruption. Only itssetting is relatively early; it is fitted , now of course at a late date ,into an area which had been prepared partly by cuttin g into theadjacent pila ster when Upendra gupta s dedi catory in sc ription hadbeen hastily carved there in 4 7 1 A D.

The hasty cutting back of the left side of the adjacent main porch

pila ster ha s nothing to do with making any extra spac e for thi s lateintrusion. In stead it was done to in sure that the whole inscription(dating to the year of Upendragupta's departure in 4 71 ) cou ld be

placed beneath the projecting eave to protect it from the rain. It isprobably correct to assume that the inscription (with it s verse fonn )had been formatted in the capital, with in sufficient thou ght orknowledge of the need to protect it from the elements. Thus , sincethe record s fonnat was essentially fixed , and its importance verygreat, it was the cave (and the alr ea dy d efined pila ste r ) rather than

the in sc ription that had to give way . Ind eed, th e expedient nature

of the pilaster s cutback is very characterist ic of the increasingl y hastyca rving and painting which characterizes the last (often unfinished )phase s of work in Upendragupta's cave s in genera l, sta nding in harsh

contrast to the fine qual ity work done in the kin g s happi er da ys .The later intrusion merely is a beneficiary of the expediently cut

extra space.The centra l padmasana image , originally sh owing dharmacakra

mudra , sits beneath a decorat ed arch which was derived from theavai labl e earlier models in Cave 19 and is popular throughoutthe site in this late period. 2 The arcing throne cloth which falls overthe throne base i s a type , never found until 47 7 , which become sincreasingly common during the Period of Di sr uption ; related exam-

p les ca n be found in connection with intru sive padma sa na ima geson the frames of Cave 19 s facade. The peculiar form of the lon g-stemmed lo tus which supports the wheel also ha s a counterpart, prob-

ab ly databl e to 4 79, on the Cav e 19 facad e fram e, a lth ough in theCave 17 example the deer directl y (and conventiona lly) confront the

wheel.

2 These arches, in the Per iod of Di sruption, are gene rall y plain (or we re painted ).Th at this ha s carved decoration mi ght hint at the status of its donor.



128 CAVE 17

Finally, one should note the nub on the throne seat, over theremaining lion (really a leonine throne-leg ). Such nu b s which in

actuality wou ld h ave capped the upright of the leg, are found onlyin la te scu lp tured images , starting with the influential bhadrasana

Buddha s in Caves 16 and 26, both ofwhich were underway in 477 .3

In 478 these structura l nu b s were clums ily added to the thronesof both the Cave 7 and the Cave 15 im a ges, when tho se conceptions were revised and hastil y comp le ted in 477 4 78; but they donot appear in other carved padmasana images until 4 79 and 480,and even then are u sed only infrequently in such forms. 4

Only one lion that at the right now remain s on the thronebase , but it is clearly of the late type, which appear s to function asan elaborate throne leg. Although the top of the throne leg is notseen just above the lion's head , as is so often the case with such latethrones, the nub is clearly aligned with the supportin g lion below.

The throne back shows a simp le combination of bolster andmakaras , the latter with rather conventional garlanded snouts. Themanner in which the makara s re st their pa w s on the stru cture of

the thron e is a another hallmark of late date , desp ite the simplicity

of the arrangement here.The ide a of flanking the centra l Buddha with a pair of subsidiary

stand ing Buddhas is of course also a very late concept, reflecting thesimilar u se of subs idi ary Buddha s throughout the site in the la st fewyears of patronage activity. Prior to 477 or 478 one would neverfind attendant Buddha s in stea d of bodhisattvas in such a position ,although by 4 79 and 480 they become very common , as toward therea r of th e ambulatory n Cave 26 .5

3 Lik e so many other motifs th ey appear somewhat ea rlie r in paintings; e.g . Cave17 antec hamb er of 4 71.

4 They generally, but not invariably appear in the la test im agery. But i they arepr esent (in sculptured forms ) they invariably must date to 4 77 or later. The Cave4 main image does not have them because, although co mpl e ted in 478, it mayhave been begun as early as 476, as a copy of that in Cave 1 just as the imageof Cave Upper 6, in t final 478 stage, is a co py of the ea rlier im a ge in the lowersto rey; sim ilarly, the Upper 6 im age is co pied, in the Period of Di srupti on b y the

images in the right front and righ t rear shrinelets .; Th e Six Buddh a co ncept may have co me first, as in the sh rin e of Cave 7 andin the antechambers of Caves 4 and Up p er 6. Th e smaller size and different positioning of the stand ing Buddh as nearest to the main imag e in Cave 7 (exp lain ed inVolume I, Chapter 11: Cave 7 ) may actually sugges ted the idea of two as attendants.



INTR US IONS 129

Both standing Buddhas here were lifted up on a double-lotusp edes tal with devotees beneath , but only th e right one ha s survived

the breakage of the front part of the wall of the cistern chamber(Cave 8 into which the panel was cut. The ear liest example ofsuch an arrangement is found in 479, in one of the intru sion s onthe left wa ll of Cave Upper 6 s shrine antechamber, and then againflanking the Ri ght Front shrinelet ima ge . Another , probably datin gto 480 , is found in the sm a ll panel set in the left frame of the intrusive reces se d composition at the left porch-end of Cave 26RVV. At

about thi s sa m e time, in Cave 26 s a1nbu latory, smnewhat si1nilarstan din g Buddhas are rai sed up over supportin g nagas. Standingimage s thus lifted up , but without devotees beneath , first occur onthe drum of the stupa in Cave 26; they mu st date to 4 77 or early478.

Th e onl y other carve d intru sion s at Cave 7 which of coursehad li ttle ava ilab le space remaining for such additions are the multiple padmasana images , mo st of which are carved on the wall sur

fa ce which on ce appeared above the cistern open in g but ha s nowfall en down onto the cist ern s low balu strad e. A few oth er similar

images appear at the left of the cistern openin g. VVe wou ld assumethat these intn1sive images , all very simple, all padmasana types , and

placed in what was surely seen as a very desirable position, werestarted very early in the P eriod of Di srup tion , for they appear to behigh priority position s. The images sit on lotus pede stal s as we mightexpect at this date , since the type (in Cave 26 ) had become conventiona l by 478, even if not before. 6 The remaining upper five showth e common alternation of dhyana and dharma cak ra mudra , typical of intru sion s done prior to 480 , while the re st are all in dharmacakra mudra. t is conce iva ble that the latter, being higher upand smaller, show the dhannacakra mudra exclusively because theywere not done until 480, by wh ich time thi s type had gained almosttotal pre cedence. 7

Except for the walls, and mo st of the ceiling, of the shrine , wherework finally had to be abandoned , Cave 17 is comp letely painted.Th erefore it i s so mewhat surpri sin g to find what app ear s to be an

6 For ea rlier forms on Cave 17 s shrine door, see Cave 17 intru sions discussion.7 For the shift from a lternating m udra s to dharmacakra alone, see discussion in

Volume I ll : U pp er 6 In trusions .





CAVE 19

IN T RUS IONS

Cave 19 s intrusions , mostl y located on the facade frames and in thecourt area, are interesting not only for themselves , but because theyhelp to illuminate the situation in which the rebellious Asmakas foundthem selves after the death of the great emperor Harisena in 4 77 .

As we know, the A smaka s, as feudatorie s of H arisena, had takenover control of the site when they defeated the local king , Upen-dragupta , in the early 4 7Os ; and at that time they disallowed anyworship in h is beautiful caitya ha ll, sur ely becau se of its associationwith their defeated enemy . I ndeed, th ey violated Upendragupta s hallby cutting a path right through it s front court ce lls, in order to makea more convenient passage to their own rival ceremonial center, thegreat Caitya hall Cave 26 .

H owever, it i s clear that Cav e 19 had already been dedicatedbefore the Asmakas took o ver , even though Upendragupta s laudatory in scription planned for a recessed panel on the cave s frontwall over the doorway never got incised during the troubled la styear (4 71 ) of Upendragupta s rul e over the site . Sinc e such elaborate in scr ipt ions were sure ly cornposed by rahmin s in the capital,it is likely that the long poetic record failed to reach the site , orreached it too late , before the k ing s precipitou s departure. Or , if bychance it had reach ed the site and had (mo st inappropriately ) been

hurried ly painted on, a ll tr a ces of it have lon g since been lost.By the same token, various areas around the cave s courtyard were

never finished ; and furthe1more the beautifully painted cave givesno evidence whatsoever of ritual u sage; it ha s no soot d epo sits andshow s no damage caused by usag e around the ga r land -hook hole sabove the pi llar capital s, a few of which were n ever even dril ledout such omission s be i ng a like ly sign of rush. (The chippingquite different from wear around the holes appears to have been

occurr ed when peop le pull ed out the useful iron hook s in later times. )T he onl y hook ho le which clearl y shows usage is in the front ais leceiling , between pillar s L l and R l ; but since the caitya hall was in



INTR US IO NS 133

caves where the main image had n ot been dedicated. No matter

ho w 1nuch prime spac e an un d edicated cave might hav e, it was not

alive without a sanctified image; without such a functional image,these latter-da y donor s wo uld consequently entirely avoid the caveas a location for their own helter-skelter d edication s.

Another significant conclusion eme rges from the fact that Cave19 once a gain b ecame a focus of devotional atte ntion from Inid-478throu gh 480 the Period of Di srup tion a fter so man y ye ar s of abando nment . It is evident from thi s change in the sumptuous hall's fortun es th a t the pow erful Asmaka s, ob sesse d with d es troying th e empir e,had now renounced or relea sed th eir contro l over the site , surel ybecause of the tota lly dem an din g priorities of the war for wh ich they

•

were prepanng.

Thi s sudd en di srup tion of Asmaka control over th e site suggesting th at an order came from abo ve cu t ting off all support and perh aps reflecting a pre ssin g need fo r fund s and for men eq u a llyaffecte d all of the caves at the site. Th us the site s long es tabli shed

patrona ge, within the course of a sin gle year (4 78), was totall y di srupted . By mid-478 , the pr eviou sly eliti st and ex clu sive cave s lyin g

in the m ain ( V akataka ) section of the site were open to a ho st ofne w donors , while the cave s of th e Asmaka s, by the end of that

same year, were a lso open to the piou s depredation s of the se newand eager donor s. A s we know from th eir donative in scription s, th ese

u nin vite d donor s were mo stly the monk s who mu st have still been

re sident at the site. And the y made no particular di stinction as towhich caves the y put their new vot ive offering s in, except that suc hcaves h ad to b e a live th at is, th e shrin e Buddha s in th em hadto h ave been dedi cated .

Un d ersta ndabl y, th e two great Vakataka caitya hall s we re particula r fo ci of this new do native act ivity, the long rejection of Cave 19now being a thing of the pa st. Nor was this startling shift in patron-age th is ir r eparab le break in int ended development co nfin ed toAjanta alon e. All of the other V akataka caves in thi s gener al regionthe Ghatotkacha viha ra , Aurangabad Caves and 3, and the smallexcava tion at Bano ti were similarl y turn ed ov er to the M ede s andthe Per sian s .

Typi cally, the votive donation s w hich the ne w donor s added toCave 19 , as in so man y other caves , start ing in 479 (or more prob-

ab ly after mid-478 ) follow no overall program , but are scattere d helterskelter upon availab le area s. Th ere we re, however , definite prioriti es



134 CAVE 9

which controlled the choice of location , and by considering these,as we ll as the chan ges in iconography which took place even with in

the compass of this brief Period of Di srupt ion , we can explicate thecourse of deve lopments therein. As is understandable, the highe stpriority locations were those where the sto ne surfaces had alreadybeen previously smoothed, whe re the new donations would be readily visible, eas ily reached by the scu lptor s we ll-prot ected fr0111 theelements, and well- lit, and where the rock was not overly corruptedb y flaws. At the same time , both here and in Caitya Cave 26, proximity to th e facade closeness to the sacre d cave itself was clearlya de sideratum, which could override some of the other prioritie s; inboth Cave 9 and Cave 26 the areas clo sest to or even framing thefacade were generally chosen first.

The sma ll sta ndin g Buddha s carved in panels at the bases of thefour lar ge pilasters on Cave l 's facade must have be en among thefirst of the intrusive donations, for these positions were not on ly veryaccessible and very visible, but were readily available insofar as theyhad been carefully smoothed down during the original pr o g ram of

work on the cave . If , after a decade, the se pillars had still retained

so me of their painted decoration un likely considering the fact thatthese areas along the lower margin of the facade are very exposedto both rain and sun it seems certain that their original motifs wereoma1nental rather than iconic and so cou ld be cut away with impunity.The se small standing Buddha s as we wou ld expect, follow establishe d convention, with the proper right hand in vara da mudra , w hilethe other hand ho lds the robe near the shoulder. As is usual at thi slate date, th ey stand upon double lot us pedestals. Although theirempanelment is absolutely plain quite out of context with the overall ornateness of the original facade motifs they are fairly consistently dispo sed; such consistency is of course rather uncharacteri sticof work in the Period of Di sruption , but this was of course the onlylogical way to position them; in this period there was seldom any

est hetic concern for balanced arrangements, even though sometimes chance or expediency, as here, led in this direction.

In fact, another im a ge of the sam e type, placed on th e edge ofthe facade frame adjacent to the far right pilaster, does indeed dis

rupt the symme try of the rest of this group wh ich , whether or notdonated b y the same donor , appears to ha ve been carved by thesame sc ulptor. No t only is this standing Buddha put in a differentpo sit ion but , apparently in order to avoid a bad flaw just below, is



38 CAVE 9

as most desirable spot s from the point of view of the new donors.No t only were these frames high ly vis ible , but the splendor and sanc -

tity of this centrally located caitya hall must have attracted themtoo. Furthermore, these particular areas had already been smootheddown by the time of th e cave s abandonment at the end of 471, sothere was little surface preparation to be done before the new intru -sive donations cou ld be made. Even though th e cave may have beenin political disrepute and its use prohibited by the Asmaka con-queror s after Upen dragupta s overthrow, this was obviously no longerthe case during the P eriod of Di srupt ion .

The panels on these facade frames are all either padmasanaBuddhas or stan din g Buddhas; the fact that no bhadrasana Buddha sare found here support s our hypothesis that these panel s were carvedprior to those on the re spond s of the cave, where a number of suchim a ges are to be found. As an analysis of the intru sions throughoutthe site (see esp. Cave Upper 6) show s, sma ll carved bhadrasanaBuddhas were never used in intrusive contexts until 480.

All of the attendant flying figures on these fa<;ad e frames are con -verging dwarfs, even though co nv erg ing flying couples appear (for

the first time ) in 4 77 in a nurnber of shri n e images (U6 26,Aurangabad 3, Ghatotkacha vihara ). These flying couples becomethe 1notif of choice durin g the Period of Di srup tion in the manyshrinelet s added by different donors at that time. How ever, theynever appear over the man y standing Buddha s donated in the lat-ter period. Althou gh the s pan of time between 477, when the motifwas first conceived, and the Period of Disrup6on, is very short, nor-mally important new feat ur es at the site are picked up almost imine-diately. The apparent re sistance to their inclu sio n above the man ystand ing Buddha s is hard to explain. Perhap s it was considered inap-propriate to have female figures flying above s uch isolated Buddha s,

even though they are not rejected in other contexts.The very fact that , co mpar ed to the treatment of the main part

of the facade, the frames pre sent so me wha t of a hod gepod ge ofimages on the left frame the different images are not even in aconsistent vertical alignment clearly suggests their intrusive nature,and there are a number of spec ific iconographic features wh ich fur -

ther confirm this. For instance, the throne cloths under a nmnberof these im ages have the characteristic arcing profile familiar in othervery late scu lptured images, none of which date prior to 47 7 . Otherpadmasana Buddha s suc h as the smal l ones at the center of th e left



INTR U SIONS 139

frame are seated not on thrones but on lotus pedestals , an equallylate featur e, se en also in the standing Buddha s betw een them. N ear

the bottom of the left frame , another padmasana image, also placedon such a lotus seat, has two cauri-bearing bodhisattvas behind thethrone. Such a positioning of the bodhisattvas , first found in majorcontext s in the exped iently composed Cave 16 shrine Buddha , startedin 4 7 7 , is never used in carved panel composition s unt il the Periodof Disruption. 8

One might also note that , after being used briefly in connectionwith the first three main image s carved at the site in 468/469 , lio nsare not found beneath the Buddha' s throne again until the last fewyear s of activity, where in fact they function not as the rea l lionsshown in the main Buddha images carved in 469 , but as leoninethrone-legs. 9 Therefore the pre sence of such leonine throne-legs oncertain facade frame im a ges further confirms their very late date.No such developed motif s are found on the throne bases of any ofthe dozens of original images (either carved or painted ) on the facadeor in the interior of Cave 19 wher ea s by contra st, they do appear ,nearly a decade lat er, in th e fri ezes abov e th e pillar s in Cave 26.

The garlanded wheel , seen in the two padmasana Buddha s at theupper part of the both the left and right facade frames, is also atype which is never found in early contexts , but which is quite common in intru sive context s. I t fir st appear s in the Cave U6 mainimage , the throne base of which can be assigned to 478 , havingbeen expediently redesigned in the interest of speed. This type ofgarlanded wheel could be thought of as a reduced version of theelaborately fes tooned wh eel which become s popular in 1nain imag es

at the site just after the Hiatus (see Cave 1 , 4, 15's later pha se. ) Or,since it was a lr eady known in earlier context s elsewhere in India ,perhaps it is better to call it a sub stitute for the festooned type.

n Th i s is ye t a noth er conv ention which app ear s relati vely e arly n pa inting (C avel 9's a isles) but is resiste d in sc ulp tur e u ntil va lid a ted ? by i ts use in C ave 16,where the n ow -n ecess ar y bodhi sa ttvas did n o t h ave a ny sta ndin g roo m , because o fth e m a nn er in whi ch th a t im age was c ut from an ab and oned m ass o f m atrix leftwh en work was in t errupt ed in 469. Adm ittedly, a few o f C ave I s ca pi t als do pl acefigur es behind the Buddha im age, but this see ms to h ave bee n du e to crowdin gra th er th an co nve n tion ; in an y case it is con ce iva ble th at they w er e n ot car v ed until

th e Cave 16 im age h ad bee n st ar ted , o r it s fo rma t kn ow n.9 T h e thru st-block s just abo ve th e lion s' hea ds a nd th e nu b s w hi ch ca p th eto p of the thron e legs a fter i t co m es thr oug h th e seat, a re seldom see n , alm os t ce r-ta inly because of size co nsiderations . The se fea tures a re ge nerally fo und in la rge rim ages and som etim es in sm a lle r.



140 CAVE 9

The plain hubbed wheel , typical of pre-Hiatu s imagery, does con-tinue to be used in late contexts too , particu larly (although not exclu -

sively ) in small or crowded panels , where wheels decorated withgarlands or fe stoons would crowd the compositions. One such exam-ple appears in the padma sana image a few feet from the bottorn ofthe right frame. Thi s im a ge is of particular interest because of itsanomalous base arrangement; the deer, instead of being p laced inthe ir accustomed po sitions :flanking the wheel , are p laced in a sep -arate tier below, :flanking the stem of the wheel s lotus pedestal. Thearrangement in which the deer do not eve n attend the wheel i tselfis so unique, and so clumsy and hasty , that it would appear to bean attempt to rectify a stup id mistake by an artist who neglected toinclude the deer at their accustomed point. 1 It would not be sur-pr i sing to see de vo tees, s u ch as those shown here, put in suc h a sub-sidiary position, but here suc h a possible arrangement is reverse d.Since, in te r m s of its location thi s can be considered one of the firstintrusions on the fa<;ade and no others have both devotees and

deer perhaps the artist got confused, du e to in exper ien ce .In any case, the portion with the dee r is clearly an ex tens ion ,

and the evidence that it was added later i s given by the fact that aportion of its matrix was used to carve a tiny knee ling devotee who(su rpri singly ) attends the adjacent image on the left frame of thelar ge bhadrasana Buddha on th e cave s right respond. Thi s of courselink s all of t he se interconnected image s close ly in time : the littlebhadra sana panel , itself later than its large counterpart (whose frameit cuts into ) must have already been completed , or underway , when

the deer (and devotees ) were added to the padmasana im a ge on thefacade frame. Thu s the padma sana image, carved in 4 79, was notactually completed (with the deer ) until the significantl y later (i.e.480 ) bhadra sana panel s adjacent to it were underway .

Such observations about interconnections clearly support the asser-tion that all of th e intrusions on the facade and in the cou rt area

1 T h e anomalous Cave 5 sh rin e im age also appears to hav e no deer , but smallones could ha ve bee n p a inted in ; there was insuffi cient spa ce to carve them b eca use

the height of the base (added in 478 ) requir ed oversize lions.1 1 T h e tiny d evo tee might actually hav e bee n carved along with the dee r, rath e rthan after th ey were already t here; t is would help to explain why it has a bitmore room than would probabl y ha ve been the case, i f the de er had been carvedearli e r.



INTR US IONS 141

of Cave 19 belong to the very brief span of the Period of Disruptionfrom mid-478 or (perhaps better, 479 ) through 480. A similarly tiny

kneeling devotee , po sitioned in the same way, appears a couple ofmeters above, but it i s clearly cut from the pre-existing base of thelarge standing Buddha , even more surely confirming the late dateof the latter panel.

No matter why it was utilized, the device of rai sing a supportin glotus up on a high stem, as in the anomalous pane l near the ba seof the right f ~ d eframe, was in any case one which came intocom1non currency on ly very late, the fir st example being that in themain Ca ve 26 image , underway n 4 77, where nagas hold the stemmedlotus beneath the Buddha s feet; the wheel is not combined with thestem until 4 7 8, in the earliest Cave 26 ambu latory image s and inthe main Cave 6RW i1nage , whi le the wheel is never raised upabove the stem in an y im a ge carved prior to the Period of Disruption ,during which it become s common.

The two panels at the very bottom of the right facade frame wereprobably not undertaken until 480, perhap s at the sam e time thatthe sim ilar padma sana ima ges at th e bottom leve l of the adjacent

right re spond. Like the latter they sh ow the problem s and adjustment s of program which t he serious flaws in this whole general area

caused for the carvers both during the original pha se of work onthe cave and in the intru sive pha se . For thi s reason, one of the twopanels was ne ver completed, either because the problems were toosevere, or becau se (not anticipating such problems ) it was starte d toolate in 480 to be able to be finished before the site s patronage collap sed comp letely .

The pad1na sana Buddha panel near the bottom of the left facadeframe , like that just di scusse d on the lower part of the right frame,is probabl y also a relatively early intru sion. Thi s is suggested not

only by its conveniently low and readily visible location , but alsobeca use, like its cou nterpart on the ri ght, it i s a so m ew hat anomalou s type, like a number of the earliest in tn1s ion s at the site. (Inthis regard we might note that the padmasana Buddha s slig htly laterin date , n ear th e top of the facade frames are all mu ch more con-vent ionalized in type. )

The two stan ding Buddha sn

the sing le panel ju st below are alsoprobably very early intrusions , since they also occupy a very de sirab le location . They are very close in type, and also probab ly in date,to th e intru sive Buddha s cut into the ba ses of the facade pilasters.



INTR US IONS 143

The three very small Buddhas two seated with one standingbetween them , and all on late lotus pedestals , just above the stand-

ing uddha on the left frame were obviously fitted in after thefaces-in-arches just be low them were carved, for their placement

clearly responds to the prior presence of the latter motifs . Thissequence of carving is what we would expect, since normally themore readily accessible areas were chosen first by donor s durin g thePeriod of Disruption. The seating of the padmasana images on lo tuspedestals and the addition of a kneeling devotee at one side of each,b elow the sea t, are common fea ture s in the Period of Disruption.The flat areas which the kneeling devotees face may once have hadpainted inscriptions , but no trace remains today.

The larger padmasana uddha at about the mid-point of the leftfacade fran1e along with all of the carved panels above it, have been

shifted slightly to the right to co mpen sate for the warping of theleft facade respond. It may seem surprising that the throneback ofthe lowest of these panels is not fully carved; this should not suggest that the image was unfini sh ed, howev er since the d es ir ed motif s(makara s etc. ) were probably painted in , as was oft en do n e in the

Period of Disruption , though more often in 480 than in 4 79. Theuse of framing pilasters for the padma sana panel below also suggeststhat this i1nage may not have been carved until 480, when we findsuch framing pilasters in a number of other in stance s. 3 They do notseem to have been used for intrusive padma sana (or bhaclrasana )panels in 4 79, even though the y were common in panels clone during the original program of work in this and other caves. In fact , itsee m s likely that th e general format of thi s pr e sent panel was copiedrather directly from suc h earlier panels most particularly those at

the top of the left and right set-back wa lls where one finds sim ilar

enframing pilasters , roof-motifs , throne seat, and bolster. Po ssiblyflying dwarfs , as well as 1nakaras at the throne backs were oncepainted in , a ltho ugh th i s mu st remain a conjecture. One should note

too the ruffled robe-end in front of the figure's crossed legs. Sincesuch motifs were seldom used in the Period of Disruption , we canp erhaps see this as yet another sign of thi s particular carver's pen-chant for borrowing motifs from earlier image s on thi s same facade.

t appear s to be the case that many images on the facade frames

3 See Cave 15 left rear wall; a lso Cave 22 panels C and F. All may date from480.



144 CAVE 9

are particularl y dependent on such pa st form s pre sumabl y becau sethe arti sts had not ye t de ve lop ed clear co nvention s for such new

• •

compo sitiOn s.If th e latter panel is indeed to be dated to 48 0, it w ould follo w

that tho se at high er level s on th e left and right fra1ne s probabl ybelon g to 480 too. Thi s see m s p e rfec tly reasonable, particularly sin cethe ve ry top part s of the fra m es we re not d ec orated (at least w ith

sculp ture s) pre sumabl y becau se time ran ou t before ll of th e available space on the frames had been utili z ed. For in stance , the rightward shiftin g of th e upp er pan els of th e left facade frame , mentioned

abo ve, was probabl y no t anticipated w hen w ork be ga n. O r , in thi sPeriod of Di sruption , no one cared.

The se slight l y later padma sa na panel s at higher levels ha ve a more

esta bl i sh ed and somewhat mor e compl ex format than tho se below,since conventions for such r eliefs were rapidl y developin g; or per

hap s they all are the w ork of an artist who was particularl y up-todate. All four of the se panel s show arcing or scalloped throne cloth swhich deri ve from th e newly deve lop ed typ es found fir st in about

477/478 in th e main ima ges of Cave U6 and 15. Th ey also incor

porate leonine throne-le gs at the throne ba se corners, as do so man yother image s from 4 77 on. Finall y th e y all ha ve roof-motif s w ith

decorativ e arches at their upper border s featur es which b ec om ein cr ea sin gly common in the P eriod of Di sruption but are not usedfor such panel s in the pre-Hiatu s period. For in stance , t he y are notfound over carved ima g es which formed elem ents of the or i ginal

de sign of the main facade , or of the interior, of Cave 19. Precedent scan, ho weve r , b e found in th e pos t-Hiatu s d ec oration s of Cave 26,where they are done with considerab ly more care as we mi g ht

expect.

Needle ss to say it was hard to reach th e very hi gh est lev els of

the facade frames, and so it i s hardl y surpri sin g that they had notbeen utiliz ed exce pt po ssibly for painted panel s when w ork finall yended at the site. In the meantime quite under s tandabl y patron shad started donating panel s on the cave' s facade returns, probabl yeven befor e 480.

Because so much of the area ha s lon g s ince fallen away, there are

ver y few intru sive panel s now on the left return ; on ce, of course,there mu st ha ve been man y more. At a hi gh le vel , similar to buthardl y parallelin g a similar figure on the ri g ht return there is a lar ge

standin g Buddha a very co n ve ntional motif for this late period.



INTR US IONS 147

thigh. There are a number of other similar conversions at the site ,mo stly due to simil ar prob lem s with the stone. 5

Next to the large sta nding uddha on the right return there is adeep niche with a most interesting comb in ation of images; a largercentra l standing uddha , in the accustomed po se, is flank ed b y foursimil ar smaller im a ges, all standin g on lotu s pedestals. Here againthe icono graphy ha s never been sa tisfac toril y exp lained, but see m svery much in line with the tendency to multipl y uddha groups,which developed very late at the site . The fact that this strikingicono gr a phi c configuration is not repeat ed elsewh ere at the site wouldse em to support the assumption that it is a very late intru sion indeed ,and this is even more sur ely suggested by its location. It is the onlyintrusion on the respond which lie s be yond the cave's protectingeave, and which is not cut into the part of the wall sm oothed downsome years befor e as part of th e original pro g ram of work on thecave. Thus it see m s rea sonable to elate it to 480 and to consider itone of the very last of the arra y of donation s made just before thesite's collapse . If thi s were not the case, the ri ght res pond would cer -tainly ha ve been mor e fu lly fill ed up with intru sive panel s de spite

the fact that it sho ws a number of ser iou s rock flaws. In fact , it wasprobably the presence of the deep flaw s which can be se en ju st belowthe present relief that was re spon sible for it s high and inc onvenient p lacement.

The small standing uddha cut in to the le ft side wa ll of the nicheunder discussion is clearly an intru sion upon an intru sion . It mu sthave been added, presumab ly by another donor , at about the timeth e large nich e was b ein g finished . Such in stanc es where a laterintru sion is placed within the limit s of an earlier already completedone , are rare ; however , see the panel at the left end of the porchof Cave 26RVV and the painting on the left rear wa ll of Cave 2.

The mo st intriguing image among all of the intrusions of Cave19 is the lar ge but unusually simple bhadra sana uddha near thelower left corner of the right re spond. I ts pre sence here is unex-pected , for convention would dictate that a ya ksha figure , or po ssib lyth e y akshi H ariti would be plac ed across from th e naga in th e sa meposition on the left respond. The fact that it i s missing further

5 See Spink 1986.



148 CAVE 9

evidences the fact that Upendragupta 's time ran ou t , in 471, w hen

a numb er of the intended featur es in the courtya rd area had still

not been fini shed. In this case , we can see that a simple honorifi croof-form had in fact been started over the intended yaksha; it wou ldprobabl y have be en 1nade more elaborate onc e work was sta rted , inorder to mat ch or rival that over the na garaj a. Hole s probably forgarland hook s hav e been expediently cut into it to serve for thepre se nt bhadra sana Buddha image, but thi s is on ly becau se t he roofform was an abandoned motif; had the (missing ) yaksha been

fini shed we wou ld exp ec t to find the hole s at eith er sid e. Thi s clearlysuggests that the roof -form had actually been begun a decade earlier.

As if this modest vio lation of the integrity of the roof form (ju stnoted ) was not enough, the scu lptor of the still later small sta ndingBuddha panel at the upp er left expediently cut the left end of thesame roof -form away in th e cou rse of hi s carvi ng . In fact, althoughthese little lateral pane ls mu st be almost contemporary with the largebhadra sana Buddha , there is evidence (hardly surpri sing ) that thelatter was essen tiall y finished b efore the littl e panel s were begun.Thi s is because the pr esent garland hook hol e near the left end of

the roof -form is not the one originally drilled in conjunction withthe bhadra sana pane l, and exp lains the su rpri sing asymmetry of thepair. The original hole at the left was indeed originally balancedwith that at the right , but was sac rific ed w hen the little stand ingBuddha was cut; by looking carefully, we can sti ll see it tucked inuse l ess ly in the bend of the little Buddha 's proper left arm.Conventionally, the two original garland hooks (which alternativelymight have been for a covering curta in) would have been insertedbefore the bhadrasana image was plastered and painted; and it see m slikel y (but not certain ) that the repositioning of the left hook wasalso done prior to the finishing of the large image below . If so, thi swould suggest that the s1na ll lateral figures , with their expedient andpractical positioning, we re already under way before the largebhadra sana Buddha was completed. Thi s again would make all ofthese images closely contemporaneous, ju st as we wo uld expect.

Th e plain but impr ess ive figure of the bhadrasana Buddha , lik ethe slightly earlier main Cave 26 image from which it deri ves, is

very foreshortened (i.e. not deep ly ca rved ), probably because this ismay be the first intru sive bhadrasana Buddha panel at Ajanta , compo sed before conventions for such panels had become well established. It ma y date as early as lat e 4 78 or early 479 , only a few



INTRUSIONS 149

months later than the earlier intn1sions on the facade frames; thisis suggested by th e fact that it omits so man y expected lat er fea -

tures, as well as because such a tempting location despite the flaw sin the rock and its lateral po sit ion was likel y to ha ve been utilizedrelative ly early .

Th e surprising om iss ion of the expected standi ng attendants wouldappear to confirm this panel's undeveloped c hara cte r , but possi -b ly also the immediate influence of the highly important Buddhaimage on the Cave 26 stupa , where there was no room for the bo-

dhisattvas, whic h had to be relegated to obscured positions on th edrum. Ho wever, it is po ssib le that thi s along with the omission ofvya las and lion s from the throne, might be equa lly due to the con-stricted format of the relief, which the scu lptor kept with in the pro-

tected space under the eave .Actually, the throne back arrangement paral lels and probably

depended upon the sim plified arrangement consisting only of a largebolster and makara heads above, which was used in most of the

padmasana im ages on the facade frames; the first of these im agesprobably were carved some months before, at th e very beginning of

the Period of Di sruption. We should also point out that the n ubsare present at the corners of the throne seat, as we woul d expectin any major Buddha panel carved after 477 . The pr e sence of dwarfsinstead of flying coup les above would further argue for a relativelyearly dating, but this is no t a sufficie ntly reliable criterion, sincedwarf s do sometimes continue in use even whe n couples have ga in edpriority during the last years of activity at the site. The unusuallyexte nd ed fonn of the lotus pedestal is also wort h mentioning . Itappears to derive directly from those in the o riginal panels R2 - R 4;L8 ) in the Cave 26 ambula tory, where the lotuses are widened tofill up the border separating the upper part of the panel from itsbase motifs. By the time, over a year later say by early 480 thatmor e co mpa ct pedestals h ad become sta ndard , this image had prob -abl y already been fini shed .

We might assume that the base area below, i indeed the donor

p lanned to utilize it, had been intended for a lotus stem and sup-porting na gas perhaps they were to have been painted in because

of the particularly flawed nature of the rock at that point. The factthat they were ne ver carved and probably never painted, sin ce later

intrusions appear in the area sugges ts that the donor who sta rtedthe image ne ver co mpl eted the se apparently subsidiary details, yielding



15 CAVE 9

the space (if he had not alread y abandoned the project ) to otherdonor s who quickl y appropriated th e ar ea around th e ima ge for their

own offering s. The se interconnection s surel y not de sirable or anticipated from the point of view of the donor of the great image sugges ts the clo se contemporan eou sness of the major and minor offering s.

Thi s mi ght equally explain wh y th e roof-motif abov e, in fact car ved

nearly a decade b efore for a ne ver -complet ed yak sha , w as cut a w aya t its left end , a s no ted abo ve. Vve can a ssume that nei ther it, northe wide border s a rou nd the large ima g e had been painted at thi stim e; for if thi s had been th e ca se, on e ca n hardl y b elieve that th eywou ld ha ve been so peremptoril y de stro yed after ha ving been decora ted onl y a few month s earlier. O f cour se it i s also po ssible , per-hap s even likel y that the donor of the large bhadra sana image hadabandon ed it b efor e an y bordering motif s if inde ed pla n ned wer ecompl eted ; he ma y hav e run out of fund s or died, or suddenl y leftthe re gion; thi s w as after all a momen t of ex treme in stabili ty in thehi story of the no w dramaticall y declining site.

Sinc e by thi s p oint in time th e main con ce rn of donor s was c erta inl y to mak e m erit rath er than to d evelop plea sin g c ompo sition s

we need hardl y be surpri sed at the di sorganized appearance of thesmall and varied little panel s which were added at either side o f thelarger bhadra sana relief on the right respond. Th e lar ge bhadra sanaim a ge , lik e all of the intru sive panel s under con sideration , w as presumabl y planned withou t a border (un less an ine ssen tial pain ted

border ), so i ts mar gin s could be free ly used for further in tru sion s.All of the se little image s sit o r s tand on lotu s pede stal s ju st as wemi ght expect at thi s lat e dat e; th e littl e bhadra sana Buddha s, in fact ,sho w a ver y developed lotu s-stem and -flower confi guration , flankedby kneelin g devotee s on their bases. Here again one feel s the influenceof the Ca ve 2 6 stupa image , as w ell a s the figure s on its drum .

In th e lowest of the se, the ba se (badl y flawed at the left in an yca se) wa s som ew hat cut away by the sculptor who carved the padma sana Buddha ju st below; thi s w ould seem to pr o ve tha t the la tter wa s the later undertaking , even though the y mu st be roughl ycont emporary. 16 Furth ermor e, had th e small bhadr as ana Buddha

1 6 It loo ks at first as if th e pa dmasa n a im age's sc u lp tor cut away p a rt of th e basem otif b enea th th e sm all bh adr asa na Buddh w hi ch would b e unu sual. Bu t thi swas al m ost ce r ta inl y not th e case , for th at base a pp ea rs to have bee n bo r d ered



INTR US IO NS 15 3

The two most ambitious intn1sions associated with Cave 19 arefound in the pill ared comp lexes on either sid e of th e court, wher e

the y are set into t he rear wa lls of the intermediate chambers orvest ibule s . Since each of the p ane ls is placed at a focal point in

th ese comp lexes, in a nearly symmetrica l arrangement , one might atfirst be led to think that the two im a ge g roups form part of the original conception and that for t hi s reason (sin ce th e im a ges are verylate in type ) the pillared complexes themselves shou ld be dated tothe last years of activity at the site.

H ow eve r, thi s was ce rtainl y not th e case. It is conceivable thatthese spaces at the rear were indeed re served for some kind of (probab ly painted ) images when the complexes were excavated this wo uldexp lain the otherwise surpr ising absence of cells at the se convenientcentra l point s but if so the images could hardly have b een of thi slate type , for it is very evident that the comp lexes date from theoriginal phase of work on the cave, which ended ju st prior to theHiatu s. This is revealed by the doorwa y fitting s of the assoc iatedcells, which we re carved in the C-mode , with th e door pivot s se tinto proj ec tion s both above and below. Th e excavated niche s in th e

left com ple x also can be specificall y dated to 4 71 , at wh ich pointsuc h niches came into fas h ion in all of the royal caves the onlyexcavations upon which wo r k continue d in the Re cession. 9

t is certai n , howe ver, that th ese pil lared comp lexes were arnon gthe last things started by the original pa tron, for they were ne verqui te fini shed. The left cell complex's lef t fronting pi laster wa s notfully carved , and the interior walls (especially in Ce ll LF ) are extremelyrough .20 Th e apparent ha ste is explained by th e troubl ed situ at ionof 4 7 1, by the end of which Ca ve l9s patron had lost a ll controlof the cave , and presumab ly of the reg ion as we ll.

Monk s may have occupied these cells by 471 , for the excavatedniches in the cells of th e left comp lex and the C-mode door fitting s(which went totally out of sty le after 471 ) we re g enerally pr eparedas part of the same contract. Bu t it is unlikely that they wou ld have

9 Th e rea r right cell, com pleted ju st before those on the left, had an anomalous

(presum ab ly wooden ) shelf in stea d of a niche. Th i s and the probab le conversion o fthe front right cell into a cistern so metim e before the Hiatu s are referred to inVolume I, Chapter 15.

20 The left comp l ex had recently (and unnecessarily ) been much reconstr uctedwith cement , obscuring much evidence .



154 CAVE 9

lived here (as the y did in U pendragupta s Cave 17) after the A smaka sforbad e wor ship in th e caitya hall from 4 7 5 on. Such an assump-

tion i s supported by the fact that the A smaka s, when the y took o verthe site , assertive ly de stro yed the left front cell to make a convenientpa ssage to their own cav es at the wes tern e xtre1nit y.2 1 Pr esumabl y,ho wev er , monk s did l ive her e durin g the Period of Di sruption , forthe pla stering of cells throu ghout the site i s almo st totall y confinedto the Period of Di sruption; and thi s appear s to ha ve been doneonly in cell s which cou ld be occupied. 22

Since th e pla ster mix in th e centra l vestibule of th e bett er-pr eserved right comp lex appear s to be the same as that in the ce lls,and since the painting on it appear s to be a ssociated with thebhadra sana uddha pane l, it is clear that the bhadrasana uddha sin the two complexe s belong to the Period of Di sruption , an un surpri sing conclu sion wh ich their icono graph y full y support s.

Such ob servation s make it clear that this surfacin g mu st date fromthe Period of Disruption , when the concern would ha ve been to decorate th e area to cmnpl ement the n ew relief s, as well as to impro veth e cell s, in which the monk s could now liv e again. Thi s w ou ld

explain why the intru sive reliefs could be placed where the y are; ifthe se area s had alread y been pla stered and painted in 4 71 with theiconic form s expected in a caitya hall , the y could not have beenappropriated by the later donor s, who in eff ect turn ed th ese original ''v estibu les for the a ttached cell s into priva te intru sive shrinele tssome what like Ca ve 1OA, the cour t shrinelet of Cave 2 4, the rightfront shrinelet of Cave U 6, and the like. T he evidence of the remaining pla stering in th e prote cted right shrinel et furth er confinn s thi s,for the im a ge ha s a fina l coat of the same thin fine mudpla ster which

2 1 Ce r ta in criti cs of m y in te rp r etat ion of thi s passage have cl a im ed th at the cu tsth r ough bo th th e fron t ce lls we re m ade by th e Archa eological D epa rtm en t. H oweve r,a photog raph of a nin etee nth cen tury p aintin g in the Indi a Offi ce Lib rary (AC SAAAja nta fiche 4 1:15) app ea rs to sho w (with m a ny libe rti es) a v iew p ast the rema ining wa ll a t th e fro n t of Ca ve 19 's co ur t , loo king throu gh th e passage in to th e ce ll= ciste rn chamb e r?) a t the righ t fron t, w ith the caves to th e east in th e di sta nce .

On e ca n see th e right end of th e right co urt sh rinele t, an d to i ts left no ce ll wa ll ,bu t a clear open in g a pp aren tly s till p a rtia lly filled witl1 d ebris. Th e a rtist a lso rou ghl y

sketches in , app a rentl y from ro ugh field n otes, b u t in its co rr ec t pos ition , the vag ueim age of th e g reat st a ndin g n aga g ua rdin g the a ppr oac h to th e cave. Th e labelinformati on on th e fiche misin ter pr ets th e image .

22 T h e wear in th e pivot holes pr esum ably d ates from the Perio d of Di srup tion ,or som e yea rs th ereafte r.



56 CAVE 19

ass ume that the surrounding area s had painted border motif s . One

can also not e a pair of hole s on e on eith er sid e at po sition s appro

priate for garland s.Both of th e se Buddha group s appear to have been treated as ver y

particular obj ect s of wor shi p , since there is evid ence that platform

pre sumabl y altar p latform s (now mi ss in g) of wood were fitted into

the area in front of th em. One can still see wher e th e rock quit eeroded no w wa s cut awa y to pro vide for their in ser tion; the factthat such altar s were not cut from the rock itself further help sconfirm th e intru sive natur e of th e ima ges abo ve them. 24

I t is of intere st to note that both the rou ghly contemporar y intru

sive images at the left of Cave 17 's court and at the left rear inCave 20 , had similar wooden altar-p latform s , while the panel withtwo padma sana Buddha s ju st out side Cave 19 's court on the left ,app ear s to ha ve s ome similar fixtur e (de scribed below ). Thu s ther eare no le ss than five example s of such fi tt ed-in altar s a t the site ,and it is remarkable that th e y all appear in the cave s originall ydonated by th e Ri sika kin g Upendra gupta. One mi ght we ll a sk a g ain(as in the Cav e 17 discu ss ion) if durin g th e P eriod of Di sruption ,

when Asmaka control o ver the site suddenl y declined or di sappeared ,Upendragupta himself or some member of hi s famil y wa s able to

r enew their connection with the site and to donate the relativel yambitiou s Buddha g roup s in que stion. Needle ss to say , in the ab se n ceof an y further evidence , thi s can be no more than a conjecture. We

might rather note , however , that the small in tru sive padma sanaBuddha s which were carved on the right return of Ca ve 17 's facade(around the fall en w all once lo cat ed abov e the ci stern ) also ha ve ana

lo gue s at Ca ve 19, in the tw o ju st-m entioned ima ges out side the

courtyard; here again the y might be the donation s of the same patron.

In each of the two very si1nilar court shrinelet s of Cave 19 , the

central bhadra sana Buddha is flanked b y cauri-bearing bodhisattva sand stron gly proje ctin g g arland -b earin g flyin g c ou p les. The thron e

24 Fu r th er di scussed u nder Cave 17, wh ere th ere is a relat ed form. Th e o nl yrock- cut al tar in th e V ak ataka caves is to be found assoc ia ted with the in tru sivetria d of sta ndin g Bu ddh as a t th e righ t end of th e Gh ato tkac ha v ih a ra's fro n t wall .

H oweve r , this a lta r was create d alm os t b y c ha n ce, s in ce th e lowe r p o rti on of th ewa ll a ngled stron gly ou twa rd du e to its excava tion h av ing bee n ea rli e r aba nd o ned.Th e refo re, wh en th e up p e r p a rt of th e wa ll was trimm ed b ac k to d efin e the plan eof th e Bu d d ha p anel s the lowe r m argin au toma tica lly beca me a fun ctional pl atform.



INTR US IONS 57

(at the back of which a plump bolster appears ) is supported by lionsthat carry the top s of the throne leg s on their head s in the fa1niliar

late fashion; the expected late nubs appear at the corners of theseat. In both images, the Buddha has hi s feet firmly p lanted on aprojecting late lotus pedestal , now extremely worn. Behind theBuddha in the right shrinelet makara s, vya las, and running nagasare carved, all of the1n very similar in type to those in the closelycontemporaneous image at the rear of the antechamber in Cave 22.These same areas in the left image are not carved but , probablybecause of the pre ss ure of ti1ne, the same or similar motif s may havebeen hastily painted in, as in various other groups of this late typeto be found elsewhere.

A significant difference between these images and the related Cave22 or Cave 4 porch examp les is that the wheel with deer is omit-ted here. N agas supporting the lotus pede stal are included in stead;at least thi s is evident in the right court image whose base is thebetter preserved. This variation looks back to the 1najor Cave 26image as its ultimat e sc ulptural model , and reflect s the late shift inthe site' s iconograp hy toward a particular inter es t in making r efer-

ence to the Buddha's Sravast i Miracle , where supporting nagas weremore relevant than the attending deer from Sarnath, even thoughboth nagas and deer are smne times represented on the image bases.As in mo st large bhadra sana Buddha s done n the Period of Di sruption ,the lotus pedestal is attended; general ly there are two (or more ) devo-tees kneeling at either side, but here in the right shrine let s imagethere is only a figure at the right, probably because a serious flawappears at the left. Pr es umably there would have been two kneel-ing devotees flanking the wheel of the left shrinelet's image , but theevid ence has long since eroded away, presumab ly due to the debriswith wh ich this left area was filled when the site came to light inthe nineteenth century.

Th e bodhi sa ttva at the left (proper right ) in both the left and rightshrinelet groups is Avalokitesvara , identifiable by his jatamukuta witha figure of mitabha (very eroded ) in the crown; the example in theright shrine let, wearing the yajnopav ita, a bracelet, and large neck-lace , is without specific identifying attributes, although that in the

left shrinelet (without the yajnopavita ) ho ld s an ak samala. The rightbodhisattvas are, as is so often the case, not clearly identifiable ,although they have the conventional princely garb and also wear theyajnopavita. They may be repre se ntation s of Vajrapani , but without









INTR US IONS 165

their heads around to see it. Again , the sculptor is certainly notdra wing upon establis h ed convent ion s for hi s compositions, which

ma y suggest that the panel is one of the earliest of these new intrusions. Even the wheel is unique , being a kind of cros s between thehighly complex wheel motifs so popular in main image s (Cave 1,Cave 4, etc. ) during the post-Hiatu s period and the very simp le g arlanded wheel which (derived from that in the cave below ) firstappears in the main image of Cave U6.

Although the throne base is surprisingly undefined again suggest in g inexp erience and lack of ready mod els the throne cloth isof a familiar late type, showing a scal lop ed profile like that first seenin the main image in Cave 15, where the late base was roughlycreated in early 4 7 8, or in certain trifor ium panels of Cave 26 , prob-

ab ly completed at that same ti1ne. The white pearl-strand s decorating the green cloth recall precedent s on the Ca ve 2 ima ge's thronebase , whi ch was painted in 478; the motif remains popular thereafter.

It should be noted that both of the se imag es in the porch , likethat inside at the l eft rear , were suppli ed with hole s above th e upper

corners of the panels , into which hook s or peg s must once ha ve beeninserted , either to hold garlands, or a covering cloth.

Because of the se intru sions , it i s clear that Cave 20 was again afocu s of worship in the Period of Di sruption , and pr e su mably it susage continued for at least a few yea rs in the 48 0s. It is evident ,too , that the cave was used as a residence in this same period , sinceCe ll R2 , the walls and doorway of which were never properly trimme d,was provid ed with a clum sy E mode fitting , a typ e neve r found atthe site before 4 7 8. Although the B mode fittin g of the ri ght porchcell apparently broke away early and was never used, it is likely (and

reasonable to assume ) that the left porch cell (PL ), fitted out tenyears earl ier but probably never used during the period of Asmakacontrol, also did serv ice for re sidence in the P eriod of Di sruption.The distinct wear in its pivot hole s logically dates from that periodrather than from the years when the whole cave was under excavation, and th en abandoned. It is quite po ssible that , in lat e 4 78 or4 79 , whe n the important intru sive Buddha was cut in the hall's left

rear corner, and when ce ll R 2 was being so e:>.. Pediently fitted out ,it was decided to fit out the long abandoned Cells R 1 and L1 , and

to repair the never-u sed Cell PR , so that they could finally be used



166 C VE 2

by monks for residence in this newly active cave. (Cell L2, placedfurther to the rear and bar ely penetrated when Upendragupta 's

patronage was cut off remained hopele ssly unfinished ).Ce lls R 1 and Ll at the front of the hall had original ly been cut

as A rnode doorways in about 466, and ha ve the very thin frontwall s chara cter istic at that date so different frorn the thick wa llsthat in creas ingly came into fashion after 475, in part to bett er accom -moda te the rece ssed D mode. 5 And the sa me i s t rue of the almostequally early Cell PR whe re the B mode fitting , cut in 468 , brokeand was ea rly abandoned. 6 H owever , sinc e both of th ese old cellswere essentially finis h ed , it was on ly sens ible to supp ly them withdoor s. This require d, however , making the D mode recesses verysh allow, w hich was in fact asking for trouble as soon as pi vot hole swould be added and the doors set in p lace; for the swing in g of thedoor s coul d exe rt a significant pull on the fra gile stone fittin g. H owever ,this was in deed done in Ce ll R l , and the pi vot ho le ma y have beenin use , with out breaking , for a number of years, given the significantwear in th e pivot hol e . It was a lso do n e in Ce ll PR w hi ch on lyrequired that the new p ivo t hol e b e cu t on th e w rong sid e, as was

often done at the site when door fitting adjustments were nece ssar y.As for Ce ll Ll , the mode recess was made , but the pivot holenever cut , po ssib ly be cause of a fea r that it wo uld break , but morelikel y becau se durin g the Period of Di sruption peopl e and workerscame and went more a t their o wn behe st than in the years before ,when such developme n ts were under strong contro l. Perhap s theworkman who was to cut the pivot hole was plannin g to come back ,but nev er did.

Admitted ly it was unusual for doorwa ys to be refitted in the Perio dof Di sruptio n, when the focus of concern was hardly on develop-ment . H owever , since such mode reces sing wou ld never havebeen done prior to 4 75 and since we could hard ly ascribe it to the

.; Th e excava tors in Cave 1 encou nt e red the sa me problem when th ey co nver tedthe old ce ll door ways into th e D mod e. Concerned abo u t breakage, beca use thenew pivot h oles we re put in such sha llow recesses, they left the old monoli thi c pro -jections as str eng th eners. Th at was no t p oss ible in Cave 20 .

6

e kn ow that it once had a B mode fitting because of the appropriat e pivothol e in the floor. Th e proj ectio n migh t have been cut away at th e time of the co n -vers ion in the Per iod of Di srupti on; but breakage see ms m o re likel y. Even th oug hit wo uld now have no use as a st reng th en e r for th e new pi vot hole, th ere wo uldbe no particular reason to take th e trouble and ex pense to cut it away.



IN T R US IO NS 67

period of Asmaka rule , when even the great 1 7 was left unimpro ve dby th e conquerors, we can be fairl y co nfident that th e fitting out of

all of Ca ve 20 s habitab le cells (PL , PR , and R1 ), speak s of thecave s occ upa tion in the Period of Di sn1ption. O f course the pr e s-ence of th e very la t e E mode fitting in R , apparently also (ha stily )fitted out in th e Period of Di sru ption , stand s as confirmation of th is.



C VE 21

INTRUSIONS

The treatment of Cave 21 during the Period of Disruption is sur -prising , since it contains a mere three intrusions a major paintingof a bhadrasana Buddha on the left wall of the hall , a large unfinishedscu lpture of a simi lar image in Cell PLA , and a smal l padmasana

Buddha panel in the porch. Furthermore, careful exa1nination showsthat other intru sive paintings (which might now be mi ss ing) neverexisted. Yet the cave, part of the Asmaka western complex whichthe great monk Buddhabhadra contro lled until Asmaka patronagewas broken off in 4 78 , was well on its way to completion; many of

the wall surfaces had even been hurri ed ly pla ste red in that year .Therefore there was a great deal of see mingl y good space availablefor the use of new donor s and the fact that the image had been

hurriedly dedicated before time ran out meant that it was an appro-priate location for intrusions .

That the intru sive donors paid so little attention to the cave ma ypos sibly be due to the fact that its crucia l shrine area (un like mostof the rest of the excavation ) was particularly unfinished when timeran out. Ev en the Buddha image never fully carved was fini she din a most expedient fashion, while th e expected imag ery in the shrin eantechamber is mi ssing , as is any decoration of the abandoned shrinedoorwa y . In fact, the shrine doors were never even hung , for thedoorwa y has no pivot holes . Thus the image , unlike 1nost of theother sh rin e Buddha s at th e s ite, could not be properly closed offand this ma y ha ve lowered the cave's desirabi lity as a place for wor -ship, and consequently as an attractive location for intrusions.

What rather tellingly supports such a conclusion is that the situ-ation here parallels that in three other caves at th e site, where ther ewas a great deal of available space, but where the Buddha imageshad also been expediently finished in a great rush and the shrine

door s never hung . In Cave5

there are only two intrusions (at leastcarved ones ) in the whole spac iou s and available interior ; in Cave

20 on ly thr ee; and in Cave 4, th ere are only two carved intru sion s







CAVE 22

INTRUSIONS

The tiny Cave 22 must have been one of the last excavations sponsored by or overseen by the monk Buddhabhadra in the Asmaka'swestern extremity of the site. Since by this time 477 space wasnot avai lable at the normal level, Cave 22 was placed up aboveand between Caves 21 and 23 , we ll over the cell complexes at theporch ends of those somewhat earlier caves. Th e very developed(trabeated ) features of Cave 22's porch doorway clearly assign it to4 77; and being started so late, it is not surprising that little morethan the porch and the small interior hall been finished by the timethat Hari sena died. The cave's four cells had been barely starte d,wh ile the shr ine antechamber and the antechamber pillars weremerely roughed out; the shrine was not even started. I t is conceiv

able that desultory work continued in the troubled yea r of 478, butthi s is unlikely, since there see1ns to have been no particular effortto get the shrine itself done. Buddhabhadra s efforts seem to havebeen directed to the more important donation s, in particular hi sgreat caitya hall.

Durin g the ensu ing P erio d of Di sruption , it appears that this little cave at first lay totally unattended by the eager new donor s whonow took over the site for their own pious purposes. Thi s is hardlysurprising, since these new donors never placed their im a ges in caves

in which the shrine Buddha had not been dedicated; such caves wereritually dead . Ho wever, by 480, instead of concen tratin g on th edonation of separate images , added helter-skelter throughout the site,donors we re more an d more involved in making separate shrinelets,either by converting some of the more desirable cells within thecaves , or by taking over 1nany of the complex court ce lls which had

J ust as Cave 22 was started above the abutting porch end ce lls of Caves 21and 23, another sm all cave was start ed below them in 4 77 and (being very unfini shed )was abandoned. Unfortunately, it has been almost entirely fill ed in with cement, ashav e some of the c iste rns in this area.



INTR US IONS 173

made their dramatic appearance at the site during 4 77 , the veryye ar of Hari sena' s death. N ee dless to say mo st of th e latter were

not even full y exca vated , but they still cou ld be easi ly converted tothe new devotional uses . The new donor s did not seem to ha ve anycompunction about using such court sh rinelet s even in cav es whichhad not been dedicated (such as Ca ves 23 and 24) as if th ey werethou ght of as ind epend ent entities. And perhaps it wa s thi s kind oftakeover of such minor uni ts which caused t hem to break the ru le in Cave 22 as we ll, for the lit tle cave has something of the charac-ter of th ese small and relati ve ly in dependent shrin elets. Per hap s th enew donor s in the Period of Di sruption re sisted tak in g ove r who leunfinished caves , even i the y could th emselves make the shrin e and

put their image in it ; perhaps t hey felt that a large cave , if unfini shed,was inappropriate for a resident Buddha , and th at a Sinall cavelike Ca ve 22 wou ld provide their im age or im a ges w ith a more con -genial set ting. Whate ver the rea son thi s is the single examp le of suchan unorthodo x appropriation of a whole even if very minor -cave at the site.

To discus s th e numerous im ages in Ca ve 22 mor e co nv eni entl y

I ha ve id en t ified them by the le tters A throu gh I on a plan of thecave. All of the panel s are intru sion s an d a ll of the pl astering and

paintin g in the cave is connected w ith the se add ed im ages . The factthat som e are either unfin ish ed or ve ry h asti ly finished , toge th er w iththe de ve loped character of th eir icono g raph y sugg ests th at the lit-tle unfini sh ed cave was no t take n over b y intruder s until 48 0, andperhap s appropriated at the time becau se goo d space s for suc h votiveima ges were beco min g increas ing ly sc ar ce at thi s tim e.

Panel A appears to be th e ce n tral ima ge in the cave, bein ghigh ly visib le and am p ly com po sed. It was a lmo st certa inl y the firstpanel started ; w hen first viewed , it see m s to occupy the conventionalpo sition of a standard shrine Buddha. Ho wever, the ob server s oonrealiz es that it actu ally has be en cut into th e rear wall of th e antec h am -ber , where the shrine door way wou ld ha ve b een p laced , had theexcavation of the cave not been intern1pted at the time of Hari sena'sdea t h. It s im m ed iat e sour ce ma y ha ve been th e shrin e im age of Cave26RvV, ca rved in 478 ; both are more de velop ed, an d more com -

fortab ly composed than the relat ed bhadra sana ima ges in Ca ves 16an d 26. As will be noted belo w, it was not p laste red an d painteduntil the even more ob viou sly intru sive sma ll bhadra sana images ju stto it s righ t were bein g ha stily fini sh ed.



174 CAVE

Panel A's composition is a prime example of the developed iconograph y of th e Period of Di sruption , and perhaps particularl y of the

year 480, even though its patron preferred flanking bodhisattvasrather than the flanking Buddh as which characterize some (by no

means all ) of the latest image groups . The bhadra sana po se is now

the pose of choice, and here shows the expected leonine thronele gsb eneath , with the thrust -blocks and nub s revealing the throne's structure . Beneath , the kneeling devotees, almost required in the late stcompositions, flank the conventional deer and wheel. The bodhisattvasare now raised upon la t e doubl e lotus pedesta ls and have ovoidha los. Avalokitesvara, at the left , with Amitabha in hi s headdress,holds the kamandalu, while the figure on the right can be identifiedas the expected Vajrapani by the broken vajra in his hand. Bothhold cauris. As is often the case in l ate cmnpositions, the elephants

are omitted from the throne back; the vyalas and makara s spout ingbird 's heads are conventional for late throne backs, as are the activenagas just above. Higher still, typically late strong ly projecting flyingcouples converge upon the image.

Pan el B co ntain s two very incompl ete s tandin g Buddha s on the

adjacent left wa ll. By thi s time, extra Buddha images genera lly(six) stan ding figures attendant upon the main image in the shrine

have come into wide usage . Howe ver, s inc e it seems from the variou s inscriptions in the cave that the va riou s intru sion s we re 1nostlygiven b y sepa rate donors, it is likel y that this panel should be thought

of as an independent composition. It mu st ha ve been underway latein 480, and was so unfinished that no attempt was made to hastilypla ster and paint it. Quite possibly, work on it had been delayedbecau se the workme n we re busy on the central ima ge (A) and theelaborate im a ge on the right side (C ).

Pa n els D and E, both sma ll bhadrasana panels, were cut into the

space remaining on the wal l ju st to the right of panel A, an d thu swere obviously carved subseque ntl y to it. vVhen they were undertaken, the larger panel C (on the right wall ) mu st also have been

underway, for if this had not been the case, it seems evident that

they, rath er than the latter , would have been placed on the rightwall. At the sa me time, they were certain ly not starte d qft r panel C

was finished, since they were painted at one and the same time.Thu s they must be contemporaneous with it. I t is relevant to notethat small bhadrasana panels such as D and E never we re carvedelsewhere at the site in intru sive con text s until 480. Thi s clearly sup -



INTR US IO NS

ports the view that panel C (a very develo ped composition in anycase) should also be a ssign ed to 480 . It see m s clear that all of th ese

panels A , B, C , D , E were part of the same short and some whatabortive burst of patronage , in which only panel D (including thepainted Buddha s and ce ilin g dir ectly above it) was really prop erlycomp leted . Th e fini shin g of panel s D and E was, like that of panels A and B, apparen tly a by-produ ct of the work done on panelC , for their sur facing appears to ha ve been hastily done along withthe much more careful pro gra1n of work on the latter.

Naturally, it is not po ssibl e to be sure why the patron or patron swho spo nso red panels D and E did not see to their proper completion , but con siderin g the apparently la te date of all of the intrusio ns in Cave 22 , it seems likel y that it was due to mounting economican d politic al problems and quite po ssibl y military pre ssures on theAsmaka patron s ju st ant ec ed ent to the total collap se of patrona ge atthe site in the same yea r (480 ) that the y were underwa y I t appearsthat the donor of the well -fini shed panel C who also mu st havebee n r espon sibl e for th e donation of th e painted group of eigh tBuddh as ju st abov e and for the sm all relat ed area of cei lin g paint

ing , was probabl y him self respon sible for the hasty surfacing of theother panel s to make them somew hat more pre sent ab le eventhough the time and 1noney he spent on the ta sk was minim al; theappli ca tion of the pla ster, slip, and final detai lin g with red paintto panels A , C , D , and E could h ardly have taken more tha n a fewhour s at mo st, but it still cou ld have been sufficient to qualify themfor dedication a crucial concern.

Had tim e not b een so quickly running out, it seems reas onableto as sume that more care wou ld ha ve been taken , not onl y on thesurfacing of these panels , but in fini shing panel B The fact that afew of the intru sive panel s notably panel I , in parti cu lar , and to alesser degree panels G and H we re also surfaced before b eing prop-erly ca rved, and that (as pointed out below ) thi s was apparently doneat the same time as the surfac ing of panels A-E , further suggeststhat the arti sts and patrons in the cave were forced by circumstancesto ru sh th eir wo rks to a mo st expe dient concl usion ; it wou ld appearthat the site's patronage ended with grea t abruptne ss indeed. And

if thi s is evident here, it is over and over revealed elsewhere at thesite (e.g. caves 26 , U pper 6, and 4), where often no attempt at allwas made to pla ster and paint late and unfini shed carvings.



INTR US IONS 177

over the panel A Buddha's head where it defines a sloppily rendered lotus and is painted over the plaster on panel A' s frame and

on the beam over the fronting shrine antechamber pillars too. Thisfurther confirms the anteriority of the plastering of all of these imagesto their com pletion by mean s of the red paint , wh ich appears tobe exactly the same as that used but more carefully on the elaborately fini shed panel C. Thu s again we ha ve confinnation of thefact that a ll of these panels in the shrine antechamber were plastered and painted in one single phase of activity, even though onlypanel C was treated with any particular care.

One further point must still be mentioned. t is evident, on careful examination , that the brown mud-plaster on the cut-back surfaceover the head of the Buddha in panel A was applied after the whiteslip was put on that panel whereas the white slip on panel C extendsov r the sa me p laster on the frame above panel A Thu s we mu stconclude that panel A (but not the adjacent panels D and E ) hadbeen covered with a slip before the other panels in the (intended )shrin e antechamber, and that the brown 111udplaster over the Buddha' sh ea d, and the va r iou s areas of red paint which fini sh the panel

were subseq uent additions. This is not particularl y surpri sing; it wouldappear that panel A received it s white surfacing while panel C wasbeing pla stered the plaster extending beneath panel E too andthat it was on ly after th is that the deci sion was made to add mud-plaster to the still-rough area over the Buddha's head , and on thesurrounding frame , and then to finish the panel (albeit very poorly )with the sam e red paint currently being used more carefu lly onpanel C.

As for panel B, there are no traces of white slip whatsoever onthose unfinished images. It see ms clear that no attempt was made

to finish (and then to dedicate ) that incomplete pa ir of standing

Buddhas , although they may have been surfaced with the brownmudpla ster which still cling s to parts of the surroundin g frame ; ifso, it has since fallen away. (The unfini shed bhadrasana Buddha atthe left rear of the hall was covered in this way, and probably wasn eve r given any further surfacing of either slip or paint. )

To sum up, it seems evident that all of the panels in the (intended )

shrine antechamber were su rfaced at the same time b y the donorof Panel C , the only panel which was pla ste red and painted withany particular care, and even inscribed. Since all of the se panel sappear to be among the latest at the sit e, and thu s datab le to 480,



78 CAVE

it may well be that the haste with which they were finishe d was dueto the fact that tim e was runnin g out.

A similar situat ion exists with regard to the co mp l eted im ages(Panels F and H ) on the rear wall of Cave 22's hall proper. I t isclear that they had been fin ished prior to the tirne that the imagesin t h e antec h amber were p lastered , for the brow n mudpla ste r putover s01ne of the latter is not used to cover t h em, but appears onunfi n ished area s (the lo we r image in th e left rear , and on th e pillars ) in stead. These images (Panels F and H ) were sponsored, likepanel C, by do nors w h o did not enco unter th e difficulti es whi chappare ntl y confronted the donor (s) in volve d in do n at ing panel s AB, D , and E . Like panel C, both of them are comp lem ented by thedecoration of the ceiling areas above them , even t hou gh suc h areasare very l imited one s as is quite characteris tic for intru sive i1nagery.Althou gh both panels F and H were comp leted before tim e ran out,thei r various features are so developed th at they mu st be assignedto 480, like the intrusive panels in the shrine antechambe r. T h isassumption is en h anced by th e fact that pane l H show s signs of ha stycomp letion , as will be mentioned below; furth ermore the adjacent

p anel I , qu ite po ssibly underwa y at the same time , was still veryunfinished late in 480 w hen time finall y ran out.

The unfinis h ed bhadra sana Buddha (panel I ) at the left rear ofthe hall i s probab ly the latest undertaking of all, co n siderin g its position, which is later t h an th at of th e com pl eted panel H ju st above,and th e fact that it was barel y starte d . Th e fact that it is surfacedwith the same brown mu dp laste r as appears on portion s of or aroun d,panel s A , B, D , and E again support s the conclusion t h at all of th osewere hurried to at least some kind of exped ient comp l etion ju st astime ran out. The painting of the porch doorwa y which had not

b een quite full y carved when th e original program of work was cut

off late in 4 7 8, was now hurriedly painted , prob ab ly in 480, as acomp lement to the very la te image s in the cave.

The bhadrasana panel F on the rig h t rear wall of Cave 22's hal lwas, as already pointed out , one of the first intrusive image s undertak en in the cave; t hi s is of course hardly surpri sing when we no teits h igh -pr iorit y locat ion on th e highly vis ibl e an d rel at ive ly we ll

lit rear wall. Ho wever, eve n though it may we ll ha ve been am o n gthe earlier of the p anels in the cave, it is such a highly developedconception that it seems very unlikely th a t it can be dated prior to



IN T R US IO NS 79

480, whic h of course suppo rts the dating of ll of the panel s to that

sam e final yea r of patrona ge activity at th e sit e. It obv io usly relat es

closely to the panel A ima ge, althou gh adds certain notabl y late ele-men ts as we s h all see .

Althou gh neither the plaster nor the paint ed surf ace of panel Fconn ec ts w ith the su rfacin g of panel C whi ch mi ght allow us toascertain their relative dates by exa minin g th eir jun ct ure the mod eof carving and al so o f pain ting is very much like that of panel C,su ggest in g that they may we ll have been do ne by the same artistsat approximat ely th e sa m e tim e. Thi s wo uld hardl y b e surpri sin

in fact it mi ght be expected co nsiderin g the relati vely small amountof such work in the cave, and the e viden ce wh ich we ha ve st udiedbefore , suggest in g that intru sive wor k in the cave did not sta rt untilalmo st the final moment of ac t ivit y at the site in any case. vVe mightfurth er note that th is panel (F) not only ha s flankin g pil as ter s ve rymuch like th o se of panel C and the same addition of late lon gste m s to the double lotus p ede stal s w hich suppo rt the bodhisattvas,but that like pan el C th e carve d panel is intimat ely con n ecte d w itha paint ed area on the wa ll dir ec tly above as we ll a s with a d ec o-

rated patch on the adjacent ceiling area. In fa ct, the damaged paintedare a directl y ab o ve panel F stil l sho ws trace s of two mak ara s w itharc in g form s centering upon a crown the very type of motifs carvedabove panel C even though th ey are som ewhat differe ntly co m-po se d. Furthermore , a ser ies of eight pain te d Buddha s appear s aboveboth panels in the case of panel F, the last one of the se rie s hadto be placed on the adjacent wa ll The cei ling pa tc he s are quitedifferen t in d es ign , although both ar e notabl y simpl e in type; fur-thermore , it i s rel evan t to note that the y appear to ha ve been pre -pared , at least in part, with the same mix of fine gra y pla ster. Thisparticular mix cove rs the whole of panel F and the areas above it,as we ll as the adjacent decorated a rea on th e side wall of the h alljust to the ri ght ; and it w as a lso used to pi ece out or a t leastwas c ombin ed with th e blacker , ver y see dy pla ster wh ich coversmo st of panel C's ce iling patch and which i s also use d on the su r-fa ces above and to th e right of Pan el C and on th e connec ting e dgeof the adjacent antechamber pila ster. I t see m s correct to conclude

from the se observations that panel F mu st ha ve been pla ste red beforepanel C and the intimately related decor a tion of the sa me wa ll wasp ainte d, and that panel C must ha ve been carve d befor e panel F



180 CAVE

was pla stere d; all of which only further confinns the view that both

of these, and inde ed all of the intru sive compositions in the cave,

are essential ly contemporaneous.The most striking feature of panel F's composition is the manner

in which the central Buddha is elevated upon a high stemmed lotussupported by naga s and in which the attendant bodhi sttva s are sim-ilarly ra ised up on connected flowers. Thi s change from the moreusual format is a notab ly late one , found elsew here at the site onl yin images carved during the Period of Disruption, and indeed almostcertainly assignable to 480, the very la st year of activity at th e site .Comparable examples with nagas under a tall ste mmed lo tus are tobe found in the later ambulatory panels of Cave 26, and in the verylate front aisle panels in Cave Upper 6. Perhaps because the arrange-ment was still so new , the sculptor seems to have been at some thingof a lo ss when it came to dispo sing the conventiona l kneelin g devo -tees, three of whi ch are consequently squeezed in the lower cornersof the composition, while a fourth i s skillfully poised on one of therising lotu s leaves . The deer are also quite expediently located; infact they are almost push ed off th eir perches by the naga s while

the wheel (which they should flank ) has not been carved at all.2

It seems likely that the uncut part of the composition's base wasreserved for a donative record perhaps to be incised ; however , ifso, it was never realized , for the patron's dedication appears in theform of a rather carelessly painted record p laced in two sections on

the small green painted areas adjacent to the nagas' hoods. Like somany of the inscriptions connected with intrusive image s at the site,it record s the gift of a monk , in thi s case the Sakya bhik su Dhar (ma )-de va, and the merit accruing was meant for the attainment of thesupreme knowledge by all sentient beings including hi s parents andothers. 3 Needless to say, this inscription , like the similar donativeinscription under the Buddha supported by painted nagas on theadjacent wall (panel G ) and the in scription connec ted with panel C,accord s with the intrusive character of the related image. I t see msrea sonable to assume that another such inscription once appearedb eneath pan el H , sinc e that was also carefully completed; but notrace of the latter remains.

2 Po ssibl y the thick ened bas e of the lotu s ste m on c e had a wheel paint ed on it;n Cave 26's a mbul a tory below panels th e ste m and the wheel are ofte n combined.

3 In scr 89; Dh avalikar 1968 , 151.



INTRUSIONS 8

The upper part of panel F corresponds closely to panel A althoughthe cauri -b eari ng bodhisattvas are necessarily smaller, and perhaps

for this reason, together wit h the severe damage they ha ve sustained,show no clearly identif ying attrib ute s. The cramped position of thelions (really leonine throne legs ) may account for th e absence of th econve ntional throne-leg top above their heads, although the expectedthrone seat nubs are assertively present. Th e throne back motif s areve ry much the sa me as in panel A except tha t the vyalas each havea rider, as is so often the case in late cmnpositions. The flankingpilasters are also very late features and are discussed below.

It i s a matter of interest, and sad ne ss to note that the heads ofthe bodhisattvas in panel F have been knocked off Here again weare reminded of the panel s similari ty to th a t at the left of the porch

doorwa y in Cave 4 for both show how the ski ll of the sculptor s haddeveloped in terms of representing figures in high relief. O f courseit is th is very achievement tha t made such h eads sub je c t to dest ruction, either by religious zealo ts or zealous amateurs. In genera l,Ajanta s scu lptur es especia lly n the years prior to the Period ofDi srup tion , we re ca rved quite close to th e wall, and we re happil y

protected by thi s fact.The adjacent panel (panel G ) sho ws a very sim ple padmasana

Buddha seated (as is com1non in very late images ) on a lotu s seat,and flanked by paintings of cauri -b eari ng bodhisattvas, also lotu ssupported and haloe s. The figure at the left with hi s jata headdre ss

and si mple robe, must be Avalokitesvara; the figure on the right, aswe wo uld expect, is a more pri ncely type, although shows no specificidentifying attributes. Th e ex tr emely late date of the panel is suggeste d by the fact that na gas (painted ) support the padmasana image;prior to 480 they are only found in association with bh adrasana

images. The la t e date of th e g roup could also be confirme d by theobservation that the plastering and painting was obviously done withthe sam e mat erials and at essentia lly th e same tim e as that of th eadj ace nt panel F. As no ted earlier, th e e igh t h Buddh a in the rowabove pa nel F was placed on the already plastered and prepared

wa ll su rfa ce above panel G, so it is obvious that panel G had alreadybeen cut by that time. On the other hand , as we would expect from

its less visible position, panel G was apparently not fully completeduntil after panel F; for instance, only a portion of the body of panelG s Avalokitesvara is sho wn, because the adjacent pila ster (part ofpanel F s co mp o sition ) had already been painted whe n this figurewas started.





184 CAVE

other hand a number of other panel s assignable to 480 sho w thefeatur e: the Cave 20 left rear im age, both of the Cave 4 porch intru

sion s panels F and H in Cave 22 itself, and va riou s pan els on therear fra me under the grea t arch of Cave 26. The onl y seate d Buddha

(as opposed to st nding Buddh as) from th e P erio d of Di sruptio n, wh ichhas a pi laster -enframement and whi ch in ou r opinion could po ssibly dat e from as ea rly as 4 79 is one rath er hi gh up among th e intrusions on the left fac;ade frame of Cave 19; and thi s one to o is likel yto date from 480 rather than fr om 4 79 , judging frmn its relativelyin access ibl e pos ition.

The immediate prototypes for such seated images enframed b ypila ste rs w ould ap pe ar to be the central Buddha of Cave 26 (477 - 478)and the derivat ive main im a ge in C ave 26R W (478) while le ss directl yrelated panels can be found in vari ou s caves at a slightly earlier dat etoo. But , as was often the case in the d evelopment of intru sive voti vepanel s these precedents were no t followed immedia tely during thePe riod of D isru ptio n .5

Th e pa intin g of p anel C, whi ch h ad beeb qu ite ca refull y carved,was don e dir ec tly on th e stone (afte r the ap p lica tion of a thin slip )

but the surroundin g areas (notably at the right and above ) we reheavil y p laste red. It i s clear that th is was done prior to the time that

the panel proper was painted, for the surface decoration conti nuedwit hout a break over both th e panel and the adja cent areas. Th earea at the right, which include s part of the shrine an tech amber 'sright pilaster, is c ove red with a geom et ric-flor al p atte rn qui te similar (but not identical with) th a t at the edge of panel F . It continuesabove panel C too, and was obviou sly comp let ed at th e sa m e tim eas the row of eight Buddh as at the n ex t hi ghe r l evel, sin ce exactlythe same pattern is to be seen abo ve t hem , as we ll as on the decorated pat ch of ce ilin g w hi ch c mn pl etes th e deco ration of thi s r ight

side of the an techamber.Ea ch of the eight Buddh as (properly seve n plu s Ma itr eya, distin

gui shed from them b y hi s crown ) was on ce named in brief acc ompanyin g inscriptions. 6 Abo ve, the Buddha s' trees were once identified,

· T he case is different w ith standing Bu ddha panels , wh e re pilaste r-enf ram ed

im ages d o see m to have bee n carve d in 479; see Cave Upper 6 rear wall of h a ll,an d shrin e an techamber; G h atotkac ha vih a ra front ais le, right end .6 See Zin 2003, 37a, Yazdani 1955, 1 11 - 11 2. Co h en 1995, 377 In scription #91.

T h e name of the fourth is entirel y lost . Four of the tr ees are also identified byinscriptions.



INTR US IONS 85

but mo st name s are now lost. 7 Another longer in scription, writtenby what (not surprisingly ) appears to be the same hand, is seen be low

the lower patterned border which separates the eight Buddha groupfrom the carved panel below , and presumab ly refers to the carvedimage in particular , but to the whole composition in genera l As wewould expect from an intrusi ve image it states that the donation wasmade by a sing le individual ; and again , as in the great majority ofsimilarly late records datable to the Period of D isruption, it refer sto the donor as a monk , one Sakyabhiksu Apara saila. 8 There aretwo other intru sive in sc ription s in the cave, makin g a total of five.9

The ceiling above, pla ste red largely with the same mix as the walljust below , although with a section of the mix apparently used onpanel F too (as we have pointed out above ) completes the decoration of th is right side of the antechamber in an effective but extremelysimple fashion. t alternates summari ly painted anima l forms with ageometric pattern of the same type u sed as frame-motifs around thepainted and carved cmnpositions below. It is of particular intere stto note that on y the ri ght antechamber wall paint ing is complemented by such a related ceiling design , showing that when this wall

was decorated , it was the prime focus of attention. Although thepanels on th e main (rea r) wall were ha stily finished with a rather

slap-dash application of pa int at th is sa m e time , and probably bythe donor respon sible for panel C, no trouble was taken to extendthe ceiling design to cover the whole area, even thoug h this wouldcertainly not have taken more than a few hours to do .

It is of intere st to not e that durin g th e course of carving, or so itwould appear, the proper right knee of the Buddha image broke ,and was repaired in a characteristic fashion by re -attaching the br oken portion (or a rep lacement ) using wooden dowels to make theconnect ion ; portions of th e old wood still remain in th e holes drilledto secu re them, although as we might expect the attached piece ofknee is now missing.

7

Zin 2003, 37a, Cohen 1995, 378, In scription 92 .See Cohe n 1995 , 376-7 Inscr iption 90. Also Yazdani 1955 , 112. See a lsoBur gess In scriptio ns from the Cave Temples of Western Indi a , 188 1 (AS\IVI 10 )for an alternative earlier reading.

9 See Cohen 1995, 376-378; inscriptions 88- 92 .



86 CAVE

Panel H, at the upper level of the left rear wa ll of the hall, waspainted with a modest degree of care, like pane ls C, F, and G, being

essent ially contemporaneous with them. It must have been finishedjust before panel I , which was hurriedly plastered (despite its extremelyincomplete state ) ju st as time was running out, for it is covered witha different mix of plaster and so was not part of the gene ral fini shingup process we have spo ken of earlier. I f it once had its own donative record , like pane ls C, F, and G, there is no evidence of it today,becau se the painted surfacing along the panel's base, where therecord would probably have appeared, ha s all fa llen away .

The placement of panel H s Buddha , as we ll as the attendantcauri-bearing bodhisattvas, upon lotus pede sta ls, and the provisionof halos (of an elongated late type ) for the latter, are conventionalfeatures of any relati vely late im a ge. The converging dwarfs aboveare qu ite usual motifs as well. The flankin g pilasters, on the otherhand, wou ld seem to allow us a greater precision in fixing the panel'sdate, since they apparently were never used in panels at the siteuntil 480; and this of course support s our overall conclusion about

the very late dating of a ll of the intrus ions in the cave.

P erhaps in part because the panel is so sma ll in size, but evenmore probabl y because a ll of the intrusions in the cave were treatedin a rather summa ry fashion, the various motifs on the typically latest ru ctura l throne back, have been m erely painted in. (A similar

saving of effort characterizes a number of other very la te and intrusive images at the site: Cave 20 left rear, Cave 19 lef t court shrine let,Cave 15 rear wall, Cave 4 porch left rear wa ll, Cave Uppe r 6 leftwindow edge. ) In fact, the tr eatment of the rearing vyalas, and ofthe makaras spout ing la t e bird's head s, is so simp lified that thepainted additions like the sim ilarl y sim ple painted flames and floralmotifs behind the throne in panel C could hardly ha ve occupieda cmnpetent painter for more than an hour or two . Ho wever, itsh ou ld be noted that the painter has at least taken the troubl e tofestoon the vyalas' paws; in scu lptura l grou p s this is a notab ly la t efeature, never appearing earher than 478. The decorated patch of

ce iling above must have been done with equal speed, for it is verylimited in area and is composed of a notably simp le geometric

patt ern.The likelihood that time was runnin g out, and that a sense of

urgency was already being felt when panel H was underway, is sugges ted not on ly by these simplifications, but by th e fact that the



INTR US IONS 87

panel's left pi laster broke during carving and no attempt was made

to r epair it, the break being mer ely plastered over and painted .

Although painted detai ls were often used together with or even inlieu of carved motifs in the composition of sculptured uddha groupsat the site, the manner in which the whole wall surface above acarved panel was decorated with related paintings, and with smallcomplementary pat ches of paintin g on the ceiling above, is spec ificall yconnected with intrusive work, where such sections of wall and ceil-ing were appropriated by individual donors eager to make as much

m erit as quickl y and as cheap ly as po ss ible. The gratuitous com-bining of large painted panels with more time consuming carvedones the former generally at the higher leve l of the walls in ques-tion see ms particu larly characteristic of the latter part of the Periodof Disruption , namely 480 instead of 479 , apparently as a resu lt ofchanging fashion s. Such new concept ions, very evi dent in Cave 22,are particu larly noticeable in areas such as the front wal l of the inte-rior of Cave Upper 6 the last area to be used for intrusions in thatcave wh ile a fairl y extensive area of wall, to ge th er with an area ofceiling, over the intru sion s in the oth envi se unpainted porch of Cave

4 once was p lastered and then covered with associated paintings. I tis interesting to note that the whole area of wall ju st above the intru-sion s in Cave 15 was once p lastered obviously for thi s sa me pur-pose but i any paint was applied it cannot be see n today. Thi smight lend support to our assumption that the Cave 15 intrusionswere very late indeed; it cou ld we ll be that the work was ne verfinished because just as in Cave 22 time ran out all too soon.

Th e two small bhadra sana udd has (panel s D and E) betweenpanel A and panel C are very simp lified types. Both sit against abolster on plain legged thrones, and have lotus pede st als under theirfeet , while the lower composition includes the convent ional deer andwheel beneath . The compositions, being cut back into the frame on th e right side of panel A, show by th eir po sitionin g that theywere undertaken subsequent to pane l A, and this is confirmed bythe fact that the proper left arm of panel A s adjacent bodhisattvais very rough along its mor e rearwa rd edge. Thi s is because at thetime it was cut the adjacent frame was still intact; had the little

bhadra sana panels already been cut, the panel A sculptor wouldhave been ab le to carve this arm more fully, as he did other partsof the relief where he could work up to the background withoutconstrarnts.





CAVE 24

COURT CELL INTRUSIONS

The intrusive im a ge at the back of the pillared cell complex at theleft of the court of Cave 24 is an impressively developed exampleof the bhadra sa na type. The chamber which houses it, however, wasnot originally intended for this use. Like the similarly placed complexes at either end of the court of Cave 7 or that started at theleft of Cave 4's court , it had been started in 477 , perhaps as a highpriority residence cell during the he yday of activity at Ajanta , whenwork on Cave 24 was flouri shin g . The ultimate source for such newunit s was probably the pillar ed court co mpl exes of the imperial CaveI , a cave continually drawn upon as a model by other planners atthe site . 1 Similar, but simpler , unit s at the more constricted rightend of the court of Cave 16 and at either end of the court of Cave

U (also later co n verted to shrinelet s) appear to hav e been undertaken at the sa me moment the vigoro us la st year of Hari sena 'sreign. 2 Never starte d before 477, these complexes were very practical addition s in the sense that they take advantage of still -availablespace the usage of whic h wa s not conce ived earlier exce pt for occasional cistern chambers. Unfortunately , however , the new conceptstruck the patrons at the site a bit too late , for not a single one hadbeen completed as planned b y the ti1ne of Hari sena's sudden and

disru pting death. 3

t is important to recog niz e that the Cave 24 court chamber, nowhou sing a fine Buddha image , wa s not or igina lly cut as a shrinelet ,but was already well underway as a pillared cell complex when consisten t work on both it and th e related main cave sud d enly broke

I t wo uld a pp ea r that these unit s were pa rt of the orig in al plan of the uniquel ygrand fa<_;ade of Ca v e 1; how eve r they were not finish ed until 4 77 , a nd even th en

not totally.2 On e is remind ed of the sud d en decision, in 465 - 6, to add porch end cellsto the plain po r ch end s whereve r p oss ible.

: Po ssib ly Cave 7's right co urt ce ll was co m pl eted, bu t its broken sta te obscuresthe eviden ce . T h e matc hin g left co ur t ce ll is quite in co mpl ete .



190 CAVE 24

off wi th Harisena' s death , at the end of 477. It is also important torecog niz e that th e once -superb Buddha group wit hin it i s an intru

sion, probabl y dating to 480. Thi s is evident not only from it s hi ghlydeveloped iconography , but by the fact that the shrinelet 's doubledoors wer e neve r hung , and that the as sociated six standi ng Buddha s(four in the inner chambe r, two in the vest ibul e) remain unfini sh ed.Th e no w mu ch recon structed frontin g pillar s also were still unfini shedin 477.

So we know what happened in 4 7 7, and we kno w what happened

in the P eriod of Di sruption (p ar ticu larly in 480), follo wing th e pattern of deve lopm ent throu ghout the site. What is crucial , however ,for our understanding of the course of Asmaka p atro nage, as oppo sedto tha t of Vakataka patrona ge, is w h at happened in 478; an d thi sis both remarkable an d remarkably clear. In fact , it provid es one ofthe mo st cru cial key to our un d erstandin g of both th e art istic andthe poli tical situatio n in these troub led la te years of Ajanta 's activehistory .

Th e situation of the A smaka s in 478, as reflect ed in their int er

related excavation s at th e sit e's western extrem ity, was very differ ent

from that in what we call the V akataka caves, w hi ch compri seda ll of tho se along the main area of the scarp (other than theHina yana excavations ). These Vakataka caves we re made by donorsfrom or faithful to the V akataka court, so the y we re im1nediately injeopardy when , in about mid-478 , the Asmak as, taki ng advantage ofthe great H arise na's sudden death , rejected th eir old feuda tory connection , and declared their independent status. T hi s of course meantwa r, or dem anded a preparation for war, beca use As1n aka h ad lon gbeen part of the V akataka domains.

The expectation of this crisis apparently affected the loyal Vakataka pa trons almost immediately after Hari sena's death at the end of 4 77.T his is why the y now, early in 4 78 , abandoned the most unfini shedcaves (3 5, 14) and, in other caves, ru shed the shrin es alone to anexpedient com ple tion. By mid-478 , w hen , as we can assume fro mBuddhabhra 's Cave 26 inscription , the declaration of Asmaka indep end en ce h ad b een declar ed, th ey had alr eady fled from th e site .N o wo rk was done by the original patron s afte r that time ; for if the

As maka s had had only a feudatory cont rol over the Ajanta regionbefor e the y we re no w the sole a nd ominous lords of th e region.O n th e other hand , there i s clear evidence that the A smaka caves

were not so tr auma tically or so su ddenly aff ected by th e declaration



COURT CELL INT RUSIO NS 193

center and at the left, but at the right they had to leave a high platform , be ca use Cave 24's pillared court cell, already mo stly roughed

out the ye ar before (477 ) and then abandoned, was obviou sly in theway. It s presence may ha ve been ju stified as an expedient offe ringplatform for a loo se Buddha i1nage which pr es umably was to residein the otherwise unexplainable deep niche in the wall which th e platform faces. 8 If so, it see m s clear that an ima ge was never installedthere , since the niche is only roughly cut.

Whatever the use of the platform, the point is that it directl yreflects th e pr esence of the Cave 24 court cell beneath; and sinc ethe latter was abandoned at the end of 4 77, this late wo rk in Cave25 could only have been done afterwards, namely in 478. In fact,the floor of the platform, which the workers tried to make as smallas possible, has broken through into the earlier cell complex (nowa shrinelet ) below and ha s been recently repaired with cement . The yobviou sly made both the floor and the two exposed walls of the platform much too thin for safety, in their aim at cutting this obtru sivearea down as much as po ss ibl e. Again, it seems that the wo rkm en

here were very much on th eir own; their unhapp y accomplishments

stand in direct contrast to the superb carvings being made in theadjacent caitya hall s ambulatory at preci sely this same time ; but that

would appear to be where Buddhabhadra 's true affections lay .t was only during the Period of Di srupt ion probably in 4 8

that the fine in trusive Buddha was carved in the abandoned courtcell complex. The takeove r of complex cells (both in the courtsand in the caves ) b y unin vited donor s was a common and understandab le feature of the devotional surge in the se anxious la t er yea rs(479 - 480). Four examples are found in Cave Upper 6 alone, twoin Cave 19 and one each in Cave 21 and 23. 9 Even the unfinishedCave 22 appears to hav e been wholl y taken over in th is way .

Th e very positioning of the splend id image whic h now occupiesthe old Cave 24 court cell reveals the problems involved by its proximity to Cave 25. The scu lp tors were not able to set it back at anormal depth for the sim ple re ason that the year before, in 4 78, theaforementioned platform in Cave 25's co urt had been cut as close

8 A sim ilar niche is seen in the front wall of Cave Upper 6.9 For a cell taken over as a shrine , see Volume I Chapter 12 , Cave 27, Ce ll R l



94 CAVE 24

to the st ill-unfin ishe d (i.e. shallow ) cell comple x belo w as possible.Thu s th e bhadra sa na imag e is so squeezed in that th e accompany-

in g six standing Buddh as had to be portioned out between theshrine itself and its vestibu le. At the same time the great Buddhas

halo h ad to be somewhat compressed, again becau s of the re striction s impo s d by the 4 7 8 platform above , wh il e the shrine ceiling,reflecting the same concerns, is (unconventionally ) lo wer than thatof the le ss threatened vestibu le .

Furthermore, to make the image as large as they could , the excavators' only alternative a quit e unconventional one was to lowerthe floor. However , even this adjustment had to be done with di scretion , to avoid breakage into Cave 26R W's cell L 1 , which is loc atedbelow. In fact , the who le court cell comp lex had been raised up par-

ticularly high when undertaken in 4 7 7 for thi s very reason; note thatthe floor of its antechamber is some 20 up above the level of the

adjacent courtyard.A date of 479 for the beginning of work on the bhadrasana Buddha

und er considerat ion is clearly support ed by a study of its many point sof conn ec tion with a number of earlier ima ges of th e type at th e

sit e, but perhap s mo st particularl y with the great concept ion atAurangabad Cave 3, a major undertaking finished in 478 which

must have attracted im1nediate emulation.Th e Buddha ima ge is mu ch dama ge d , but it was se ated in a ge n

erall y conventional way, on an unusually wide throne with an assertivedouble lotus for a pedestal beneath the feet. A simply garlanded

wheel of the type commonly used in such late bhadrasana Buddhas

is carved, in quite suppr esse d reli ef and small in size , again st th elotus. Ju st beyond the deer , but provided with 1nore space , there are

traces of the now-conventional de votees, which h ave lar ge ly broken

away.The lion s (really late leonine throne legs) wh ich support the

throne se at are po s d with a tremendou s vigor, reflectin g the ener

gies which had been de veloping at the site just before i ts consistentpatronage was so sadly and deci sively cut of f . Although their heads

are hard to mak e out b ec au se of much dama ge, th ey appear to ha v ebeen twisted around like th o se sim ilarl y late examples in the left

court shrinelet of Cave U6. Th eir freer movement , a s compared tothose supporting the throne s in Caves 16, 26 , and Aurangabad Cave

3, was allowed by the fact that the wh o le throne is now considerably widened, bein g more like those of contemporary padma sana




images in this regard. As in other examp le s beginning in 477, the

top s of the throne legs were apparently shown above th e lion s' head s

for although broken , there is sufficient space for their ea sy inclusion.Nubs mu st have been present also, even though they are not visi-ble today ; thi s ma y be because a major flaw appears ju st at thi slev el, and ha s re sulted in con sid er abl e br eakage .

As in Auran gabad Cave 3 the new idea of placin g th e bodhisattvasupon double lotu s pede sta ls was used here, as it was in nea rly allsubsequent major groups. The bodhi sa ttva s do not appear to have

had halo s, but the almo st co mpl ete br ea ka ge of the figures mak es it

difficult to be sure. All identifying attributes ha ve also been obliter -ated; on l y their cauris, convent ion ally held over the proper right

shoulder , remain. A s in Cave U6 's left court shrinel et, where the

image ha s a number of clo se connections with th is group but wasprobably influenced b y it rather than vice ve rsa, the bodhi sattva sare relati ve ly small in size , are placed we ll forward , turn inward ata striking angle, and are elevated upon rather high c ylinders , which

lift up th eir lotu s pede sta ls. T h e latt er treatm ent was probably not

anticipated, howe ve r; it appear s to have been an ex pedi ent way of

avoiding the se riou s fla w whic h ru n s along somewhat above the floorlevel.

Above the bodhi sa tt vas in dra1natically high relief , garland-bear

in g flyin g co uple s converge on eith er side ; the fe1nale at the ex tr em eleft has the loop of clo th ove r her head ju st as in the main ima ges

in Aurangabad Ca ve 3, Ca ve U6 , Cave 22 , and in even more n earlycontemporaneou s examp les in the ambu latory of Cave 26. Th e dra

mati c proj ec ti on of th e se aerial figur es compares with the si1nilarmanner in which the se sa me motif s are treated in variou s other ve rylate Ajanta context s as well as in Aurangabad Cave 3. As with the

two bodhi sattva s the projectin g sec tion s which support the se figureshave been carefully hidden from view, so that they give the impres-sion of full y detached thr ee -dim en sional figure s.

The connection with the Ca ve U6 main im age is particularl y evi-dent n the treatment of areas at either side of the image; for whereasth ey ar e b y no mean s id ent i ca l, ther e are no o th ers w hi ch relat e soclo sely in the de ve lopment of the particular feature s st re sse d in th e se

two example s. In both , the area utilized here is particularl y wide,perhaps becau se the mode of placing the bodhi sattvas in the se twoexample s re sulted n there bein g more space available for it than usua l.

At th e sa m e time , here in the Cave 24 examp le, th e unn ecess ar y



196 CAVE 24

length of the throne seat is a lso responsible for the situation; mostexamples are more compactly composed. 1

In both throne backs the makara is particularly stre sse d , and thefigures sporting around it , or p laced near it, are remarkably multipli ed . In the Cave U6 1nain image four such dwarfs exuberantlyplay around each of the floriated beasts, from whose mouths similar lotus fronds emerge, but in the Cave 24 shr inelet exa1nple thereare (or were, before breakage ) no less than e leven in various positions, on either side of the upper throne back Not only doe s a dwarf

emerge from the mouth of eac h of the makaras, below which aretwo other dwarfs, but others (four on each side ) sport under thecurve of the lotus frond, while loving naga couples (reminiscent ofthe ruinous painted form s in this position in the Cave 2 image and

seen in another rare instance , in carving, in the Cave U6 left courtshrinelet ) appear above th e head, next to the Buddha s ha lo. Furthermore , above the arcing lotus frond musicians appear, their inclusionperhap s suggested by the placing of similar flying devotee s in CaveU6's composition; as in th e latt er design, the pair on th e right ha sa zither while that on th e left ha s a flut e . Nea r th ese mu sician s at

the top of the arc, on each side , a dwarf is wildly dancin g, hi s armsraised over hi s head , while two sma ller figures, apparently percu ssionists, beat the rhythm . The clo ses t counterparts to these figuresare found in one of the rath er similar and closely contemporaneousimage s in the right aisle of Cave 26; the latter (Panel R7 ) may havepro vided a precedent, since it was carved on ly about a year earlier,in 478 .

Th e lower portion of the throne back is sadly damag ed, particularl y on the left , but it is clear that it had the same pi llared structure as that behind the Cave U6 image. Per haps becau se more spacewas available or perhaps because it represents a slightly more developed conception, the Cave 24 shrinelet throne back structure is somewhat more elaborately co mpartmented than that of Cave U6's ima ge .Simi lar vya las, each ridden by a dwarf and with another dwarf (orpo ss ibly two ) underfoot , were carved in the larger outer compartm ent s judging from that on the partly pr e served left side. Elephant sappear to have been omitted, as often in late groups. The corn -

1 The relatively complex structure of the throneback of the Auranga bad Cave 4Aimage-datable to 478, with a few intrusive additions-provides another parallel.




partment s (one above the other ) nearer the image apparentl y bothcontain ed small standin g mal e figure s, althou gh th e up p er on e is by

and large obliterated. The lower one ha s the ge neral appearance ofa bodhi sa ttva , accompanied by a sm all sta nding atten dant.

It is of int erest to note that th e d ecoration of the doorwa y lea ding into thi s shrinelet i s nearl y identi cal w ith that of th e right rear

shrinelet and co urt shrin elet s in Cave U6 , which from their ge neralcontext and the character of the image s within , appear to ha ve beenunderwa y at almost exactly thi s sa me time , during the Period ofDi sruption. Su ch d etailing would hardl y be ex pect ed in con nect ionwith the originall y intended re sidence cell, nor is it likel y to ha vebeen sta rted when the fronti ng pillar s (now much re stored ) we re stillso rou gh. So it i s surel y not par t of th e 477 p h ase of exca va tion ,but is part of the later work.

In fact, thi s whole shrin e doorway repr ese nt s a signifi ca nt en largement of the original doo rway in tended for the comp lex's inner cell ,which must ha ve been at least roughl y cut out here in 477. If fini shed ,it would of cour se have had a charact eristi ca lly recesse d D-m odedoorway , w ith th e door being pi vo ted on th e left (as viewed from

in side ). But , as finall y de veloped , it had two projection s above , suc has were often u sed for double door s in a number of such shrinele ts,even during the last yea rs of work at th e s ite. 11 \Thy the old convention s were retained in so rnan y late in stan ces, by whi ch tirne th emajor shrin e doorwa ys were simpl y recessed (as in th e D mode ) ish ard to expla in , exc ept a s an exa mple of the retention of an earl ierestablis h ed convention. 12

Th ese proj ection s, which typicall y do not proj ect forward (as inB mode doorwa ys) but rather do wn w ard from the ce ilin g, we redefined b y raising the origin a l ceilin g level when wo rk on the shrinewas u nderwa y in 479 - 480. It would appear that in som ewha t similarshrinele ts in Cave U6 (left court , right front and right rea r) the ceilings

11 Of t en th ese doors a pp ea r in re-d esig ned units, wh ich had rela tively thin ea rlywa lls . See Cave Upp er 6 right front shr inelet for in stan ce .

2 Cave 1 s pillar ed co urt ce ll at the right, perhap s s till un d erway in 4 77, sin ceit is so m ew hat unfini sh ed , also h as such door fittings; the doorw ay is mu ch la rge r

than for a ce ll, a nd its dimensions greater, so it must h ave been destined for som especia l use . T he small chamb er at th e left o f Cave 16's narrow co u rt, although h alfbrok en, also a ppar entl y had a wid e door way with two suc h proj ec ting fittin gs, o neof which rema ins. I t app ea rs to ha ve bee n use d as a co nv enient place to ge t wa terfrom the nearby system, w ith which it was con nected by a narrow tunne l.



98 C VE 24

were also raised higher than originally intended in order to effectthi s kind of double-door fitting . Ju st as the lower surface of the se

projections probably define s the original (unfinished ) cell's ceilinglevel , so the upper surface of the inner step probably defines theoriginal floor l evel , retained here to make entrance more convenient.

After the elaborate ima ge in the Cave 24 shrinelet had been

carved, work continued in the shallow inner chamber of the shrineletand in the equa lly shallow antechamber. In the latter , a sta ndingBuddha , under a late arch , was apparently to be placed on eachof th e s id e walls; on ly the image on the b ette r lit and less flawedright wa ll was started, howe ver , and it is quite unfinished. t is ofconsiderable intere st to see that the flanking pilasters have merelybeen sketched in , in the expected red pigment, preliminary to theircarving. In the inne r chamber itself, there were two more standingBuddha s on each sid e wall thu s the total number of the se and theones to be carved in the vestibule would make the conventiona lgrouping of six . Judging from traces beneath the farther one at theleft in the shrine , we can probably a ssume that all stood on lotu sp ede stal s and like the shrine 's bodhi sattva s were raised up higher

than expected to avoid the aforementioned flaw. Where their haloe sare sti ll somewhat intact , they show a characteristically late e llip tical shape. A few kneeling devotees (typically late features ) are inruin s near the Buddha s' fe et, while flyin g dwarf s appear in the corners of the shared panels nearest the throne. That on the right hasprogres sed no further than the blocking out stage, while the moreforward Buddha on this right side is also still unfinished.

Vve know that as the patronage situation during the sit e's Periodof Di sruption gradua lly worsened, work on such voti ve offering s oftenprogressed very slowly, if at all. Thus at the time when a ll such workwas finally abandoned at the sit e, it seem s likely that the shrinelet'smain image had still not been put into worsh ip ; at least there areno exta nt trace s of orig in al pla ster and paintin g on it . In d eed, probably because time ran ou t the upper left part of the halo was neverquite fully carved , and this probably explains the various otherunfini sh ed featur es th e fronting pillar s the l eft edge of th e doorway, along with much work on the six standing Buddhas and the

flying dwarf s above them. Equally telling , no shrine door was everhung , as the abse n ce of appropriate hole s for the necessary pivotpoles and of doorstop hole s on the thre shold 1nakes evident . Thusit may be quit e rea sonable to assume that th i s whole shrinel et ,




although quite po ssibly sta rted in 4 79, was still unfinished when timeran out at the en d of 480 .

The characteristic red pigment used to sketc h in the frame of theunfinished uddha panel on the right wa ll of the antechamber alsoappears (barel y visible ) on th i s uddha s neck and lip s, and wouldseem to be original; at lea st it does not appear where the lip s ha vebeen later broken. Thi s same red covers the robe of the rear figureon the right shrine w all (where it is clearly visib le).

There are suggestions of painting still remainin g on the main

ima ge s halo , wh ile a ye llow ochre pi gmen t can b e seen h ere andthere on the associated standin g uddha s too, even thought somewere very incomplete. The face of the front uddha image onlyroughed out on the shr ine s right wa ll st ill show s trace s of this pig-ment, which is also seen on the belts of both flying coup les. Them ere traces of go ld leaf or paint on the forehead of the fartherstandin g uddha at the righ t are modern devotional applications,which appear on a few other uddha s at the site as wel l. All of thispainting (as opposed to the red scu lptor s sketc h es connec ted wit hth e front right uddha ) appears to belong to more recent tim es .



CAVE 26

INTRUSIONS

An analy sis of Cave 26's various intn1sive panel s can b e particularlyuseful for our study of developments in the Period of Disruption.Particularly with the ambu latory sculptures, one can estab lish a continuum which clearly reveals that the earliest pane ls the most important of which are not intn1sive but were carved during the consistentpha se of work in the cav e occupy the be st po sition s, are mo stimpres sive in terms of size and qualit y of workmanship, are full yfinished , and have earlier (by a mere year or two ) iconographicfeature s. In contrast, th e latest panels are relegat ed to less ideal position s are more hastily conceived and carv ed, are often unfinished ,and include some of the most developed icono graphic details foundat the site.

As we might expect , those images in the ambulatory which belongto th e Period of Di sruption are quite diff erent from th o se carvedduring the period when the cave was consistently developing. One

need only look at the main portion of the f ~ d eto see how striking the contrast can be. Whereas the majority of the important

images in the ambulatory are of the bhadrasana typ e, all of th eBuddha s on the main part of the f ~ d e without exception, areeither padmasana images of a relati vely simple type , with cauri-bearing bodhisattvas , or else are standing Buddhas showing the standard

varada mudra Furthermore, as we might expect , the original partof th e fa9ad e, like that of the other Mahayana caitya hall , Cave 19,shows a very carefu lly organized decorative program , which incorporates number s of exuberantly realized dwarfs , loving coup les elaborate architectural enframe1nents, and flora l and geometric additions.In strikin g contrast to thi s, the exterior scu lpture s done durin g thePeriod of Di sruption are solely iconic in nature no tim e, space , ormoney is wasted on decorative nicetie s. The y appear, both on the

fa9ade returnsand

in theambu

latory,in an

increasingly helter -skelterhodgepodg e of pan els reflec ting th e fact that spac e, es pe cially inde sirab le location s got harder and harder to come by as the month s





202 CAVE 26

example s sh ow , there was often a time lag separating the introduc-

tion of an y new form at th e s it e and it s appearance in different con

text s. In th i s sa me re ga rd , it i s rele va nt to note that bhadra sanaimage s had been shown in painting s at the site nearl y a decade

before the y appeared in sculpted form.As in cave 19 , the r e turn s of Ca ve 26's fa<;ade w hi ch we shall

di scuss, alon g w ith the areas sho win g carve d Buddha s und er the

g reat arch , before takin g up the intru sive ambu latory sc ulpture

had not been decorated w hen consistent w ork on the cave ended.

All of th e scu lptur es in these important a reas are intru sive, g ive nb y donor s w ho took o ve r the available space after the original patron, Buddhabhadra , was no lon ger acti ve ly invol ve d in the cave'sde ve lopm ent.

The fa ct that so many areas of this great cave were st ill undeco-

rated w h en the origi n al patron ended hi s own in volve m ent in itsde velopment is a matter of considerab le significan ce for anyone see kin g to analyze the hi sto ry of the site and to reco ns t ruct , at lea st in

gener al t erm s, th e hi storical deve lopm en ts w hi ch m ay hav e b een takin g pla ce . I hav e shown elsewhere that th e writing of the dedi ca

tory in sc ription , and the cave's dedication , mu st ha ve occurred aboutmidwa y in 478 , b y w hich time the mo st import ant par ts of the fa<;adehad been co mpleted. 1 Thu s the w hol e main surface of the fa <;ade

had been de co r ated with its well organized se rie s of Buddha ima gesand o ther mo tifs at this time , and both the g rea t arch and the com-

ple te d por ch (now mu ch broken ) had been pla ste red and pain te d.In the interior , a ll of the pilla rs, the elaborate carving on the triforium and on the stupa it self , a few particularly i1npr ess ive panels in

the ambu latory, the paintin g of the main va ul t , and of the ambulatory ce iling, h a d been fini shed.

Thu s the excavation and decoration of the m a in cave had been

at least respec tabl y finished when Buddh abhadra 's tim e ran out.Th e g r eat monk mu st have left th e s ite distressed that so mu ch wasstill undone, even thou gh it see m s mo st likely that he wa s planning

to return once the Asm akas h ad w on their war. Afte r all, the spa

cious r eturn s of th e fa<;ad e, and th e 1nore rearwa rd wa lls of the

atnbulato ry, had not been decorated at all , at lea st w ith scu lpture ,

while at least three of the four wings of the g reat cave c omple x

See Vol ume I , Chapter 2 for the date o f cave 26 inscription to mid-4 7 8.



INTR US IO NS 203

(cave 25 , cave 27 , and Cave 26 R \tV) were still far from completelyexcavated when th e original patron and hi s developing dream s so

sudden ly came to an end. 2

Particularly w hen we realize that throughout 4 7 8 , work had been

proceeding with some vigor on th e now unfini sh ed wings of the cave,and that th i s wo rk was t h en sudd enl y summaril y abandoned , we can

sen se that th ere mu st ha ve been cru cial externa l pre ssure af f ec tin gthe internal development of the site. \ tVhy else was this great cavecomplex , intimately associate d with the ruling regional po wers, leftso unfini sh ed? And wh y at pr ec isely th e sam e time , did the pro-grammed development of a g reat number of other caves at the site,an d at Ghatotkacha an d Aurangabad too, then finall y end com-

pletely , after w h at was clearly a year (47 8 ) of hurried and anxiousactivity?

Th e an sw er mu st li e in th e politi cal sit uat ion, and it s ec onomi cconcomitants. Fortuna te ly we know something of the future conXictwhich was in the making and which was to involve the regionalruler s (the Asmaka s) an d th ei r ove rlord s (th e Vakataka s). Thu s wecan reco gnize , in th e sudd en stoppage of the old patrona ge pro-

g ram s la te in 4 7 8 , a clear sign of cris is. It se em s ev ident that at thi smoment the Asmakas , alread y fomentin g an in surrection agai n st the

Vakataka em pire , ordered a shift of interest (which is to say , in effect ,funds away from any furth er spon so rship of th ese piou s undertak -ings, in order to u se a ll ava ilable fu nd s for the purpose s of war. This

sudden ly le f t the site without official sup por t, or eve n official approvalof private suppo rt.

Th e ex tent of th ese sa nction s is clear from th e fact th at whenwo r k so abruptl y ended on Ca ve 26 fortunately not before it hadbeen enough finished to be an operable entity wo r k also ended on

a ll of the other cave s which had (wh ich varying degrees of success )been developing along w ith the great caitya hall during late 4 7 8. 3

So m e offi cial pronoun ce m ent , some pr ess ure from on hi gh , mu sth ave been in volved , a lthough for mo st of the pa tro n s who cut caves

2 For the development of th e Cave 26 co mpl ex, see forthcoming volum e .3

Caves 2 4, 28, 23A, 24A, and 22 were so unfinished that they we re abandonedwhe n H arisena died . Besid es Cave 26 a nd its four wings, Buddhabhadra s Caves21 a nd (prob ably) Cave 23 we re wo rked o n right until the en d of 478. In the mainpart of the site, the o riginal patrons involvement invariably en d ed by the middl eof 478, when d1e Asmakas rejec ted d1e Vakataka overlor dship .





INTR US IONS 205

idled artisans to do this, paying them very little or perhaps eventrading their work for pray ers .

O f course we have no sure way of knowing how many monksresided at the site during its heyday , or how many stayed on whenthe site was collapsing . Even if we count the cells which show clearsigns of use, it is hard to determine which ones continued in u seafter the site 's active patronage ended. However , we do know thatDharmadatta , one of the two bhikshus who as sisted uddhabhadrain making Cave 26, also gave (and inscribed ) four intrusive paintedimage s in Cave 16. So, at lea st in this one case, we can b e surethat Dharmadatta re sided at the site in good times as well as bad,and it seems logical to believe that he was not the only one. Indeed ,there are a number of cells which had not been fitted out until verylate (477 or 478) which nonetheless show enough wear in their doorfittings to allow us to conclude that monk s have mu st have beenusing them for at least a few years thereafter.

s we might imagine , the earliest donations of this intrusive typeare generally more ambitious (and of course generally more fullyfinished ) than th e la t er ones . Vv e can assmne that th ere was more

money , more energy, more room , and more hope at the beginningof this Period of Disruption than at its end. Furthermore , as men-tioned above, there mu st have been great numbers of suddenly unem-ployed artists and craftsmen see king work now , for it would nece ss arilyhave taken some time and thought before such workers would orcould migrate to other areas, as they certainly must ha ve done overthe course of the coming years. Their services, now that the largesca le projects of th e past few years had been sud d enly ter minat ed,must have been obtainable for next to nothing , their situation bein gworsened by the fact that, in the wake of the great Vakataka empire'scollapse, there was probably no other or better place to go.



CAVE 26

FAQADE

The first instances of intrusions on the returns of Cave 26 wereundoubtedly the co lossal standing Buddhas which appear in veryprominent po sition s high up, at either side . The se prime area s whichmust have been among the first chosen for such intru sions in caves9 and 19 also , had the desirab le qualit y of being both very close tothe main fa<;:ade and very readily visible. At the time the great standing Buddhas were carved, similar space was ava ilable on either side,so that they are symrnetrically disposed , almo st as if they formedpart of the carefully worked out master plan for the fa<;:ade. However ,they are definitely intrusive , for they have incised donative in scription s beneath.

Althou gh the donor s name ha s broken away from the in scr iption

at the right , it appears to have been almost identical to that at theleft , which records the gift of the Sakya monk , the reverend Gunakara.Th is striking si1nilarity in wording and placement of the two r ec ord sand the fact that only one other intru sive in scription at the site isincised , would sugge st that they are a donative pair. This assumption wou ld seem to be confirmed by the striking similarity betweenthe two great images the1nselve s not only with regard to their sizeand shap e but also considering th eir enviab ly hi gh-prior ity placement. I t would appear that Gunakara got there ver y earl y and

had enough money , or clout , to accomplish the making of thi s uniqueand impre ssive pair. 1

Both of these great images show the conventional flying dwarfsconverging from above; flying couples were never used above standing Buddhas , even in the very late st context s although they werequite commonly used with seated images from 477 on. This is per-

haps becau se such flying couples first ca1ne to be used in late shrinegroups, and th u s were a ssociat ed sp ecifically with seat ed image s butnot with standing ones.

Cohen 1995, 38 1- 2 inscriptions 94, 95 . Cohen does not discuss their sim ilar ities .



FA<_tADE 207

Beneath these images, again fo llo wing conventions which hadstart ed deve lopin g as ea rly as 4 7 7 , carved kn eeling devotees appear.

The gre at image on the right had two such figures, one of them (atthe left) a female. The sim ilar great im age on the left had only onesuch carving; the oth er devot ee was paint ed in , although it is nownearl y oblit er ated. The co mmon assumption that such attendantfigures are donors is cou nt ered by th e evidence here that th e panelwas given b y a monk , yet one of th e attendants is fema le

The first intrusions on the cai tya hall exterior , like the first one sin the am bu l atory , are much mor e ambitious and much mor e ca refull y placed than subse quent ones. I t is as if, in 4 79, whe n they weredone , there was sti ll some effective contro l over such production s,despite the troub les in which the s ite was s o clearly involved; as wehave see n , th i s appears to have be en true of many of the otherundertakings at Ajanta too. Gunakara ma y we ll ha ve been on goodterms with the monk Buddhabhadra and his two fellow monks. Infact, Buddhabhadra had only recently (a few 1nonth s earlier , in 478)ded icated th e main hall in ho n or of the Asmaka mini ster. On e mi gh tfairl y specu late that Gunakara had the same sc rib e compose hi s

in script ion , sinc e bo th record s contain the same revea lingly w ron gform in referrin g to the donor 's mother and father. 2 Perhap s theincising of hi s record (s) was also accomplished by the same skilled(presumab ly lit er ate ) wor kman responsib le for the long inscription inthe porch below.

One can work ou t the seq uen ce in wh ich the in tru sion s directlybelow Gun akara's Buddha were added, by stu d ying the manner inwhi ch they are placed in relation to each ot h er . Such an analy sisproves that work proceeded graduall y downward and from fron t toback. This turns out to be very reasonable in terms of the visibilityof the diff erent panel s, for when the por ch roof was intact, a per-

son s tandin g in the courtyard would not have been able to see thelowest and m os t rear war d im a ges from the courtyard, and this obviou sly m ade tho se positions the le ast de sirable. Thu s the padmasanaBuddh a g roup with the bodhi sattva attendants was the first to h avebeen don e of those lo cat ed dir ec tly beneath Gunakara's Buddh a .

2 Yazdani 1955, pag e 119: C uriou sly eno ugh , the sa me wro ng form mata-pitaramoccurs in verse 13 of (Bu ddhabhadra's ) insc ription. Cohen 1995, 380, note 21refers to the m atte r but does not co m ment.



208 CAVE 26

Such a panel would presumably have been cut swiftly, partl y becausethe sculpture s were by now highly skilled and sure ly done b y con

tract, but also becau se of the considerab le sense of urgency felt b ydonors in the Period of Disruption.

Since thi s image , well placed , carefully conce ived , and fully finished ,certainly belon gs relati vely ea rly in th e two yea r (4 7 9-480 ) sequen ceof Cave 26 s intru sions, it see1ns likel y that it should be dated to479 a lso . It s overal l character recommends such a dating too, for itis of the more old -fashioned padmasana type , which was soon tolose precedence to the bhadrasana typ e. Thi s padmasana image hascauri-bearing bodhisattva s Ava lokitesvara with jata lotu s, and antelope skin on the left and his princely counterpart with a vajra onthe right. Both attendants are po sed upon their own lotus pedestalsa late feature and both supp lied with carved haloes of the late elliptical type. D wa rfs converge with ga rland s above; they are often u sedinstead of the more up-to-da te couples in late images where spaceis limited . The throne back shows running nagas above the makaras ,and vyalas w ith simple scro lls. Th e customary e lephan ts are omitted, a s is sometimes the case n late gro up s when th e format i s con

stricted. As is sometime s the case with padmasana image s, even atthis late date , nubs are not shown on the corners of the throne seat,while the tops of the throne leg s, generally shown over the leoninesupports, are omitted, a s in a few other very late images (e.g. 1nainimages in caves 15 and 16).3 The presence of a lar ge arcing thronecloth is also consistent with a dating to the Period of Di sruptio n , asis the pronouncedl y heightened lotu s pede sta l beneath the wheel.Th e wheel itself, by contras t, is of the un d ec orated type seen in th eearlie st images at the site ; this old fashioned type , whi ch had notbeen used for nearly a de cade (since cave 20 's image ) does appear

again fairly often n the Period of Di sru ption , almost always , as here ,where the ba se motifs are rather crow d ed. 4

The next panel undertaken in thi s area was undoubtedly the standing Buddha just to the right of thi s paclmasana group . The spaceavailable , although limited , was excellently situated in terms of visibility from the courtyard below. The later elat e of this panel as corn-

3Such om ission s are co mmon in relatively small images. T h e esse ntial thing is

that in these la t e co n ception s, the lion support s th e throne, functioning as a stru ctural ~ e o n i n e thron e-leg .

4 See exampl es on low er right ~ d e frame of Cave 19; a lso th e la rge pa clmasa na im age in Cave U6 front wa ll.



FA<_tADE 209

pared to the adjacent padma sana one is pr o ve d b y the fact that theflyin g and kne elin g devot ees to th e left of the standin g uddha are

cut, in part , out of a surfa ce wh ich wou ld no t ha ve bee n revea leduntil the padma sana panel had been carved. Thus the sequence ofwo rk is clea r.

The small stupa just b ene ath thi s latter uddha was probabl yca rved at thi s same tim e, utilizin g the spa ce left at th at point. Th estupa is attended by hands holding caur is an unusual mo tif foundfirst in va riou s scul ptu res and paintings of about 4 70, in and onCave 19. Th e fact th a t th e pan els here intrud e upon th e ca refull yor gan ized f ~ d ewas of no concern to these late donor s.

The sequence of th e p an els ju st belo w s eem s evident too. Thelar ge bhadrasana panel had clearl y been displac ed to the right ,because the two small s tan din g uddh a panels ju st to it s left wereundertaken first. Althou gh th ese two latter panel s we re in l ess idealpo sition s than the pan els hi gher up , the sculp tor made them as read-ily visible from the courtyard below as po ssible b y placin g them asfar t owa rd th e front edge o f the return as he could. Thi s left insuffici en tspa ce for th e bhadra sana g roup , but th e scu lpt or , influ ence d by th e

way in which the available strip of stone at the jun ctio n with themain ~ d e had been utili ze d ju st a bo ve, took the rather un u sualste p of bendin g the bhad rasana pan el around the corner wher e thereturn 1neet s the main part of the ~ d e thu s the a ttendant vaj ra -pan i is set s urpri singly) a t a nine ty de gree an gle to the re st of thegr oup a surpr i sing and perhaps unique compositiona l adju stment.

This bh adra sana uddh a g roup is of p ar t icular interest bec ause itis th e first intru sion of th i s typ e on th e cave front. A s we h avepointed out , its po sitionin g sugg ests that it is clearl y la t er than thepadma sana ima ge a bo ve, and also later than the two standin g Buddhap anel s at the l eft, but this i s not to sugges t that the y w ould be sep-ara ted by any lo ng span of time; inde ed, work probably proceededon all of th is g roup in one continuou s program of carv in g a nd finallyof paintin g . Thi s wo uld of cour se h ave b een practical sin ce special

5 Cur ious ly this bh ad rasana imag e was replastered after having been painted .Conceiva bly, it was refurbished when, dur ing the follo wing yea r , some of the figures

und er the a rch we re finished. I ts original sur f ac in g ma y have been damaged afte r onlysuch a short time because it is so far below th e p roject in g eaves above; thu s m on -soonal ra ins may have been swe p t onto it, or in he avy downpours ) m ay havespl ashed up onto it afte r falling upon th e top of th e po rch roof, which a bu ts thi sImage.



21 CAVE 26

arrangements (ladders and or scaffolding ) had to be provided w hen

work was done in thi s area.

To support thi s view, there i s evidence that the ori ginal p lan wasto place the bhadra sa na panel in the more logical po sition directl ybeneath the padma sana ima ge ju st above . On e can see a thin inci sedline , runnin g horizontal ly over th e little standin g Buddha near thebhadra sana group 's upper left co rn er , and continuin g the line of thela tte r s upper mar gin. Thi s line appears to ha ve been cut there whenthe bhadra sana panel was to have bee n placed mo re normally .H owever, between th e tim e w h en this edge of the antic ipat ed panelwas inci sed , and the time when the carving of the panel actuallybe gan, the little standing Buddha s to the left we re them selves sta r te dand usurped the expected po sition. It is characteristic of attitudes inthi s unrul y period that th e sculptor of the standin g Buddha paid noparticu lar he ed to thi s pr eviou sly inci sed lin e as he probab ly wou ldha ve done if he him self, ra ther than the carver of the adja cen t panel ,had made it.

As we 1night expe ct, th e bhadra sana panel, so tied in with thecomplex of im a ges around it , ha s man y fea tur es in co mmon with

the padmasana ima ge directl y abo ve . Yet it was almost certainly thelast of the intru sive panel s in this gr oup on the left return. A dateof late 479 or even early 480 seems appropriate, not onl y b eca useit had man y featur es in common w ith other intru sive bhadra sanaim a ges which appear to da te to that sa me time, bu t becau se it isclearl y earlier th an certain of the bhadra sa na panel s in the ambulatory which mu st ha ve been underwa y by the middle of 480. Inth e latter, such a s R 7, R8 , and R9 , Buddha s rep lace th e flankin gbodhi sa ttvas w hi ch a lways appear in earlier bhadra sana gr oup s.

The bodhi sattv as here are readi ly identifiable. A valokite svara, w ithjata Inukuta , Amitabha in crown, and th e antelope skin , s ta nds on

th e left ; a princel y Vajrapani , holding th e vajra, appears on the right.As in th e im a ge just above, the bodhi sa ttva s have elliptica l halo es,and (like the seate d Buddha ) apparen tly had the ir feet on late lotu spede stals, although these are no w ob scured by breakage.

P erhap s be ca use th e sculptor of th e bhadrasana ima ge opted t omake his flying dwarf s much larger than those in th e panel above,

he simp lified the consequently crowded runnin g figures ove r themakara s by omittin g their snake hood s. There doe s not seem to havebeen any standard nlle at thi s time about th e c hara cteri za tion of

the se particular throne ba ck figures; in th e co ntemporar y ambula -



FA<_tADE 211

tory sculptures , and elsewhere at the site , they are sometimes nagasand sometim es not , sometime s singl e figures, seated or even danc

ing, and sometimes couples or groups.As in the padmasana group just above , and in most of the ambu-

latory panels , the once conventional el ephants are omitted from thethroneback , where simple scrollin g filler s are carved beneath thevya las. There are variou s symmetricall y dispo sed pair s of hole s abovethese various pane ls, showing that they were at least prepared forworship , and for the hanging of garlands from the generally nowmi ss ing hook s. H ow the p lacem ent of the garland s in such location swa s achieved is uncertain , if indeed the hook s were for flowers.

On the opposite side of the cave (at the right of the facade ) a fewrelated Buddha images once existed. Old photographs show , in thearea above the right porch p ilaster , a padmasana group (since fallenaway) which wa s quite similar to that beneath Gunakara s c olossus.6

Beneath thi s wa s a standing Buddha in an arched frame; toda y onlythe very bottom portion of this panel showing the Buddha 's feet ona double-lotu s ped es tal, along with att endant kne eling wor shipper s,

•remam s.

Higher up , and clo ser to cave 25 , another much damaged imagecan be seen. It is of a quite developed type in terms of its iconography , for the cauri bearing bodhi sattvas are not standing , but areseated on separate stem1ned lotu s sea t s at the up p er corn ers. Thi squite unique feature alread y anticipates later developments of thelate fifth to the ear ly 6th century , at Kanheri The cen tral gar landbearing dwarf above relates to similar figure s carved in the ambu-

latory panel s R2 , R4 and L8 , all of which can be dat ed to 478 , andwhich probabl y provided the immediate precedent for the similarfigure here.

There are a few other votive panels on the Cave 26 fac;ade and

in the right wing (Cave 26 R , all of which were probably donein 4 79 , somewhat before the -h ard -to see bhadra sana Buddha on theleft return , for donors must have been very eager to utilize suchprime location s. The two Avalokitesvara Litany panels on the wallb etwe en the main part of Ca v e 26 and it s right wing r eflect a th emewhich wa s very popular in thi s troubled period , when the need for

the bodhi sattva's protection for pilgrim s traders and other s hurrying

6 See A CSAA A jan ta fiche 53 :40.



212 CAV E 26

aw ay from the site ma y have been felt with a particular acutene ss .Pr esumabl y the mor e access ibl e low er one wa s th e fir st to ha ve b een

begun , and i so thi s could account for the fact that its lotu s pede stalis less developed than that of the one above. Howe ver thi s as w ellas the notab le differ ence s b etwe en them , could easily be due to th epredil ec tion s of th e patron or the arti st.

That thi s lower im a ge wa s indeed put into w or ship i s shown bythe fact that it wa s once supplied with double door s fixed in to the

four pivot hole s in the shallow setback. There are also two hole s for(now-m issing) garland hook s ju st abo ve, w hil e a curiou s slot und erthe row of lion-head s ma y ha ve held a w ooden projection to protect the image from rain. 7 Intere stingl y, an in ser t , pre sumabl y a figureof Amitabha , perhap s of some preciou s material and now mi ssing ,mu st once ha ve adorned the headdre ss . Si gnificantly , th e w ell pre-

served upper pi vot hol es sho w distinct signs of we ar , as do th e pivothole s in the la te (D mode , con verted from A mode ) door w ays ofman y of the cell s in the cave. T hi s mu st be ascribed to u sage in the

480 s wh en monk s c ontinu ed to res ide at th e site .Th e lowe r pan el i s somewhat unu sual in bein g car efull y framed

b y a decorati ve border , like a few other special late panel s at thesite. 8 Ava lokite svara hold s the long- s temmed padma and kamadaluin hi s prop er left hand , and an aksamala in hi s right (which sho wsabha ya mudra ). At the left , abo ve a broken scen e of ship wreck (conventiona lly placed in thi s lower left po sition ), a ttack s b y snake and

elephan t and bri gand and bhu t are repre sented , w ith lion and forest fi re identifi ab le at the ri gh t. Two pa irs of con vergin g figure s aboveinclud e a flyin g na ga on th e left and a sword-b earin g dw arf at th eright.

With the flouri shin g trade route s now either clo sed or increa sin glydan ge rou s devotion to the Lord of Tra veler s ma y ha ve seemed

particularl y de sirab le, and could w ell account for the la r ge numberof su ch ima ges done durin g the Period of Di sruption . Th ere ar ethree in the Ca ve 26 complex a lone : the two ju st de scribed on the

right fac;ade frame and one at the mid -p oint under fron t of the vault.

7

Friezes of lion h ea ds a re pa rti cula rly co mm o n on roy al m onu m en ts- ra re o therwise . Is it co n ceivab le that this we ll-p la ced figur e, with so m et h in g o bviously spec ial(and expe nsive? ) in its hea dd r ess, m igh t be a royal do n ation ? n any case, its inscription (if on ce pr esen t) is n ow gone .

8 E.g . the in tru sive Buddh a at Cave 2's co ur t righ t.





FA<_tADE 2 5

in 4 79, but the padmasana Buddha in the bottom panel, like theadjacent bhadrasana panel to the right , on the fa<;ade setback, wa s

probably not begun until late 4 79 or even earl y 480 , for , ob scuredby the roof of the porch , it could not even be seen from the courtyard below. The iconography of this panel , in which the exp ectedbodhi sattva s are replaced by stupa s is unu sual; one is remindedof the intru sive Buddha stupa combination s on the capitals of thein terior pillars of Cave U6 (479 ) or in th e large intrusive pane l on

the right fa<;ade return of cave 19 (480 ).Th e two Buddha s, one standing and on e se at ed, ju st abov e on

this left fa<;ade frame were probabl y started just slightl y earlier. It isquite characteristic of the Period of Disruption that they are not amatched pair , for balance in design was far from a major concernin the minds of the donors who gave such intrusive panels. Here , itwould seem , the de cision to put a seated figure , rather than a standing one , at the left was made because of the bad flaw which runsacros s the uncut area beneath the left image. 1

Th e arched fram e of the standing image ha s it s ultimate prototype in th e main image of cave 19 , done a d ecade earli er, but the

u se of an arched frame over the head of padmasana image s develops much later. Although the treatment of the motif is much simplifiedin this padmasana image on the left frame and in the clo sely relatedima ges on the adjacent fa<;ade ext ension , its immediate source mu stbe the elaborated frames of certain padmasana figures on the triforium in side the cave (477 478 ) where , incidentally , the images alsohave typically late lotus seats. 1 1

Th e padma sana imag e still slightly high er up on the left fa<;ade

frame i s of particu lar intere st becau se its attendant bodhi sattva s areplaced behind the throne , a notab ly late feature. Perhaps becau seof the relatively stnall size of the relief, or perhap s because of timeand money problems , the bodhisattvas are carved in very low relief ,and appear to have been left unfin ished. Perhap s th ey w ere afterthoughts , whi ch cou ld exp lain both their necessary disposition behindthe throne , and the fact that they are only shallow ly carved. They

1

° Fo r a simil a r r easo n , th e higher-pla ced p adm asa n a ima ge o n th e a dj a ce ntfac;:ad e e xt ension is sm aller in size th an th e padm asan a im age ju st be nea th it.

1 1 Th e ea rli es t Buddh a un d e r an a rch is in th e fri eze a t th e left rea r of C ave2 1 (4 77); h owe ve r, here the ar ch enclo ses the w hol e im age, a nd th ere is no lo tussea t.



216 CAVE 26

follow the expedient placement of the bodhi sattvas attending theg reat Cave 16 im a ge, und ertake n in 477.

I t see m s likel y that, over the course of 479 , the convenient areason the fa<;ade returns had been all filled up with the various pan-els which we hav e so far discusse d. Adn1ittedly there were a fewblank areas st ill available, but they were either very high up, veryflawed, or had never been fully s1noothed do wn in the original pha seof wo rk on the cave. Some of the se were sure ly used for (now-vanished ) painti ngs, or for hastily (shallowl y carved ) reliefs , but otherwise th ese remaining surfac es of the returns were now d isregardedin favor of the more accessib le or attractive areas still availab le.

The first of these more desirable areas to have been utilizedprob ably already we ll before the end of 4 79 , whi le work on thereturns was sti ll going on was the lon g strip of already smoothedstone whi ch formed the front fra1ne beneath the arch. Thi s area wascentral , readily acce ssib le, easy to work on without scaffo ldin g, sinceit abuts the porch roof , and (being invisible ) surely had no painting other than p erh aps a simpl e co lor ed surfacing. 12 Adm ittedly itcould not be seen (wh en the now broken porch was inta ct) except

from the cave's upper wings (i.e. caves 25 and 27 ) which , becausethey had not reached the point by late 47 8 where they could be

dedicated , had already been abandoned by this time . Ho wever, thefact that their offering s would not be able to be seen was not atotally deterring con sideration in the mind s of these late donors , and

wou ld certainly have been outweighed by the location 's other advantages , not the least of which was the sanctity of the great hall itself.

Th e fact that all of the sculptured figur es h ere are either standing Buddha s or Buddha s seate d in the paclmasana pose supports ourassumption that they were clone quite early. There is a major groupof four padmasana Buddha s (all showing the conventional dharma-

cakra mudra ) near either end of the series. The two grou p s are quitedifferent in th eir detail s again revea lin g ho w ca rele ss of esthet ic considerations these uninvited donors generally were.

The left group comprises a series of relatively elaborate panels ,who se framing p ilasters and crown ing arch es sugg es t that their prece-

2It was impr actical to paint areas whic h cou ld n ot been see n , in the o riginal

p h ase of work. Th e lowest reaches of the vault we re simil arly left bare, or paintedwithout des igns. Ob viou sly ha d th ey bee n painted with Bud dha ima ges, they wouldnot h ave been covere d over (as was the case ) in the Period of Di sr uption.



FA<_tADE 217

dent s are certain panel s in thi s cave s triforium frieze, which wascarved only a yea r or two ea rli er. Lik e th e Buddha s in the latter,

these are seated on double lotu s pedestals, but they also show wheelsflanked by (eroded ) deer beneath a very late feature perhap s firstintroduced here, and in any case never found prior to 479 in pad-masana images. The fact that little stupas appear betw ee n the archesalso suggests the relatively late date of this group, s in ce here againw have a combination which did not come into currency until thePer iod of Disn1ption. To add to the complexity, tiny flying dwarfscan be seen on eith er side of the stu p as .

Th e right group is simpler ; all four im a ges are contained withina sing l recess, which was cut quite heedlessly into the ba s of thearc h at this point. The disturbance whic h suc h variations created intenns of the final overall design of th is front fratne of the arch wasexacerbated by the asymmetrical di spos ition of the various othergroups of intrusive motifs on its more central section. Such a lackof a proper programming would have greatly di sturbe d the originalplanners of the great cave, even though such figures cou ld not bereadily seen.

It seems reasonable to assume that the intrusive scu lpture s in theareas directly under the arch wou ld have been begun shortly afterthose on the front frame, and quite possibly while the latter (whichwere never quite finished ) we re st ill undenvay. One is ab le to follow the general sequence of this wor k fairly well, from its inceptioneither la t in 479 or early in 480, to its interruption some monthslater, when time ran out. It wou ld appear that the first of the intrado s groups to h ave been begun were the padmasana Buddha s carvedat the base level, on either side, whe re there was a sto ne panel readymade for such use. Becau s they were not at all visible from thecourtyard below, these lower levels of the intrado s had not b eenpainted with images during the consistent phase of work on the cave,and therefore they could be carved without concern. 3 Th e sevenBuddh as plus Maitreya ca rved on the base of the right intrados wasperhaps begun before the carvings on the base of the left in t rados,for th e former are simpl er in type and furthermore appear to havebeen carved without being int errupted in mid-course, as happened

3 At higher and more visib le levels, there are alternating seated Bu ddhas andlotuses part of the original program.



220 CAVE 26

This is not to suggest that the total decoration of the frame extendedover a very lon g per iod. In fact, quite the oppos ite was th e case, for

it is very clear from study in g the interrelation sh ip s bet wee n the va riou sly p laced stupas and the roofs of the pavilions which house theseate d Buddha s at the right, that all of these motifs had to be plannedat the sarne time. Thu s we would say that the who le frame, as wellas the two larger sea ted Buddha panel s and the five smaller oneson the left intrados, were a ll of a piece . From start to finish, thework probably occupied no more than a few weeks or months. n

analysis of th e now mu ch damaged paint ed surfaces supports thi sview since man y of the panel s appear to ha ve been painted withthe same type of pigment s and co lo rs.

The next matter for consideration is: where do we locate the rear

frame decoration in time ? Here the pr ese nce of two bhadrasanaBuddha s among the little panels wh ich were p laced betwe en theLitan y sce ne and the larger padmasana Buddha panels, may we ll

give us a significa nt clue. Such little bhadrasana scu lpture s do notappear in intru sive contexts at the site until 480, judging from thesequences w hich one can establ ish quite reasonab ly in other caves

and in the atnbulatory of Cave 26 itself.A dating of 48 0-probabl y early 48 0 seems very appropriate here

on various grounds . First, the arch's rear frame reliefs are certainlylater even if only a little later than the sm a ll seated Buddha groupsat the base of the intrados and probabl y also later than the figureson the arch's front frame, while they are certain ly la ter than thetwo colossal Buddha s occupying the prime positions on the returns.As we ha ve determined from our review of th e history of the cave'sdevelopment, none of these figures can date earlier than 479-480,for al l are intru sions.

Second, the iconographic character of the form s wh ich we havepu t into the same w ork- context as the bhadrasana i1nages support sa datin g of 480. Th e only other Litan y sce ne at the site w here acrown is held over Avalokitesvara's head is in Cave OA where thecentral Buddha (which w ould have been carved first ) can hardly datebefore this tim e. The padma sana Buddha to the right of the Litanyscene ha s a tri -stem med lotus holding up the main image, whi le the

two bodhisattvas are a feature found elsewhe re at the site in thi sparticular form in extremely late contexts only: e.g., in the Caveupper 6 right windo w surro un d , and (in a rather elaborate version )





222 CAVE 26

image s at the site completel y ended. Howe ve r and this might exp lainwhy the numb er of bhadrasana pan els (which were among th e last

motif s added to the rear frame ) is so limited in this area comparedwith their number in the ambulatory it i s clear th a t all these rear

frame ima ges had b een fini shed well befor e all patronage collap se d,since the con venient areas had b een all co mpletel y filled up withthese carvings, and all of th e carvings had been painted.

Thu s the whole ma y ha ve been done rather earl y in 480, ratherth an late in that year. In this same regar d, it might be noted that

hol es (for hooks ) over th e centra l Litan y sce n e and certain oth er pan-els here (as we ll as on the fa<;ade return s) suggests t hat they we reactually w or shipped for at least so me time, perhap s even after thetraumatic collapse of active artistic patrona ge at the site. Evidencefor thi s is that various late ce ll doorwa ys not fitted out until as la t eas 477 and 478 , or (rarel y) 479, sho w distin ct s igns of we ar in theirro ck-cu t pi vot holes.

By contrast, a number of sea ted p adm asa na group s located higherup on th e intrado s than th e compl eted intrado s im a ges w hich wehav e a lr ea dy discussed , are not painted; and in fa ct they are not

even full y carved. The se group s apparentl y we re st ill underway atthe very time when work broke off late in 48 0; and it i s significantto note that there is ind ee d proof that the y po st-d ate the other sculptures in thi s arch area.

Thi s can be seen b y ana lyz ing the placemen t of the M aitre yaim a ge whic h form s the conventional end figure of the gr oup of eightimage s w hich h ave been recesse d into the pre viou sly prepared wa llof the vau lt ju st above the pr eviou sly discu ssed group s at th e left.There was no room for the Maitre ya within the intrado s proper , sohe was placed in the area ju st above the stan din g im a ge at theextreme left end of th e arch s back frame. But hi s lotu s sea t had tobe put at a sligh tly hi gher leve l th an w ould have been the case hadnot the standin g uddha already been cu t.

Thu s we ca n say tha t the in trado s g roup now under discussionwas under way later than the final sta ges of work on the decorationof th e arch s back frame. Thi s do es not of cour se prov e w h en it wasstarted , but the fa ct that it was ne ve r fini she d , and the reali za tion

that an y co mpetent artist cou ld cert ainl y ha ve carved that whol egroup of eight within a matter of da ys or weeks st ron gly argues that

we sh ould place it in 480 rather than earlier. Exactl y the same pointcan b e mad e about the other scatter ed and unfinished padma sana





224 CAVE 26

originally ob scured from view by the extension of the (now-broken )porch below. As we know from man y examples from the original

pha se of acti vity at the site, decorator s very often gave up the painting of images in areas where they were either impo ss ible to see, orhard to see : the mode in which the aisle ceilings of cave 10 and thevault of cave 9 were decorated might be considered as a case inpoint. 6 Thu s it seems reasonable to assume that th ese lower areashad merel y been decorated with purel y ornamental motifs or (morelikely ) nothing more than a plain color in the original pha se

In fact, care ful exa mination of the very few fragments of originalmudpla ster and painting wh ich remain between the ba se panel andthe first beam , and between the ba se panel and the first beam, andbetween the first beam and the sec ond beam on either side of theintrados suggests that tho se areas may have been covered w ith nothing mor e than an eco nomi cal wh ite slip wh en the upper levels ofthe vau lt were being painted with a lternating padmasana uddha sand floral motifs. This wou ld seem to explain the readiness withwhich th ey were taken over for intru sio ns in th e Period of Di sn1ption .

It may seem s urpri sin g that portions of the original painting and

pla ste rin g st ill are intact around these later carvings, but man y otherexamples at the site confirm the adhering power s of such plaster and

paint , even w hen chiseling went on very close to it . The very fa ctthe none of the plaster or paint is to be found upon the carvedimages them selves, or in protected spots such as their armpits, wherepain t so often surv ives w hen it has fallen from all exposed areas,makes it very clear that the surroun din g paint and pla ste r does indeedantedate th e figures cut into th ese ea rli er painted surfa ces, andconfirms the fact they were never finished, be cause time ran out.

Finally, lest t he suggest ion be made that the painted uddha s inthe intrados might date frmn the P eriod of Di sruption, we s houldnote the carefully organized character of the painted decoration ofthe whole project ing vau lt, w here seated uddha s alternate with floralpanel s. Thi s is readily evident despite the great losses of the decorated surf ace and is completely in character when considered as partof the original program for the cave s decorat ion. By contrast, such

6 The Buddha images painted toward the front of the vault gradually gave uptheir p laces to lotuses in Cave 10 or shared it with stupas in Cave 19, as workprogressed rearward.



CAVE 26

AMBULATORY

An analysis of th e increasingly troubled sculptural program on ehardly shou ld u se the word program of Ca ve 26 s ambulatoryintrusions provides a revealing picture of Ajanta s declining patron-

age during its ver y final years of arti stic activity, in 479 and 480.Ju st as in the case of the intrusions on the front of the cave , thefir st donation s in th e new phase are relative ly a1nbitiou s bein g com -po sed and positioned rather carefully. But before very long cer -tainly before the year 480 was very far advanced the pane ls appear

to be much more ha stily rendered , generally smaller in size (partl ydue to the fact that space was rapidly being used up ) and dispo se din an increa sin gly haphazard manner. At the same t ime , this shiftis accompanied by certain telling iconographic changes. Ne edle ss to

say, many of the se reliefs, particularly those in the les s desirab le loca -tion s where the li ght was bad or the rock was flaw ed, or where th eremainin g space was limited or was at an incon venient level, arequite unfini shed. Thi s is simply becau se the y we re being worked onat the end of the Period of Di sruption , when time fina lly (and verysudden ly) ran out.

As we have pointed out abo ve, it see m s evident that the still avail -able areas on the front of the cave, notably the fa<;ade return s andthe surface s under the great arch , were the first to attract the atten -

tion of donors during the Period of Di sruption. Apparently , intru -sive donat ion s were not carved in the ambulatory unti l after som esix month s or more. Thi s ma y ha ve been due to the fact that, atlea st at first, there were enough high ly visible spots availab le on thefa<;ade to satisfy the demand s of tl1 e new donor s whereas mo st ofthe better illuminated area s in the ambu latory had been u sed up

durin g th e ori ginal phase of work on the cave in 478. B y the tim ethat work was beginning on the less visible and/ or less accessible

areas outside the cave, such a s thoseon

thefa<;ade

returns whichwere hidden fr01n view by th e projection of the cave s porch , or th eunder surface of the great arch, it seems likel y that intru sive work



AMBULATORY 227

had indeed also begun in the still available part s of the ambulatory.

But by th en it mu st have been middl e or la te 4 79.

In support of th e conclusion that ther e is a definable se quen ce inthe ima gery added to Cave 26 durin g the Period of Di sru p tio n , wesh ould refer again to our observation that onl y padma sana and stand

in g Buddha s we re ca rved anywhere on the fa<;ade re turn s or under

the arch durin g th e fir st st ages of intru sive wo rk in th ese areas. Itwo uld appear that , even though a few bhadrasana panel s (R2 - 4 ,L8 ) had b een carved in Cave 26's am bulatory and at a few pointsin th e cave durin g 478, a s part of the original pro gram of wo rk ,such ima ges did not catch on for u se as indi vidual donati ve offerin gs,either in Cav e 26 or elsewhere at the site, until about the sec ond

half of 479. Therefore , for the first half year or so of activ it y dur

in g t he Pe riod of Di sru ption , donat io ns were limit ed exclusive ly toestablis h ed stan din g Buddha types o r to th e padmasana ima ges w ith

whi ch the crafts m en were mor e familiar. Such conservatism is notsurpri sing, s in ce the wh ole course of iconograph ic de veloptne n t at

th e sit e pro ves that there was often a co n siderab le delay between

th e time wh en a given im a ge type, or an indi vidual fea tu r e of it ,

first appeared in one context , and the time wh e n it was u sed in ane w one. To emphasize thi s point , we need only poin t out that

bhadr asana ima ges had been u sed in paintin gs at Ajanta for at le a sta decade befor e they fir st made their appearance and th en g ained

such rap i d populari ty as sc ulp tu re s And even in the latter contexts ,on e can find a quite consistent pa tte rn in th e way t heir type andusage changes , with lar ge bhadra sana intru sion s popular by late 4 7 9,but Sinal ones never mad e until 480. 1

A st ud y of the o vera ll deve lop1nent of the ima ge ry in Cave 26'Sambula tory lend s convincing su ppor t t o the suggest ion that all of the

intru sive carvings there were don e in about eig ht een months , be tweenmid-or even late 4 79 and the en d of 480 . Since all of the unfi n ished

ima ges in th e ambulatory are in po siti ons w hi ch (un like those occ u

pied b y the fin ish ed ima ges ) can be considered to be very la te, andsince as a g roup these unfini she d images are characterized by notably

1 Co u ld th e exp lanation for the time-lag lie in something as simp le as a resistance o n the part of sculptors to making th e bhadrasana type, with its proj ec tingknees, wit hin th e format of sma ll carved reli efs?



228 CAVE 26

late iconographic feature s, it seems rea sonable to assume that the ywere all bein g w orked on simultan eously wh en patrona ge at th e sit e

abruptl y ended , leavin g them in their va riou s sta ges of completion. 2

It this is indeed the case, it is evident that , jud gin g on the b as isof squar e footage , roughly 25°/o of th e total intru sive ima gery in theambulatory wa s underway simultaneou sly, w ith p erhap s a dozendifferent artist s actively involved in carv ing them at thi s final mo m ent.Since it see m s mo st un like ly that it w ould have taken more than afew wee ks for a competent craftsman (added by a son or two? ) tocomplete an i1na ge depending on th e size thi s m akes our ass ump-tion that the carving of the total bod y of intru sive panel s in theambulatory occupied no more than eighteen months (late 479 and48 0) rea sonable.

' tVhen th e late (i.e. intru sive) work in the ambulatory was fina llytaken up , presumably durin g the last half of 4 79 at about th e sametime that the single bhadra san a panel was bein g carved ju st whenintru sive w ork on the fa<;ade was ending it seem s evident that pa ne lR6 was the first to have been begun on th e right wal l. Ho weve r, itis likely that L 7 was a lso und erway at th at tim e. Certainly the pan-

els are nearl y contemporaneou s.The loc a tion of panel L7 was apparently considered a rel at ively

de sirable on e, judging from the early date at w hi ch it was begun.Thi s can be explain ed by th e fa ct that , like Buddhabhadra s panelL8 , bu t no t to nearl y the same de gree, i t receives fairly good illumina tion from the light entering through the caitya arch and stre am -ing past the left si de o f the st upa , which was displ ace d to the rightwh en th e or der ca m e do wn a bit too la t e to align th e cave'sstupa with the solstitial axis.3 As I ha ve explained in the discussionof panel L8 , the consequent off-center po sitionin g of the stup a, and

the dispo sition of the apsida l pillar s res ulted in thi s limit ed rear areaalways receiving a stron g light. Inde ed, it is evident that in the fifthcentury the li ght falling on panels L8 and L7 would have been eve n

2 The unfin ished images n the ambulatory are: R l Rl l R l4, Rl 5, 1 9, bhadr asanaimage ove r 19 , little sta nd ing Bu ddha on frame beh.veen R lO and R , and littl estanding Bu ddha on frame b eh.vee n R 9 an d R l 0. T h e unfinished images in the

pr oj ec tin g vau lt's in t rad os (discussed above ) we re a lso un d erway at this sa m e latepoint in the Period of Di srup tion.3 For "so lstitia l ad ju stme n ts" to Caves 26 and Cave 19, see forthcoming vo lu me .

See also Spink 1985, wh ere the ge neral interpretatio n is, I believe , co r rect, but thecalcul a tion s are not.



AMBULATORY 229

better than today , because now the screening of the great arch , tosay nothing of the loss of mo st of the br ight interior painting , reduc es

the total illumination considerab ly .Panel L7 had many connections with L8, which i s hardly sur

prising wh en we con sider that L8 along with panel s R - R4 ) wouldby all count s have been it s rnost immediat e prototype. Needle ss tosay, their proximity, both in space and time , further exp lain s thi svery clo se connection; however , L7 , being a production of the troubled Period of Di sruption , is treated much les s ambitiously than theslightly earlier pan el L8. It ha s no elaborat e carv ed motif s aboveother than two con ventional flying coup les. Quite po ssibly an archand other motifs were painted in , although no evidence of any painting today survives on the smoothed area above. The throne motifsare of the expected type s showing running naga s above and makara sand vya las at the throne side s, w ith leonine legs supportin g thenubbed seat. 4

The sculptor carving L7 obviously had much difficulty with seriou s fault s in the rock near the ba se, and this certain ly a ccount s forthe un u sually cur sory way that the whole compo sition, but esp ecially

the bottom area , ha s been treated. I t includes on ly the six four largeand two tin y) kneeling devotee s along with a centra l pair of verysimple now damaged ) lotus leaves . It seems likely that the deer andpo ssibly the na gas) were 01nitted due to the fault s in thi s ar ea. Notealso the evidence of a repair to the proper right knee; thi s repair ,like a similar one in panel R4 , must have been made when breakage occurred at the time of carving .

Th e asp ect of L7 that appear s to locate it in time mo st preci selyis its inclu sion of the conventiona l bodhi sattva s a cro wned Vajrapanion the right and Avalokitesvara , with jata headdress , ante lope skin ,and po ssib le trace s of a kamandalu on the left. Had L7 been conceived much later , standing Buddha s would have served a s attendant s in stead , as in other lar ge intru sive panel s at th e rear of theambula tory. In tere sting too is the fact that onl y one of the cauribearing bodhisattvas has a halo , and it i s small and hard to see , as

4

As in a few oth er a mbul at ory pan els, the nu b s ca ppin g the thron e legs a re notsho wn h ere, eve n thou gh th ey a re c on ve n tion al in sc ulp tur e from 4 77 on. Perh apsthis reflects the trea tm ent of im p o rtant shrin e and shrinel e t im ages in Ca ve Up p e r6 q. v.), a nd the g reat im age in C ave 16. A lso, as is o ften th e case in th e Periodof Di srup tion, floral scroll s in stea d of ele ph a nts a pp ea r un d e r th e vyalas .



AMBULATORY 23

make for a certain deg ree of standardi zat ion in their production s.Furth e rmor e individual d ono rs ma y ha ve had certain co nstraint s

impo sed upon them by their a ssociate s w ith regard to the width ofwa ll space which they could use for any particular votive re lief; thismi ght explain why narrower re liefs start ed to be carve d in the ambu-lator y w h en spa ce was runnin g out in this desirable location.

As a group , panels R6 and R7 , together with R8 and R9 , forman in teres tin g su bje ct for compari son with the s ligh tly earlier triad of panels R2 - R 4, whic h were do ne in 478, durin g the pe riod of thecave's original d evelopm ent. Th ey are strikin gly less elaborat e because,except for the hast ily done flyin g couples in their upper corners, the ycomp letely lack the rich o ve rlay of forms which adorns the upper

levels of R2 - R4 ; and it i s clear , since other sculpture s a re placedab ove th em , that such motif s were not painted in , as might h avebeen th e case in th e rou gh ly conte 1nporary L7. Such a reduction inthe ambitiousness of conceptions, even more e vident in still laterpanels, pointedly reveals how clearl y a nd how rapidly Ajanta's patro nage was declining in this la st tr oubl ed period of it s active hi story .5

At the same tim e there are int eres tin g co nn ection s between these

panels (R6 - R9 ) and tho se done a yea r earlier in 4 78, as we ll assignific ant icono graphic a l changes. It is immediatel y obviou s and

h ar dly su rpri sing that th e later panel s derive in man y re spe cts fromth e ear lier ones. In fact it is only reasonab le to assu me that som eof the sa me ar t ists w orked on bo th gr oup s. Thi s w ould exp lain certain strikin g simil ari ties in the treat ment of the Buddha s the thr oneback and the throne ba se mo tifs, the flying coup les, and the ba sepanels; in th e latter, one even finds (in R 6 and R 7) th e sa m e fusionof wh eel and lotus ste m whi ch we have see n in R2. In deed, R6cou ld we ll have been done by the artist who worked on R2 , but ona b ad da y ; or perhap s it was hastily carved for a new donor who

wante d r esults very quickl y and cheaply in th is ti1ne of increasingtroubl es . E ven it s throne back motif s th e sa m e simpl e bolster w ithre latively plain makaras and runnin g figures above a re qua litativelyreduced, as is the ba se pa nel; note for in stance ho w the beauti ful,and expec ted, figures of the nagas Nanda and Up ana nd a ha ve beenomitt ed from R6.

' For instance , the throne -backs of R 7 and R 8 are greatly simplified .



232 CAVE 26

We might also note how closel y the innovative feature of dwarf sholdin g up th e throne in pane l R2 is cop ied in panel R6 , and how

thi s feature de velop s very s lightl y later in panel s R8 and Rl5 , w herethe dwarf s are standin g, and have an even more acti ve s upportingfunction. Thi s probabl y explains th e unexp ec ted omi ssion in R8 andRl5 of the revealed portions of the throne legs which are normall ysee n , at th is la t e date , over th e h ea ds of su ch suppo rtin g figures,whether they be dwarf s or th e more conventiona l sup portin g lion s.It is probabl y significant too that onl y in R2 and R6 among the

various pane ls in th e ambu latory does Ava lokit esvara wea r a knott edscar f rather than an antelope skin . Fur the rmore , although Avaloktesvarain R2 now hold s a lotus rather than a kamandalu (as in R6 ) this isonl y because th i s area broke durin g the course of cutting, makin gsu ch a change advisable .

P anel R8 , w hi ch we cou ld reas onabl y suppo se was fin ish ed slightlyla te r than panel R6 , jud gin g from its po sition , ha s a few other inno-vat ive feature s too. T he ba se panel ha s an uncon ve ntio na l and rather

playful repr esen tati on of a yaksha (?) supported b y two attendants,at th e right , w hil e another ya ksha (?) in st ea d of a na ga, is plac ed

near the ce ntral lotu s ste m. Ho weve r, the four much dama ged de vo-tees at the left do not appear to be yakshas, for they a re very thin.

Equall y interesting, a preaching padma sana Buddha appears atthe top ce nter of the relief, remindin g one of the pla ce ment of thesmall bhadra sana Buddha ove r the figure of Ava lo kitesvara in the

intru sive Litan y sce ne in the porch of Ca ve 4, a conception whichis almost exactly contemporaneous with this panel. Amon g the rea-son s for the inclu sion of thi s ext ra Buddha in panel R8 we c ouldcite the fact that in this late pha se the multiplication of Buddhaim a ges w ithin the same composition become s increa singly common

Beside s there may be a particular ju stifi ca tion from the point of

view of the subject , w hich can probabl y be con sid ered as ha vin g ref-eren ce to the Miracl e at Sravasti when the Buddha duplicated him-self w ithin the skie s; perhap s the yak sha s on the ba se panel areamong tl1e amazed ob servers of the latter scene .

But p e rhap s m os t important , th ere app ea rs to be a goo d techni-cal exp lanation, wh ich i s that a seriou s fault appears at ju st the point

where the Buddha s fa ce wou ld ha ve been carved, if R8 had beencomposed exactly like R7 and R6. Apparentl y in order to av oidthi s problem , the artist grea tly reduced the size of R8 s main image(whi ch in conse quen ce is di sproportionatel y small ) so that it s h ea d



AMBULATORY 235

conventional bodhi sattva like those in all early panels . Thus it seemsreasonable to place thi s pane l at approx imat ely th e sa m e date a s th e

R6 - R8 grou p, namely lat e 479/ early 480.It is curious to note that although the bodhisattva , with the long

stemmed lotus (unfinished ) and ant elope skin , is surely intended tobe Avalokite svara , it is pla ced on the right, rat h er than in the con-

ventio nal left po sition. In the few other sculptur ed panel s at the sitewhere the positioning of the bodhisattva is sim ila rly rever sed thechange was probably 1nade becau se of technical considerations. 9 Here ,howev er, in L 2, the iconographic situation i s differ en t, becau se astanding Buddha was includ ed as an attendant , and it see ms e vident that he was assigned the more significant or prie stly positionat the proper right. 1

The carving of thi s bodhi sattva i s so rough that it is hard to besure if th e headdr ess was intend ed to be of th e jata type, a s wewould expect if the figure is indeed Ava lokite sva ra. It is clear thatthe sculptor had not finished the piece , for the throne seat is quiterough, and neith er the top of th e throne leg s n or th e nu b s haveb een d efined, nor was the throne back fini shed very well. P erhap s

the arti st was ru shed in hi s wo rk , as was not unu sual at Ajanta atthi s time, and quite po ssibly he depe nded upon the subsequent plastering and paintin g of the image to hide his hasty chiseling .

A rather similar situation i s evident in panel L7 , wher e variousde tai ls mo st no tably on the ba se, have someth ing of the same appearance as the ha stily carved L2 motifs. Yet L7 , certain ly one of therelatively early undertaking s in the ambulatory , wa s clearly finished ,and ind eed r etains trac es of pla ster. Actually , th ere is a good po ssibility that the same artist planned and perhap s carved both L2 and

L 7. The unusually slack and flat treatment of the ba ses connectsthem , as doe s the surprising omission of naga s in favor of deer (without a wheel ) in L2 and of mere leave s in L 7 .1 1

9 See Cave 11 porch right wa ll, where there was not suffi cien t room for th ebodhisattva's ka ma nd alu on the prop er right. Simi lar reve rsa ls appear mo r e frequ en tly n painting·s. See the pa in ted g roup on C ave 1 7's left front pilaster; thepanel is alm os t certai nly in trusive . See also the bodhisattva attendants in the paint

in gs on the left rear porch wa ll of Cave 16, on th e left rear hall wall in Cave 2,and on the left rear h a ll wa ll of Cave 11 (fragm ent ary).

1 ] Huntin gton has po in ted out that, co nvent ion a lly one figu re is assoc iate d

with karuna, an d the other w ith prajna . See Huntin gton 198 1, 4 7- 56 .1 1 Pe rh aps th e w h eel was painted on th e carve d lotus stem; carved whee ls a re

co mbin ed wi th th e ste m s in panels R2 , R5, and R6.



238 CAVE 26

seems quite unfini shed , although the y were pla stered , and (pr e sum -ably ) paint ed and dedi cate d. P e rhap s th e same patron and/ or artist

was respon sible for both.The prior placement of the latter padma sana panel probabl y

accounts for the mor e cramped po sitioning of th e four pan els ju stto the left. 3 Th e fact that three of them are in th e bhadra sana mod eonly en hance s this assumption, sin ce small sca le im a ges of thi s typeappear so particularl y late in our sequence. Note , too , that the bodhisattvas stand upon lotu s pede stals in pa nels L2d and L2e, but notin L2a. Thi s is as we might exp ect, s in ce th e u se of lotu s p ed esta lsfor attendant s a fea ture not found anywhere at the site prior to 478,become s more and more common as work progre sses during thePeriod of Di sr uption. The usage, common among large ima ges in4 7 8 , was perhaps suggeste d b y the use of lotus pedesta ls under the

detached bodhisattvas wh ich are associated with Cave 26' s 1nain•

Ima ge.The cauri bearing bodhi sat tvas flanking both L2d and L2e are of

the expect ed types . In each case Avalokit es vara with hi s kamanda luand jatamukuta sta nd s on th e left, while a cro wne d figu r e with the

vaj ra stand s on the right. The smaller adjacent panel s L 2b and L 2comit the bodhi sattvas, but include flying dwarf s above; as is oftenthe ca se in very late i1na ges, th ey no longer hold gar land s. It is

worth notin g that , despite the ve ry small size of the se two panel s

the a r tist carefu lly defined the nubbed lion throne s. The manner inwhich the kneelin g devotees, pla ced at either side of panel L 2d , sho wa lack of concern with de sign balance i s also quite characteristic of

th e way carvings were p lanned durin g th e P er iod of Di sruption.It see m s evident that the po sitioning of the bhadra sa na ima ge at

the lower left of this gr oup of four reflects the prior pre sence of thelarger panel L2 , since if space had n ot been at a premium , it is

unlikely th at either it or the little padmasana panel ju st above itwou ld ha ve c ut into the pr ec isely carved folia ge of th e sal tr ee . 4

3 e ass um e that the lower righ t panel (L 2a ), b eca use of its mor e spac ious po sitioning, and its m ore conven ient (lowe r) location, was started befo re the panel j ustabove (L2e) O f course L2b , c, d, a nd e we re probably all und erway a t the sa m e

time, pos sibly wh i le L2a was sti ll in pro cess too. See pa tt ern belowE BA

D C4 Intru sions do som etimes cut away foliage and other no n-i co ni c d eta ils but



AMBULATORY 239

Furthermore, the little kneeling de votee at the right (compare theoth er two at th e left) is pl ace d at a slightl y high er leve l than expec ted,

alm ost ce rtainl y to avoid too close a proximity to the upper edge ofL2 , where the rock i s some wh at flawed. The tw o li ttle bhadr asanap anel s at th e right of this intru sive gro up also seem to r eflec t, inth eir posit ioning, the prior pr e se n ce of panel L 2, sinc e their left edgeslin e up prec isely w ith the left edge of th e latter. It is as if, at th etime the y we re conceived , the artist considered the bound s of theadjac ent Parinirv ana scene to come up to thi s point , even thou gh ,like Ajanta' s mural s, it was not rigo rou sly fram ed .

Thu s it seems logica l to assume that of th e four littl e reliefs, thetwo on the ri ght we re done first , since the y in no way intrude upon

the Parini rvana's space, as do the left one s. Fur thermore , it is easier to believe that the little d evo tee a t the right of the lower leftpanel (L 2e) was carve d after th e lowe r ri ght bh a dra sana im a ge (L2 c)rather th an the other way a round ; if the latte r had been the case ,the sc ulptor of the lower right pa nel (L2c ) wou ld ha ve left a w iderfr am e beneath, by po sitionin g it slightly hi gh er, or redu cin g its size .

It mi ght also b e noted that th e small padma sana panel in th e

extreme upper left (L2e ) h ad a con siderabl y more deve loped ba searra ngemen t (with devotee s beneath , and a hei gh te ned lotu s pede stal )than that of any of the other small padmasana images in thi s area,a ll of whi ch may be very s lightly (i.e. so m e month s) ear lie r. Th eextreme upper left pane l s b ase arrangement wou ld see m to sho wthe dire ct influen ce of very recent bhaclra sa na compositions, such astho se in R - R6 , dati ng from late 478 onward. Needless to say, onewo uld expect smne delay before the latt er ba se a rr ange m ent s wo uldappear in ass oci at ion with paclma sana images. 15

Such detailed ana lyses ma y weary the rea der , but the y a re important if we are to be able to es tabli sh that the s1na ll bhadr asa n a pan-els are indeed lat er than L2 , a con clu sion wh ich wou ld allow us toass ign th em with co nfiden ce to 480, sin ce L 2 it se lf was probablyu nde rway at the be ginnin g of th at sam e final year of the site 's artistic activity . Th is in turn h as im plicatio ns for our analysis of such

it was eas ie r to work on a plain smooth surfac e. As an ex a mpl e, see Cave 2, rea rwa ll at left , where a small inscrib ed Bu ddha covers some of th e lotus ste ms andleaves of the larger Sravast i l\lliracle . B oth a re in trusive.

5 This elevated padmasana type first appea rs on the left wall of the a nt ec ham-b er of Cave Upp er 6; but that is a considerab ly less complex conception that this.



240 CAVE 26

reliefs in other contexts, for it i s only by a per sistent accumulationof suc h ev id en ce that we can sho w that such sma ll bhadra sa na

Buddha s when in intru sive contexts, ne ve r date prior to the la styear of activity at the site. Howe ve r, it i s of intere st to note thateven in Cave 26's ambulatory, where by 480 standin g Buddha s areinva riabl y used as attendants in lar ge bhadra sana panels, bodhi satt vasstill r e1nain as the co nvent ional attendants in the smaller panels. Thi sis not surpri sing w hen we consider that of ten differen t (usual ly moreconservative ) conventions at Ajanta we re in use at a given time forsculptur e as opposed to p aintin g or for i1nages in intru sive as oppo sedto consistently -pro grammed (i.e . original ) contexts. vVe need onl yremember th at bhadrasana im a ges were ne ve r used in any sculp-tura l contexts what soe ver prior to 477, nor in intru sive contexts prior

to late 478 to get some insight in to the remarkable dynam ics ofthese de velop1n en ts.

Since we have now sh own that in at least one in stance panelLlb, and probabl y Lla, and the three similar little padma sana pan-els on the front wa ll as well min or ima ges were already bein gcarved in th e ambulatory in 4 79; and sinc e we kno w that such minor

intru sive im a ges we re also b ein g carved elsew here at the site at thi stime, we mi ght rea sonab ly expect to find contemporaneous littleim a ges on the right side of the ambulatory too. And if our rule is corre ct, th e ea rli es t of the sea ted im a ges i.e. tho se whi ch wemigh t date prior to 48 0 would all have to be padma sana ra ther

th an bhadra sa na Buddha s.This doe s indeed appear to be the case, as we can tell b y s tud y

ing th e lesse r figures whi ch appe ar in av ailabl e spaces in th e mor eforward part s of the ambulatory, the areas which in gene ral wou ldha ve been utilized fir st. Man y of these figures are cle a rly fi ller s ,cut into the frames which sep arat e the larger p an e ls; and it i ssignifi can t that although there are many such figur es, we find nobhadra sana ima ges on th ese frames anywhere on the l ong stretch ofwall as fa r down as panel R 10 . By th a t time we are in areas whichwere not bein g decorated until 48 0, as we sh a ll see . Similarly, thesm a ll sea ted Buddh as at th e upp er corn ers of the ea rly and elaborate panel s R2 , R 3 and R 4, as well as in these sa1ne po sition s in

the related R8 , are all in the padma sana mode , as are the seve nBudd has plus Nlaitreya which ar e cut a lon g the top of the wa ll abo vepanel s R 5- R7 .

There is one small bhadrasana panel fair ly near th e front end of



242 CAVE 26

We can say this with some certainty becau se it so clearly postdatesthe nearby pane ls R6 and R 7, wh ich them selves were probably not

fini shed until 480. s we pointed out, panels R6 - R7 were p lacedfar enough down the aisle to avoid contact with the fault which runsjust above R5. Thi s was a very reasonable action wh en they wereconceived , because at that time there was plenty of wall space availab le. But as such space be ca m e clearer and clearer, patrons andartists became le ss fussy, so that at some point after R6 and R 7were underway some donor opted for the R5 area. He compensatedfor the problem of the flaws (one of which would have gone rightthrough the Buddha s head if it had been located at the normalleve l) by lowering the whole panel.

At the same time other adjustments h ad to be made, which sho wthat the artist was very much constrained by having to compose hi spanel wit hin th e constricted space wh ich no w rema in ed between R 4and R6; it was quite narrow becau se the donor of R6 made noallowance for anything that might be put in this unused area lateron . I ndeed, th e space avai lable was even further reduced by the

extens ion of R4 s base panel an ex tra seventeen inches or so to the

left , to (surprising ly) accommodate some extra devotees. Thi s forcedhim to have a margin of that wi dth on the right. When a roughlyequivalent margin was established on the left, it was clear that if themain Buddha image it self was go in g to be kept as large as possib le,there was no po ssi bili ty of carving the expected attendants whichat this point in time would sure ly have been Buddha s. Ho wever,knowing how often such attendants were painted on the revea ls of

su ch panel s (in Cave U6 and elsew here ) we can believe that theywere paint ed here as well; it i s alrnost certain that they wou ld beincluded.

Needless to say, if pane l R6 had not already been sta rted to the

left , the artist who carved panel R5 wou ld have been able to havewidened his composition and thus to h ave carved it with both theexpected sta ndin g attendants and also to ha ve created a more spaciously composed ba se panel a feature invariably found in the fourteen other major bhadra sana Buddha panels in th e ambulatory. Th eomission of such carved attendants here clearly pro ves that R5 was

crowded in at a later date, out of the expected seque nce. Ho wever,this is not to say that it is sign ificantl y later than R6 - R8 , for itslocation , like that of L2 s must have early been recognized as a fairlyideal one despite the flawed ro ck. The fact that panel R5 is very



AMBULATORY 43

well carved, and that it was fully finished , also sug gests that it mu sthave b een done before man y of the st ill rou gh ima ges farth er ba ck

in the ambu latory, which were in complete when time ran out.It could be noted that, with its running nagas, makara s with han g

ing ga rland s, tassled lotu s fronds, vya la s, and supportin g lio ns, R 5b ea rs man y co nn ec tion s w ith var iou s other panel s, but th ese motif swere so co nventiona l throu ghout th e w hole phase of w ork in th eambula tory that one would he sitate to da te the relie f pr e cise ly onsuch gr ound s. More sug gest ive i s the fact that the little figures whic hare cut into it s fram es includ e no bhadra sana ima ges . Thi s in it selfis no proof that they belong to 47 9 or ea rly in 480 ra ther thanclose r to the end of work in the cav e, but it is suggest ive , for wecan pre sume tha t they we re ca rved at the sa me time as the verysitnilar one s wh ich lin e the frames of panel s R6 , R7 , R8 and R9 -all of which were being fini sh ed at this time.

One of the se lit tle panels , on the frame bet wee n R 4 and R5 , isof particular interest , since a sma ll standin g Buddha , in scr ibed asthe gift of th e tnonk Sanghamitra (In scr 96 ), ha s been cut over th esketch ed ou tline of an abandoned padm asana ima ge . On e can see

that the unfini shed padmasana ima ge 1nu st ha ve been p laced thereafte r p anel R 5 was alread y either completed or undervvay, since itis carefully composed within the space left as a frame after the latter was pos iti oned. Thu s th e sketc h cou ld hardl y date much if at allprior to 480 , whi le the in scr ibed sta ndin g Buddha mu st ob viou slybe some wh at later still. It is of int ere st t o note tha t the incised linedefinin g the upper m arg in of thi s sketch extends over to Panel R4 ,takin g no acco unt of what mu st (or may ) ha ve be en th at earli erpanel s painted mar gin.

Of course we cannot be sure wh y w ork on the padmasana im agewas g iven up , but it is more likel y that it was bec au se the donor

either died or (in the se troubled time s) sud d enly found himself insolvent or in h aste to get away th an be ca u se of a change of co ncep-tion in mid- cour se. vVe would support this surmi se b y pointing outthat the stan ding Buddha cut over it see m s to be distin ctly later thantho se on th e oth er (le ft) frame of R5 , and ind eed lat er than any oftho se on the frame s of panels R6 , R 7, R8 and R9. \1Ve make this

judgment b ecause all of the standin g Buddha s except this on e, wh ichappear on the frames of panel s R 5 thr ough R8 h ave lotu s pedestals,as do the littl e s tandin g Buddha s wh ich , even earl ier , were carvedover th e ar ch in panel L 2.



244 CAVE 26

Wherea s one cannot make a clear distinction between early and

la t e intrusive standing Buddha s on thi s sa me spec ific basis elsewhere

in the cave, or for the site as a wh ole , it doe s seem to hold truehere. Even if it is no more than the personal idio syncra sy of a single scu lptor or th e gro up of scu lptor s who did the little images , itclearl y separates the re -cut standing Buddha from its co unterpart son the frames from her e through R8 , and links it with the few smallstand in g Buddha s (e.g. , on the frames of Rl 0) which appear beyondthat poi nt, as well as wi th the larger stan din g Buddhas which , conside ring the ir locat ion s (and sometime s their unfini shed states as well)are clearly to be dated among the latest scu lptures in the ambu latory.

Thus , it wou ld seem that after the sketche d out padmasana imagewas abandoned, no attempt was made at first either to complete itor to start the new carving which now appears there. This is understandabl e, sin ce as long as there we re other spots avai lable, whywou ld a sensible donor opt for this one? Howe ver, as good spacescame to be scarcer and scarcer during the course of 480 , this unu sedspace may have seemed to look bett er and better, at whi ch point

(we can surmise ) Sanghamitra ord ered th e littl e stan ding Buddha to

be carved, and had his inscription incised belo w it. Incidentall y, wecannot effectively explain the omission of the lotus pede stal by saying that the space below was reserved for the inscription , becausethe placement of the kneeling devotees, directly at the level of theBuddha s feet , shows t ha t, from the time of the image's conception ,it was planned withou t the pede sta l. In any case , it wou ld have beena simple matter to have planned for both the inscription and thep edesta l, had concer n for th e latter been a factor.

On the basis of the se conside ration s, the little standin g Buddha

in que stion shou ld probably be dated some weeks or months laterthan its relatively modest counterparts along the right wa ll, up asfar as panel RIO. Although certainly earlier than smne of the unfinishedpanel s toward the rear of the ambulatory , it can hardl y be p lacedbefore mid- 48 0. Consequently , its inscription must be the latest inciseddonative record at the site. It is of interest in other respects too.Lik e Gunakara's record (s) on the fa<;ade, dateable to ear ly 479, itsupports our assumption that a ll of these intrusive scu lptur es in Cave

26 , and elsewhere at the site, were the donations of separate individua ls not necessari ly connected with the patronage of the caves inwh ich their intrusive donation s appear. Nei th er Sanghamitra norGunakara is mentioned in the dedicatory inscription of Cave 26 ,



AMBULATORY 245

while the monk Dhann adatta , w ho was indeed one o f those monkswho had see n to th e excav ation and completion of (Cave 26 ) (Cave

26 in scription , ve rse 14 6

obviou sly had nothin g to do with the creati on of Varahadeva's Cave 16, where hi s intru sive donation s appear. 7

It is also of interest to reali ze that h ere on ce again, as so oft en atthe site , it was a monk who 1nad e (and was able to make ) thedonation.

A grea t number of the in tru sive pain ted Buddha s on the pillar san d elsewhere in caves 9 and 10, which we re redecorated in theVakataka p eriod , also refer to monk s as donor s. 8 Thu s th ey mu ststill ha ve been receiving offerings of mone y food, cloth es and thelike. It i s quite po ssible that, in these hard time s the monks mi ghtha ve been able to trade pr aye rs and rituals to p ay the workmenwh o would make votive images for th e1n . It is a lso of interest tonote that mo st of the p lastering of monk s' ce lls throu ghout the sitewas done after Hari sena 's death, suggesti ng that this work too ma yhave been specifica lly intended as piou s offe rings to the monks by

sep a rat e individual s rat her than by the caves' or igin al donor s.Th e ev id ence of th e m any don ativ e in scr iption s in caves 2, Up p er

6, 9, l 0 , 11 , 16, and 22 proves that donors (perhap s resignedly )expected to have their record s p a inted on in stea d of cut into therock durin g the anxious las t years of activity at th e site fro m mid-478 throu gh 480, the period to which all suc h private donate insc riptions belon g. Consequently, it see m s reasonable to believe that man yof the ambula tor y sculp ture s ma y once h ave had such r ecord s whichhave long sin ce disa ppe are d. Certainly all of them at le a st all of thecomp let ed scu lptur es were on ce plastered and paint ed , as we cantell b y remainin g tra ces at the higher leve ls; the debris which filledthe lowe r four to six feet quickly dissolved any pla ste red surface sthat it touched, along with any painted in scription s on them. Thesituation would h ave been exacerbated b y the fact that 1nost in sc ription s would ha ve been written ben ea th th e i1nages .

Such pla ste rin g incidenta lly wou ld certain ly ha ve been used tohide the sketched in padma sana Buddha ove r wh ich Sa n ghamitra 's

16 Cohen 1995, 381, #9 3 , verses 14, 15 reads Th anks are d ue to th e monk

Dhar m adatta as we ll as to m y exce llent student Bhadrabandhu, as these two complete d this temp le on my beha lf. \IVhatever me ri t there is he re, may that be forthem and for the world

17 In scr #70, 71, 72.18 See Cohen 1995, 412 .



246 CAVE 26

image was cut; indeed, this was probabl y why the artist who cut thestandin g Buddha did not bother to era se th e remains of th e sketched

in Buddha at the right. Although Sanghamitra s im a ge had lost allof its paint and plaster, the fact that there are hook-ho les (presumably for garlands ) suggests that it was probably completed anddedicated.

The unusual p lacement of the little standi ng Buddha , very closeagainst the left edge of the frame between panel R4 and panel RScan be readily explained by noting the faults in the rock. By locating the panel to the left the scu lptor was able to make th e Buddhaas lar ge as possib le and at the sa me time keep its head below theangled fault line (now obscured by inept cementing ). The flawedquality of the rock also exp lains why no other ima ges were carvedhigher up on this frame, de spite the fact that it is both quite wideand we ll illuminated. t does, of cour se see m likel y that similarl yintrusive images would have been painted in such an area, even ifthe artists he sitated to carve them.

Continuing our discussion of th e larger panels in the ambulatory,it seems reasonable to place panel Rl 5 close to the period when

R6 R8 were being done. It is positioned very much like panel L8 ,but becau se of the slightly asymmetrica l disposition of the cave sstupa and of the cave s rear pillars, it is much less well lit , and furthermore the rock in this area is extremely faulted. Thu s Rl5 s area,although certainly more desirab le than mo st others in the apse, wascertain ly not as ideal as that where the very elaborate L8 is located,so it is not surpri sing that it was done somewhat later, and consequently shows s tandin g Buddha s as attendants instead of bodhisattvas .Like L7 , L2 , and R5 - R8 it ha s no arches or other motifs above.Ho wever, it does, like al l of them (but un like later panels ) ha ve acarved base with nagas and devotees. The fact that there are onlytwo devotees on each side may be because of the panel s rathersmall size. Thi s mi ght also explain why th e nagas ha ve their lowerlegs su bmer ge d a convention that may have begun at Ajanta, andbecome s increasing ly common in the sixth century. The throne motifs,by and large of the conven tional type, includ e the som ewhat unusualmotif of dwarfs sup por ting the throne; the motif is not found in mo st

other sculptures at the site, but does appear in R2 , R6 and R8.Panel s R9 and L 4, the next in the expected sequence as one pro-gre sses down the aisles, were prob ab ly done at approximately thesame time as Rl 5 relatively late in 480 but not so late that they



AMBULATORY 247

could not be fini she d before time ran out. Ju st as R l5 's upper ma r-gin ma y hav e b een lowe red becau se of th e se riou s rock fla ws ju st

above , R9 's ma y have been slight l y ra ised for the sa me rea son , sothat the flying couples at the upper ri gh t w ould no t be affected.

Pan els R9 an d L4 are th e s tanda rd types for th is per iod , wit hst a ndin g Buddh as as attendant s flyin g coup les abo ve, runnin g na gasabove the makar as, vya las , and supp or tin g lion s for th e t hron e. I nR9 th ese lion s tw ist their he a ds back , som ew h at in the very de ve l-oped manner of a few other particularl y late exa mple s; e .g . left court

shrin e of Cav e Upper 6 . R9 al so ha s in plac e of elep h ants or run-nin g figure s beneath the vy alas, s imple scrollin g forms , as in the sin-gle bhadra sana image on Cave 26's left return. L4 s la r ge runnin gfigures bene ath the vyalas are al so a very late fea ture.

In both R9 and L4 na gas s upport the lotu s s tem , w ith de voteeson e ither side. L4 sho ws a se ated Buddh a here , w ith five attendant

seate d de vot ees, wh ile R9 has four seate d figures , perh ap s influencedin this regard by the closely contetnporary Rl5. t also seems evi-dent that the padma sa na Buddha on th e lower left frame of R9 wascarv ed b efore R9 's ba se motif s thu s reduc ing av a ilabl e space . It

clearl y usu rp s so me of the space w hi ch they wo uld normall y occupy.Th at the b ase panel would be the last p art of the composition tobe carved is generally the case; in panel s l l and R l5 , whi ch were

sti ll in compl ete w hen w ork in the ambulatory cam e to a halt , th eb ases h ave no t even be en starte d. Thi s st r on gly c on firms w hat weh ave a lr eady h yp othesize d from the evidence of panel L2 and itsearlier lowe r left padmasana inset , Ll b: name ly th at the little pan-

els in th e ambulatory we re b ein g done in the sa m e pha se of wo rkas the lar ge r ones. Thi s co nclu sion i s su pport ed b y the fact that there

is no di sproportion ate number of unfinished small panel s as would

h ave been the case if th e y h a d be en, in genera l, the produ cts of adistinctly sub se quent pha se .

Vve could al so point out that the two little standin g Buddh as on

the lef t fra me of R9 we re almo st certainly laid out at the sa me timeas the padmasana im age below ; othe rwise we wo uld expect them tob e cen ter ed in the frame rath er than lin ed up on ax is w ith th e lower

ima ge. Thi s mean s tha t the y probabl y we re being cut before R9 was

much underway , or at lea st befor e it s ba se panel had been cm n -p leted. In fac t , it look s very mu ch as if R9 's carve r , through over-sight or lac k of concern , carve d th e left m argin of hi s relief in respon seto th e prior pre sence of th e little panel s on R 9's left fr am e, rather



AMBULATORY 49

after R9 , it could nonetheless have been underway while the latterwas still being fini sh ed. This see m s likely, not only becau se it mu st

be clear b y now how compact and overlapping this who le sequenceof various Buddhas is , but also because one standing Buddha on itsleft frame was fini sh ed, and so probably relate s clo sely in date tothe right frarne s finished on e , which as we have pointed out wasunderway at the same time as panel R9.

Panel RIO , a standing Buddha s on a lotus pedestal supported by

two naga s (its size adjusted to keep it below a bad fault just aboveits h ea d) is a n ew type of ima ge at the site and of course on e ofthe latest iconographic form s de veloped , since it does not appearuntil the last few months of activity. By this time the oppo site (left)wa ll of the ambulatory was all but filled , the only remaining areasbeing a small space between L4 and L7 and another small space atthe rear, ju st to the right of L8. Two ima ges of a very s imilar type(except for the proper right hand s position ), namely L5 and L6 ,were fitted into the first availab le space , while another (L9 ), appar -ently planned to b e of the sam e typ e, was be gun at the rear.

Th e new format, which so effici ently mak es reference to cele stia l,

earthly, and aquatic devotee s ma y ha ve see med particularly attrac -tive at this time, since it took up less of the b y now precious space.Furthermore , wh ile very impressive, such figures, which probably

shou ld also be cons idered as referrin g to the Sravasti Miracle , werecertain ly faster and ch eaper to create than large bhadrasana com-

positions. Such factor s probabl y assumed particular importance atth i s time, for it is evident that by the time these three images wereunderway, patrona ge in th i s cave and (a fortiori ) throu gho ut the sit ewas about to collapse comp letely. Thi s had of course not yet hap-pened , for it i s clear that mo st and perhap s a ll of the major imageswhich had been started by the ti1ne that R 10, L5 and L6 did indeedreach completion succe ssfull y. In fact, the dramatic quality of thesen ew st andin g Buddha s bears witness to the continuing hi gh l evel ofenergy augmented b y anxiety which fueled donations so inten selyright up to the end of 480.

It is also of int eres t to note that th e proper right hand s po sitionin the standin g Buddha s L5 and L6 is quite uncommon at the site.

Thi s abhaya mudra the gesture of reassurance was used for thestanding Buddha in Upendragupta s Cave 19, intended originall y as

the focal image at the site , as well as on the shrine doorway s of the

same kin g s Caves 17 and 20. H owever, it is rarely found during



250 CAVE 26

the period from 4 7 5 - 47 8 , when the Asmaka s were ruling the site;its u se ma y ha ve been disco ura ge d because of it s association with

the defeated king. It is only when the Asmaka s control ove r the sitewas broken, startin g in 479, that thi s Buddha type gains wide curren cy on ce again. 21 By th e sa m e token, th e Asm a ka s disa llow ed worship in U pendra gupta s spl endid ca itya hall wh il e the y active lycontro lled th e site.

The next im a ges to have been conceived and start ed wh en pan-els R 10 , L5, L6 , and L9 were ju st in the beginning stage s may wellha ve been th e series of standin g Buddha s w hi ch filled up the stillava ilable space of R l 0 it self, and (probabl y a bit later ) above theadjacent R9 and R8 , over which the y are placed without an y par-

ticu lar attempt at a balanced de sign nor with an y direct compositional con n ection with the panel s below. Th ey form part of a fairl ylar ge number of relativel y large standin g im a ges (includin g Rl2 , Rl3 ,R 14, and finall y R l ) which occup y the last-available space s in theambulatory; and the saine factor s (space- saving fonnat, speed , andlow cost) which may have recomm ended R l 0 , L5 , L6 , and L9, mi ghtwell explain why the el eve nth hour donor s chose these form s. t is

probabl y a sign of the rapidl y declining times that they are notabl ysimpler than the more ambitious RIO , L5 , and L6 ; none o f themhave nagas b enea th , and even lotu s pede stal s are now omitted. The ydo all ha ve devotees, at least near the Buddha s feet, but th is mi ghtwe ll be because the donor s identified them selves even if only in aver y g eneral w ay with the se small kneelin g figures, and thus wereloathe to omit them, even in the interest of sav ing time and mone y.

Of the figur es over R8 - R l0 , th e one over RIO (no. I ) ma y ha vebeen underway first, for it is a relati vely ambit iou s conception, withits two de votee s both show n abo ve and below and it s fairl y largesize . Unlik e others around it, it was fully fini shed. Al so it i s centeredabove R 10 , suggesti ng that it was relat ed to that panel and that itspo sition was established before other intru sive panel s cou ld dislodgeit. The pair of standin g Buddha s (D , E) in the ha stily outlined pa vilion may have been starte d at this very sa me time too ; not only areth ey n ear er th e front of the cave, but they ar e mor e carefully fini shedthan the ne xt group , ju st to the left ; they are a lso some what more

2 For disc ussion, see Vo lume I, Chapter 12 Cave 26L\IV See a lso Cave 7 santechamber for exceptions.



AMBULATORY 25

elaborate, with tvv o de votee s each ins te ad of one , and with archi-tec tural frames.

The group o ver R9 (F , G , H ,) was co ncei ved as a triad, as isclear from their placement within a single recessed area, and fromth e balanc ed arrangement of th e two outer devot ees in th e lowe rcorner s. Th e manner in wh ich the right edge of the re cess cu ts so

d an ger ou sly close to the in cised edge of th e adjacent pav ilion make s it clear th at the recessed area was cut late r, while the factthat on e of the three Buddha s that at the right was never quitefull y carved (note hi s hair, ea r , and adjacent matri x) also a rgu esstron gly for thi s g roup 's relative latene ss. t is particularl y intere st-in g to note that , althou gh not fully carved , this triad w as nonethe-less pain te d, like the finished Buddha s on either side. (Thi s is clear ,sin ce trace s of paint remain .) Thi s was certainly done becau se patro n -age was in a stat e of immin ent collapse at ju st thi s tim e, so that th egr oup had to be rushed to completion , to get it dedic ate d . As wecan see, the standin g Buddha s (C and J) at either end of the serieswe have been discuss in g we re so ex tr em ely unfini sh ed th at it is not

surpri sing that th ey s ho w no traces of paint at all.

Panel C, the panel nearest the front of the cave in this serie s ofdispar ate stan din g Buddha s poses a speci a l problem. Even thoughit is very sim ple , like tho se w hi ch form the triad , from its po sitionon e mi ght we ll e Pec t it to have been start ed before the pair in th epavilion (D , E). Indeed , the ri gh t edging of the pa vilion (unlike theleft edging ) wit h its strai ght outline has a character wh ich mi ght we llbe exp lained by the prior pre sence of an adj acent recess. O r pe r-h ap s it i s a rela tively ea rly undertaking in th e ser ies but b ec au se ofproblems affecting the donor or the artist , work on it got delayed.

We ha ve already mentioned th a t the little stan din g Buddh a theupper one of the t wo on th e frame be tween R9 and R 10 = R9a )was never quite finished , and th is is equally true of the very fla wedpadmasana Buddha (RlOa ) on the opp os ite sid e of RlO , and of th esmall bhadra sana pane l (Rl Oc) ju st belo w. Interestingly , th e smallstand i ng Buddha s R9a and R 1Oa re finis hed ; their po sition s not

too hi gh up and not too low do wn on th e fram e were probably th efirst to be selected.

It is importan t to note that Rl QC is th e fir st of these very la t esmall bh adrasana im a ges t o ha ve been carved on the right wa ll. It sposition we ll to war d the rear p rovides us wit h further evidence ofth e fact that it took a lon g time for suc h sm all bhadra sana im ages



252 CAVE 26

to come into general use. As we have noted , there are only a fewoth er small ima ges of th i s type in the who le ambulatory and none

of them wou ld seem to date from much before mid-4 80. Thi s oneis probabl y the latest of all, as both its po sition a nd its unfini shedstate w ould arg ue. It is worth nothin g that , even though at thi s la t edat e it was custornary for standin g Buddha s to attend bhadra sanaim a ges in lar ger panel s in small panel s such as this or tho se overR and L2 and elsew here at the site, bodhisattvas continue to beused and Buddha s never are. This is but one more example of the

way in whi ch icon og raphi c changes pr o cee d at a different pa ce incomposit io ns of different size ju st as they often proceed at differentrate s in sculpture as oppo sed to painting and in bhadrasana imagesas oppo sed to padmasana types.

Th e small padma sana ima ge (R lOa ) is of particular intere st bec auseit sho ws the rather uncommon scalloped treatment of th e thron ecloth , which i s found only in ve ry late con texts. The earliest example , not as pronou nce d as thi s is perhap s one in the frieze overCave 26's pillar s or th e main im a ge in cave 15 both i1nages fini shedin l a te 4 77 or (in th e case of th e Ca ve 15 ima ge) 4 78. 22 It is intri gu

ing to note that the surpri sing omi ssion of the deer in R 1 Oa alsorelate s thi s ima ge's ba se to that in cave 15. Un der standabl y, onl y in

very rare in stanc es at the site are deer omitted from compo sition swhich sho w the wheel , sin ce the two form s to ge ther symboliz e thefirst prea chin g . Whether or no t thi s im a ge, which appears to havebeen unfini she d the rock i s so terribly flawed here that it mi gh tju st have been abandoned was painted , we cannot now determine.No p a int r emain s toda y, but this in it self is not surpri sin g sinc e onlythe very upper levels in the ambulatory re ta in ve ry man y traces ofpaint ; debri s destroyed al l tr aces at the lo w er leve l. For the same

rea son we do not know if th e little bhadr asana Buddha (RlOc ) orthe unfi n ished stan din g im a ge (R9a ) on the oth er sid e of R l 0, wereonce painted . H owever, jud ging from evid ence of the slightly unfinish edim a ge in the triad over R9 , it would not be surpri sin g if they we re ,since comp letion ra t her than finish mu st ha ve been what was wanted

in tho se last days when th e site's patrona ge was irr ep a rably collaps in g .

22 The wheel in R l Oa is of the ga rlanded type first found on the anomalousbase of th e main image of Cave Upper 6.



254 CAVE 26

roughly contemporaneous with work on L9. t is worth noting toothat the plain arched frame, which i s used elsewhere with bhadrasana

image s only in very late contexts, is used with L9a also.24

The adjacent bhadrasana panel, Rl5 , is simi larl y unfinished; asin L9 , the couples above are not quite completely carved , while theba se panel (including the stan dard lotu s pedestals ) is untouched. Th ethrone back and the halo of the central Buddha are also undefined. 25

I t is conceivable that these two very la te images (L9 , R 15) werehastily cmnpleted with plaster and paint, but if so, not a trace remainstoday.

Four other la r ge panels ( - Rl4 ) toward the rear of the rightaisle must also ha ve been started very shortl y after L9 and R 15.They are all in poorly lit positions , where the rock is particularlyflawed , this being th e rea son thi s area of the wall was chosen forpanel s so late. Thi s is probably why the bhadrasana panel R ,despite its more for ward position along the aisle wall , is even less

completed that R 15, with only the main Buddha and the standingBuddha attendants ye t d efined at all. Rl2 and Rl3 , by con tra st, arefully cut, but being standin g Buddha s of th e la t e type, wi thout

nagas , they are much simpler compositions , and relatively sm a ll insize, which is probably why they progressed faster. R 14 a standingBuddha of the same type, even further to the rear, is very incomplete ind eed . Whether or not Rl2 and Rl3 , wh ich were fully carved,were ever painted cannot no w be determined. One mi ght assumethat they would have been painted , even though no evidence of thi sremains today. Even an image like R 14 might also have been hastilyreadied for wors hip in th i s way, although it i s so unfinished that thi swas probably not the case. The increasingly hasty quality of the workon these very late ima ges might well reflect an awareness on thepart of the donors that time was running out at least that the economic situatio n was deteriorating . Thi s rather than the assumptionthat they are not quite full y carved, probably accounts for the omi ssion of the lo tus pedestal , which had become standard features onlya short time before , from these late st images: Rl l Rl2 , Rl3 , Rl4

24 See Cave U6 , w here a series of su ch imag es in d1e rea r and side wa lls of ilieint erior ca n b e dated to 480 .

23 Th e thron e s nubb ed, but as n L2 and L7, the rela ted stru ctu r e s not reveale dover d1e lion 's h ea ds.



AMBULATORY 255

Rl5 and L9, together with similarly late figures above panels R8 - Rland fina lly the very unfini she d R 1. Quit e po ssibl y the pedestals were

painted in , or would have been , in most of these cases. However,in the case of R 1 perhaps the latest conception of all, it is clearthat even this could not have been done , for no space is reservedfor suc h ba se motif s.

Three ex tremel y in co mplete seated Buddha s carved at the upperlevel of the wal l over R 14 , R 15 , and L9 comp lete the record ofunfinished work toward the back of the ambu latory . Of the three,that over R 15 is the mo st nea rly fini shed , which is perhap s not sur -pr ising since, even though located farther down the wall than thatover R 14 , it received better light because of the po sitioning of thecave s apsida l pillars. The image over L9 would have been sta rtednext , and is also more complete than that over Rl4 ; this may bebecause, like L9 (which is more finished than Rl4 ) it occupies themid point position in the apse, behind the stupa.

Considering how late most of the lower panels in this area are,we would su rely be ju stifi ed in ascribing the se thre e ima ges (K , L, M )to th e la st few weeks of the hall s patronage . It is hardly surpri sing

to find that one of them (over L9 ) is a bhadra sa na image. The othertwo are both padma sana images, and although both are extremelyunfinished, one of them (panel K , over Rl5 ) ha s a new feature ofparticular intere st : the roughed -out attendant figure at the left (thatat the right is no t even sta rted ) is clearly a standing Buddha ratherthan a bodhisattva. Thi s is unusual , since bodhisattvas are u se d inall other sm a ll or relatively sm a ll sculptured panels not only in thiscave but throughout the site. Thu s this is but one further exampleof an iconographic development which, begun earlier in 1nore 1najorcontexts, was then later taken over for use in minor contexts too.Admitted ly the process, here as in the case of a number of otherfeature s seen in this cave alone, took place in no more than a mat-ter of month s but it i s a specific exa mple of a development nonetheless . I t is perhap s of even greater interest to see how conceptionsdevelop over the course of a very short period than it is to analyzeiconographic change s which may occur over the course of years ordecade s or centur ies.

When we realize how densely mo st of the whole wall surface ofthe Cave 26 s ambulatory had been filled up , either with sculpturesor (particularly in the more flawed areas ) with paintings during thecourse of the activity which we have been analyzing, it see m s clear



256 CAVE 26

that the re1naining free area s of wa ll along some of the upper levels at th e rear of the cave wo uld sur ely ha ve b een filled with intru

sive im a ge ry too , had activity at the site continued even a few wee ksor month s more. Ho weve r, of course this did not happen , either inCave 26 or in any oth er cave at the site.

Vve assu m e that, because panel s K , L, and M ar e still so unfini shed ,they mu st still ha ve been in th e proce ss of bein g carve d when allwork suddenly ended. Therefore , it see m s mo st unlikel y that thespace s between them were filled with painted imagery , which wou ldha ve be en very hard to see in any case . How eve r such paint edim a ge ry s found in some of the for ward areas of th e ambulatory ,notably in the wall surface just abo ve panel s R6 and R 7. Wherethis area widen s ove r panel R5 , a small pane l (#A: discusse d earlier) was carved in about mid-480 , although the greater constrictionof the rest of the area apparently discoura ge d further carved donation s. In stead , wha t appears to have been a serie s of small Buddha sassociated with smne kind of pillared stru cture s was pa i nte d on thelong narrow strip.

Th e w hole paintin g is almost obliterat ed toda y but one can see

that it comprised a sequen ce of repetiti ve ima ges some what analogou s to the equa lly ruinou s g roupin g done at about the same time(48 0) and still barely visible on th e left sid e of Cave U6 s main porchwall. Since th e trace s of pla ster and p aint from this painted compo sitio n continue righ t up to the edge of the carved pane l A, itsee m s evident that the y could only ha ve been painted after it wascut; and in an y case , the carver of P ane l A would n ot have cutaway previous ly paint ed Buddha ima ges to mak e hi s own p ane l.Thu s the painted Panel B mu st post -date the carved Panel A , eve nif perhap s on ly very s lightly . Equ a lly it can not ha ve any connectionwith the Eight Buddha s above , since their len gths are n ot cons isten t.It seems appropriate to date it to th e la st half of 480 , as a ha stylate don ation , perhap s reflectin g a con ce rn about the temper of the time s.

It seem s ra ther lik ely that mo st of the very la te im a ges t owar dthe re a r of the hall , like R l at the front , never we re painted at all,simpl y becau se tim e sudd en ly ran out. Th ere ar e no trace s of eith erpla ster or paint on any of those which, for the va riou s rea sons c ited ,

appear to b e particularl y lat e, w her eas a few earlier panel s (L 7, L8 ,etc. ) which are a lso at the rear of the ap se, do have remaining trace sof pla steri ng and coloring. Thi s makes it cle ar that the very la teim a ges we re nev er paint ed; otherwise, traces wou ld r e1nain . Ad1nittedl y



AMBULATORY 257

L9 's surface is almost comp letely obliter ated , w hich is quite unde rstand ab le since the dark areas in th e back of the apse mu st h ave

on ce bee n filled with bat s and other creatures. Thi s ma y also bewhy no traces of decoration wha t soe ve r remain on R 15, w hi ch (likeRl2 and R l3 ) was probabl y finished som e wee ks or months beforeth e ultimat e co llap se of pa tro n age in th e cave.

Th e very lates t im age of all in Cave 26's ambulatory cou ld we llbe the barel y-be gu n standin g Buddh a (R 1) at th e very front of the

right ais le. It is located in w hat would appear to be a high priori typosition until one realizes that it oc cupi es the area of wa ll againstwhi ch the (single-p aneled ) right ai sle door wou ld swin g w hen opened.It is for thi s very re a son that, slightly ove r tw o yea rs before , when

Buddh abhadr a's tr iad of Panel s R2 - 4 was be gun , they w ere po sitioned some four feet away fr om the front wa ll of the cave. Thu sth e space at the right of R 2 was s till avai lab le when Panel R l wasdona ted, late in 48 0.

Actually the space left whe n the Buddh a triad R2 - R4 was sta rtedwas cons id erabl y m ore than suffic ient ; but at th a t tim e th ere wasspa ce to spa re, so eco nm n y was not a conce rn. B y contrast, th e

Parinir vana sce ne on the opposite wa ll was se t quite clo se to thefro nt wall, the trunk of the sa l tree oc cup yin g the area to the leftof th e Buddha 's h ea d. But h ere the aisle door , conventionally, alsoswung (as was conve ntion al) from a pivot on the l eft, as v iewed fromin side the cave; thu s the door 's openin g did no t pre sent a problem.

The R 1 Buddha is a s ta ndin g image of a ver y late type withinthe context of ambulatory sculpt ures in gene ral, for it was to h aveno carved lotu s p edes tal , nor did it have space provided for a paintedon e. Kneelin g devotees, for wh ich stone h ad been reserved at thelo wer left a nd right, wou ld have been carved directly adjacent toth e feet. Above, stone was apparently also reserved for the expectedflying dwarfs . It might b e noted that the sculptor care full y avoidedth e fla w above th e Buddha 's head , eve n though this m ea nt that th efigure had to be some what shorte r tha n wou ld probabl y have beendesire d.

H aving been wor ked on for no m ore than a d ay or two at th emo st, R 1 stan d s still tod ay, as a m u te w itne ss to the collapse of the

sit e at the end of the brief a nd troubled period when the sculpt u re sin the a mbul at ory we re a ll created.Beside s the vari ou s pa ne ls we ha ve be en discu ssing in our review

of ambulatory n1tru sion s one other carving was a dd ed to th e ambulatory



58 CAV E 6

during the Period of Di sruption. T hi s is a small Buddha image carvedon th e rear face of th e c apital of pillar R3. It is clearly not part of

an extended program of capital decoration , since no counterpart sappear either on pillar L3 or on an y other pillar s; thi s is hardl y surpr i sin g in th e P eriod of Di sruption , w here such differ ent rule s appl y . A s is invariabl y th e ca se w ith capital de coration s, even in 480 ,the ima ge is in th e padma sana rather than the bhadra sana mode ,probabl y becau se the former forma t fitt ed bet ter; and , as is quitetypical of intru sive p adm as ana image s, p articularl y by 4 80 , the little figur e is se at ed on a lotu s p ede stal rath er th an upon a thron e.The flankin g bodhi sat tvas, pre sumabl y Avaloki tesvara and Vajrapani ,appear to ha ve the expe cted ja ta and kirita mukuta on the left andright re specti vely. Both bodhi sattv as hold caurie s; and curiou sly, othercaurie s, held aloft b y detach ed hand s, also appear on either side ofthe Buddha 's h ead. Th e latt er motif is a familiar one at the site ,but it is obviou sly redundan t here , and hint s at the la ck of disciplined planning so often encountered at thi s very late date.

It seem s clear that thi s rear surfa ce of th e capital mu st have b eenpla stered b efor e con sistent w ork on th e ca ve had b een abandon ed

in 478, but it apparentl y had not yet been painted a t that tirne , andso the later sculptor would ha ve had no compun ction about utilizing the space . e can see trace s of apparentl y undecorated pl a steron the capital s of the adja cent pillar s R4 , R5 , and R6 too; probabl y of the ambula tory capi tals were once pla stered , bu t no further trace s are readil y visible. The wall s of the ambula tory , on theother hand , probabl y had not been pla stered w h en the original pro-

g ram of work end ed in 4 7 8, sinc e th ey we re th en b eing decor a tedwith sculptured panel s as part of Buddhabhadra s pro gram. (L 1, L3 ,L8 , R2 - R4 , and the Ei ght-Buddha panel in the right aisle. ) It i s evident that such work w as goin g to continu e, had no t Buddhabhadralost hi s c ontrol o ver the ca ve at th e end of 4 78.

The front wall of Cave 26 i s surfa ced with mudpla ster rath er th anwith the apparentl y later lime p laster u sed alon g the ambula tor ywall s. Thi s st rongl y sugg ests that (quite con ventionall y) the front wallwa s pla stered al ong w ith th e front ce ilin g, whi ch in turn is c on sistent in it s pla sterin g w ith th e tra ces remainin g on the ai sle ce ilin gs .

In oth er w ord s th ey w ere all part of Buddhabhadra 's overall prog ram of decoration for the ca ve, which aimed at gettin g t he wholethin g done in normal cour se in a con sistent 1nanner. The beautiful painted des ign on th e ceilin g of th e front ai sle, w hi ch is alon e



AMBULATORY 259

preserved , would never have been done in this thoroughgoing and

irrelevan t way in the P eriod of Di sruption , so it cl ea rly belong s to

the work done under Buddhabhadra s aegis. I t mu st have been oneof the last things done when the cave was under Buddhabhadra 'scontrol.

At the same time , it see m s likely that Buddhabhadra s painterswere not responsible for the d ec oration of the low -priority front wall,even though it had already been plastered. Although multiple Buddhacompositions, Sravasti Miracle or otherwise , are common during theconsistent p hase of Ajanta' s patronage, th ese all involve r elativelylarge Buddha figures. Compositions with multiple tin y Buddhas , onthe other hand , are see n in Caves 2, Upper 6, and 11 in the Periodof Disruption ; and it seems likely that this is the period to whichthe now-ruinous mu ltiple Buddhas on Cave 26's front wall belong. 26

VVhen we cons id er that evidence that can be drawn from Buddhabhadra s consistent plastering of Cave 26, what is particularly important to note is that the mudplaster which was applied to the ais leceilings as part of Buddhabhadra s original program pen e trat es intothe revealed precinct s of the carved Pari nirvana sce n e. Th e evidence

is subtle, becau se of so man y lo sses; but it is also clear. vVhat itproves is that the great Dying Buddha h ad to have been cut, or at

least started, before the ceiling was p lastered, and thus belong s tothe sa me period of Buddhabhadra s patronage namely , 478. O fcourse we should assume in any case that this fantastic image, likethe Temptation by Mara beyond , belongs to Buddhabhadra s pro-gram, and has nothing to do with the intrusions cut (sometimes intothe very leave s of th e sal tr ee under which the Buddha died ) during the Period of Di sruption. The smooth lime plaster surfacing ofthe great image , used to complete the composition, ha s a numberof fine red sketches drawn upon it. These appear to have beenrevealed when the final painted surface, due to poor adherence, fellaway. That the who le grea t sce ne was painted see m s clear from thefact that the framing tree at the left stil l show s traces of green paint ,which survived becau se they were protected by the deep cutting ofthe l eaves .

26 Cave 2's multiple Buddh a compos itions add up to more than one thousand(in tl1e shrin e antecham ber alone ); Cave Upper 6 porch and Cave had considerably less . Th e Cave 26 composition is mostly obliterated, but surely numbered afew hundred.



26 CAVE 26

Cohen s view that the same li1ne pla ster was also slathered overthe seve ral haphazardl y plac ed 'intru sive panel s to the ri ght (Cohen

1995, 190), and that therefore the D yin g Buddha was not finall yfini shed b y Buddhabhadra cannot be susta ined. In fact the surfac-ing is totall y different , the Par inirvana surfa ce applied upon a mud-plaster base, and th erefor e totall y different from that of the intru sion sYVv ere the P ar inirv ana and th e intru sion s finished at the same time ,it w ould to tally di sturb our view of deve lopm ents no t onl y n thecave but in the whole site. 28 Such observations , i they cou ld be sus-ta in ed , would impl y that Buddh ab hadra remained after 4 78, rath erthan ha vin g been forced b y the circumstances of politics and wa r toha ve exited the site before those uninvited de votee s took ove r hi sbeautiful cave.

27 R efe r to discussion in Volum e I, Chapte r 12.28 I am ind ebt ed to Mr. Manag er Singh, chief conservator, for h is analysis of

the significant differences in the plasteri ng of these two phas es.



GHATOTKACHA VIHARA INTR US ION S

The history of the Ghatotkacha vihara's final years clearly para llel sthe contemporary situation at Aj anta where, shortly after the deathof the great emperor Harisena , the deteriorating situation had completely disrupted the original patronage of the site. By 4 79 , even ina vihara such a s this , sponsored (like Cave 16 at Ajanta ) by the powerful Prime Mini ster Varahadeva , new donors were freely utilizingavailab le space in the caves for a genera lly haphazard array of intrusive votive donations, taking no account whatsoever of the now-abandoned original progra1n of decoration. As we have pointed out , theselater donor s invariably placed their intrusive donation s in cave s wherethe main image was already under worship only caves where theBuddha image had been dedicated were "alive". 1 The fact that theyutilized the Ghatotkac ha vihara for th eir offering s sub stantiate s ourasser t ion that the imag e had be en completed and the cave dedicated

by mid-4 78 , before the "Vakataka " patron s hastil y left Ajanta andrelated sitese , leaving their caves open to the pious depredations ofeager new devotees in the Period of Disruption.

Two of the intru sion s in the Ghatotkacha vihara are found in theshrine antechamber , ju st to the left of the shrine doorway , an area

desirable becau se of its proximity to the shrine. Both of these imagesare standing Buddhas , in panels bordered by pilasters. 2 The upper

image is placed beneath the familiar makara arch found sometim esat Ajanta during the Period of Di sruption. The lower image , locatedin a spot whe re the wall had not even been properly smoothed afact which reflects the expedient and ha sty nature of offerings madeat this late date stands upon a "late" double lotus pedestal.

In early 469 , the Prime 1\ Iinister Varahadeva r ealized that, becau seof the mounting Asmaka/Ri sika crisi s he either cou ld not or shouldnot try to complete this huge excavation, which was only about ha lfdone at thi s time. Therefore , p erhap s to satisfy local devotee s he

C ave 22 , an app a rent exc eption to thi s " rule , requir es dis cussion: see C ave22 Intru sions above .

2 C ompar e intru sive im ages in Cave Upp er 6's rea r wa ll of hall , a nd in shrin eant echamb e r.



6 GHATOTKACHA VIHARA INTR US IO NS

ordered a relief stupa carved from the still-available matrix at theright en d of the front a isle . I t see m s certain that this wo uld hav e

been dedicated at the time , and presumabl y was still in wor sh ip in475, when the excavating activity in the cave was renewed. In anycase , th is stupa apparently had a particular sanc tity, for it b ecamea particularl y attractive locus for intru sive offerings durin g the Per iodof Di sruption. Indeed , the stupa it self participated in thi s proce ss

for the teac hin g padma sana Buddha carved upon it is clearly anaddition of the Period of Disruption. In order to include the standing attendants and th e groups of devotee s almost demanded at sucha late date , the origina l framework of the stupa drum has beenquite heedle ssly cut into. By way of contrast, the supporting yaks habelow i s part of the carefully carved original conception.

Oppo site the stupa, the donors of this late period took advantageof the excess ive thickne ss of the cave's front wal l in thi s area to cuta kind of 3 Buddha s altar. 3 Thi s effective group is clearly very latein type. It bears some connection with the sim ilar altar at the leftof Cave 17's cour t, which i s a lso an intru sive addition, carved atthi s sa me ti1n e 479 or 480 . Ho wever, wher eas the central im a ge is

seated in the Cave 17 example , it i s standin g here . The redundantstand in g Buddha s at the side s are each rai sed up decisively on verydeveloped (i. e., stem-supported ) double lotu s pedesta ls like those inthe Cave 17 panel too. Such redunda ncy w he r e Buddha s areattendant upon the Buddh a is a distinctly late icono grap hic feature, as is the inclusion of the seated Buddha s at either side of thecentral arc h.

Th e ima ges above mu st hav e b een done aft er th e se t-b ack altarwa s itself completed , or at le a st underway. The y com pr i se a smallstanding Buddh a, one large and two small stupas, and five pad-masana Buddh as, all show in g dharmacakra mudra . Two of the latte r , at the higher level and therefore probably the late st of the group,are seated on lotu s pede stal s which can probably b e cons id ere d asa slightly develo ped feature. A ll of the se image s above the threestand ing Buddhas show the random placemen t (expediently avoiding flawed area s of rock ) and th e var iety so characterist ic of th e sc attered imagery of the Period of Di sruption at Ajanta too. The carefully

3 The front wall was never fully trimmed bac k; like vario us front wa lls at Ajanta,this is generally the last to be do n e, a nd there for e often re main ed incomplete.



GHATOTKACHA V IHARA INTRUSIONS 63

sm oothed-do wn qu arter - round form s at the upper corners of someof th e panel s we re pr obabl y painted with converging dwarf s or dec

orati ve motif s. Since it is evident that the se we re not to b e carved,it see m s reasonab le to assume that all of the im ages on this frontwa ll we re finished . For this reason we mi gh t pr esum e to date a ll ofth em (with th e possible exception of those at the highest level) to479, co n sid er ing th e im a ges on the adja cen t wall to the left to belongto 48 0, since m an y of th e latter were stil l unfini shed when this intrusive pha se came to an end .

In thi s regard it i s wo rth notin g tha t th ere are a number of s1nallbhadra sa na ima ges on this later wal l, wh ile all of the simpler padm asa na im ages on this wall either ha ve lotus pedestals , or wouldhav e had them wh en completed, as we w ould expect at a very latedate. One other padma sana im age, th e largest of the gr oup , sho wsth e Buddha on a lion throne and omit s th e lotu s p edesta l, havingthe deer a nd wheel below instead. Thi s panel sho ws a curious ly confused (an d unique ) base arra ngeme nt. O ne de vot ee actually crowdsin between th e left deer and th e w heel, w hil e two ot h er d evoteesbelow occupy posit ions where, in bhadrasana cmnpos ition s one might

find na gas su pportin g lotus sh aft s; the re sult is surpr i singly inept , perhap s suggesting a degree of pr ovincialis m , even though it t he siteis only eleven miles from Ajanta. 4

On th e w all in whi ch th e relief stupa is carved, there is anotherpadmasana im age, perhap s cut in 479, since i t was apparent ly notprovided with a lo tus seat, a nd since its loc at ion both close to thestupa and relatively well -ht may have been considered p a rt icularl ydes ir ab le. Lik e th e similarly ea rly intr us ive padmasana im ages on th eoppo site (front ) wal l, it h as qua rter-round s in it s upper corners.This idio sync ra sy may we ll have been the h allm ar k of a particularsculptor , or his bo ss sinc e t hi s image an d the th ree padmasana

images at the middle level of th e fr on t wa ll are all very s imilar intype . Above it , and probably later both because of it s po sition andits ico no grap h y is a bh adrasana image , app arentl y planned in conjunc6on with the lo w- relief s tupa dom e j us t abo ve as if it is bein g

4

I t is eleven m iles as the crow flies ; by ca r (or jeep during the mo n soon ) ittakes about two hours, with a half hour hike.5 By con trast, the two padmasana Buddhas at th e up p er level of th e fron t wall

not only sit above lotus pedes tals, but have mu ch redu ced quarter -r ound elementsin th e upper corne rs of their panels.





GHATOTKACHA VIHARA INTRUSIONS 65

was pos sibly abandoned in favor of the larger seated figure above.A mer e preliminary sketch for another standing Buddha can be seen

on the main face of the opposite i.e., right front ) pilaster; it too wasinterrupted in mid-course. Thus it may we ll date to the very end of480, along with the unfini she d figures on the left pila ster.

Admittedly, the inscription on the left pi laster is ge nerally considered as belon ging to the eig hth century, but there is little reasonto think that it was associated as a gift with the Buddha image

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Spink, Ajanta History and Development Vol. 3The_Arrival_of_the_Uninvited