June 2011 Ezine - " The Ajanta Caves" a must see for Art Lovers

Namaskar,

Summer is soo here. Growing up I would eagerly wait  for the summers. It meant no school, no exams, no homeworks , but just lots and lots of time to play and laze around. Every summer we would travel to our grandparents village.  Of all the things I remember grandma would buy big fresh yellow mangoes  and store them in the rice bin. Everyday after lunch and dinner I would put my hand into the bin and dig through the rice for the sweet smelling mangoes ( most part of the summers were all about mangoes..).

But, one summer when I was about 15,  my parents decided we go on a trip to the Western India visiting Mumbai(the cosmopolitan city), Shirdi (a holy town), Aurangabad (a historic town) and Ajanta Caves.

Ajanta, a UNESCO world heritage site, is famous for its Buddhist rock-cut cave temples and monasteries with their extraordinary wall paintings. They are cut into the volcanic lava of the Deccan plateau of India in the forest ravines of the Sahyadri Hills and are set in beautiful serene surroundings.

About 30 caves were excavated between the 1st century BCE and the 7th century CE.  5 of the caves were "caityas"(sanctuaries/temple) and the rest 25 were "viharas"(monasteries). The temples and monasteries, thought to have been occupied by some 200 monks and artisans.  Although the sculpture, particularly the rich ornamentation of the caitya pillars, is noteworthy, it is the fresco-type paintings that are of chief interest in Ajanta. These paintings depict colorful Buddhist legends and divinities with an exuberance and vitality that is unsurpassed in Indian art.

By AD 650 the caves were gradually forgotten until their rediscovery by a British tiger-hunting party in 1819..  The caves are cut into the side of a cliff which rises above a meander in the Waghora River. Today the caves are reached by a road which runs along a terrace mid-way up the cliff, but each cave was once linked by a stairway to the edge of the water. 

 The trip to the caves was my first  experience with original art. I was ecstatic with the beautiful colors, the theme, the jewelry, the mystery in the paintings and everything about the Caves.

                                                                            One of the Original paintings from the cave

                                                                            Inspired by the original, I  painted "The Princess in Waiting

Introducing...

My new series "Ganesha - The Obstacle Remover"  is offically completed and is up for sale. The series contains three paintings..

"Blessing"  with  Yellow Green Ganesha standing and blessing. The simple pink background with the embossed spiral outlines mystifies the entire painting.

"Content" has Violet Ganesha standing at the patio looking very content. Lord Ganesha is also called Lambodara (pot belly, hanging belly), hence the exaggerated belly.

"Serene" has Pink Green Ganesha in a meditative pose. I have used clay embossed outline for the  multicolored background.