Can we consider the Tiger as symbol of beauty and strength of the rich Heritage of India? It will not be wrong if we do, as it was a tiger that became the cause in ‘discovering’ the Nation’s unknown treasure-Ajanta Caves! Yes, such a discovery was a result of a Tiger chase by John Smith, a young British cavalry officer. Don’t know if John Smith succeeded in hunting the tiger. But he spotted a cave, later known as cave number ten.
His curiosity forced him to blaze a torch made of leaves and grass, and he moved ahead slowly. He could see a big hall with beautiful paintings below the statue of praying Buddha. May be due to the excitement of his discovery, with the axe in his hand, he engraved his name and date over a figure of Bhodisatva, the Buddha before he attained ‘Nirvan’ (uniting with the divine). That was 28 April 1819, yes now exactly two centuries!
Dr. Lal has served as the Director of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1968 to 1972 and has served on various UNESCO committees. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2000. A brick built monastic complex, coins and figurines were found in some of the recent excavations done near Ajanta caves.
Written by
Nambiar Sooryavamsha Kshathriya
Preservation
The news of discovery began to spread around with the pace that suits its era when the technology and medias were far behind today’s world as we can know. In 1844, Lord Hardinge was appointed as the Court of Directors of the East India Company, who was in charge of the matters related to the important Indian relics. He served till 1848 in that post. During that period, he sent out Lieutenant Robert Gill who was then serving with the Madras Army, to Ajanta. Gill spent around 27 years there sketching and photographing the Ajanta caves. His copies of paintings of Ajanta were once a major attraction of Crystal Palace at Sydenham Hill, London. Sad to say, on 30th November 1936 fire swallowed the Palace, and those paintings were also lost.
Major Robert Gill in front of Ajanta cave
[ Photo Credits : TBLL ]
Pencil sketch at the cave 22 By Henry Cousens
[ Photo Credits : TBLL ]
In 1868, James Fergusson, the famous Scottish architectural historian whose name is much remembered for his outstanding contribution in the area of Indian historical architecture and antiquities, suggested the government to purchase the images related to Ajanta. As per that, the government collected 61 negatives and 36 pencil drawings and sketchbooks of Ajanta from Major Robert Gill. Arround 1860s, Henry Cousens, archaeologist and photographer, had also put his effort to make some wonderful drawings of Ajanta.
James Fergusson
There were so many significant conservation initiatives carried out by Indian archaeologists and experts such as A. Ghosh, B.B. Lal, M.N. Deshpande, M.C. Joshi, J.P. Joshi, Debala Mitra, M.S. Nagaraja Rao etc after 1947. Influential work in scientific conservation has been carried out to preserve wall paintings and decorative plasters in the historic spots across the country with the help of Science Branch. Dr. B.B. Lal, then Senior Archaeological Chemist, is credited with the painstaking conservation of Ajanta cave paintings and sculptures in 1960s.
Dr. Lal has served as the Director of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1968 to 1972 and has served on various UNESCO committees. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2000. A brick built monastic complex, coins and figurines were found in some of the recent excavations done near Ajanta caves.
Dr. B.B. Lal
Another major contribution that has to be remembered is by Prasad Pawar, an artist and photographer from Nashik, who has been keen to document, photograph and digitally restore the priceless paintings and sculptures in Ajanta for over 27 years!
Prasad Pawar giving explanation during his exhibition on Ajanta
Modern world owe to all those who did a lot of effort in protecting and documenting these priceless relics of a great culture. The experts still wonder how such beautiful paintings and sculptures were crafted by the unknown ancient artists with the minimum level of light inside the cave and it remains obscure!
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