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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 5, p. 135.

AJANTA VILLAGE I35 difficulty of access, the Ajanta caves were but little visited until in 1843 Mr. Fergusson's paper on the rock-cut temples of India created a general interest in these remarkable works of art. Twenty-four monasteries (vihdras) and five temples (chaityas) have been hewn out of the solid rock, many of them supported by lofty pillars, richly ornamented with sculpture and covered with highly finished paintings. The following brief description is condensed chiefly from notes by Dr. Burgess. The five chai'yas, or cave-temples for public worship, are usually about twice as long as they are wide, the largest being 9412 feet by 4I1. The back or inner end of the chailyas is almost circular; the roofs are lofty and vaulted, some ribbed with wood, others with stone cut in imitations of wooden ribs. A colonnade hewn out of the solid rock runs round each, dividing the nave from the aisles. The columns in the most ancient caves are plain octagonal pillars without bases or capitals, with richly ornamented shafts. Within the circular end of the cave stands the daghoba (relic-holder), a solid mass of rock, either plain or richly sculptured, consisting of a cylindrical base supporting a cupola (garbha), which in turn is surmounted by a square capital or 'tee' (toran). The twenty-four vihdras, or Buddhist monasteries containing cells, are usually square in form, supported by rows of pillars, either running round them and separating the great central hall from the aisles, or disposed in four equidistant lines. In the larger caves, a veranda cut out of the rock, with cells at either end, shades the entrance; the great hall occupies the middle space, with a small chamber behind and a shrine containing a figure of Buddha enthroned. The walls on all the three sides are excavated into cells, the dwelling-places (grihas) of the Buddhist monks. The simplest form of the vihdara or monastery is a veranda hewn out of the face of the precipice, with cells opening from the back into the rock. Very few of the caves seem to have been com- pletely finished; but nearly all of them appear to have been painted on the walls, ceilings, and pillars, inside and out. Even the sculptures have all been richly coloured. Twenty-five inscriptions-seventeen painted ones in the interior, eight rock inscriptions engraved outside-com- memorate the names of pious founders in Sanskrit and Prakrit. One monastery has its whole facade richly carved; but, as a rule, such ornamentation is confined in the monasteries (vihdras) to the doorways and windows. More lavish decoration was bestowed upon the temples (chaityas); the most ancient have sculptured facades, while in the more modern ones the walls, columns, entablatures, and daghoba are covered with carving. The sculptures show little knowledge of art, and consist chiefly of Buddhas, or Buddhist teachers, in every variety of posture, instructing their disciples. 'The paintings,' writes Dr. Burgess, 'have much higher pretensions, and have been considered superior to the style of Europe in the age