WONDERS OF THE WORLD .... Ajanta The Ajanta caves which are ranked among the wonders of the world were discovered accidentally in 1816 by British soldiers while on a hunt. The 29 caves scooped out of a steep cliff by Buddhist monks with nothing more than chisel and pickaxe are decorated with breathtaking drawings done in glorious colour. The paintings depicts scenes from the life of Buddha and stories from the Jatakas. The caves were built over a period of time extending from 200 BC to 700 AD. Then they were deserted and lay forgotten for centuries till their re-discovery in 1816. The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres (36 miles) from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres (64 miles) from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghora (or Wagura), and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 15:41:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015