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Description and Chronology of Caves Paintings
A number of paintings survive in this cave. These can be seen on the verandah ceiling and ceilings of side aisles of the hall. The central mandapa of hall has traces of paintings, but they are highly damaged (Fig. 31).
Verandah
The verandah ceiling is divided into three aisles, each of which is painted with a lotus. 1. Lotus: It has a plain circle around it, painted in green, which is followed by a border
with a floral design. The whole circle is bound by a square border. This panel is
damaged at various places. 2. Lotus: It is placed within a square, in which are painted 10 squares. Each square has
three to four flying figures, mostly males. The painting is damaged at corners.
Paintings on the stone beams between the pillars: 3. Seven figures: Of the seven figures, six are of males, while one is of a female. It is
very unclear, as the colours have faded. All the figures have heads towards façade. 4. The panel is damaged. It appears to have two squares with a few unclear figures. 5. Six males: The paint has come off at places. In the centre, a male is dancing, while
three males to his right and two to his left are watching him. Their heads are towards
façade. 6. Two couples: The males wear long conical crowns. One male and a female have one
hand raised up above the head, while the other male and his female companion have
hands in añjali mudra. Above them in a corner can be seen two faces within clouds. 7. Three couples: The couples are shown in the attitude of playing musical instruments
and dancing. While the hands of one of the females are held in añjali, another female holds a patra in each hand, perhaps containing flowers or some offerings.
Hall
The paintings on the hall ceiling are extant on side and back aisles. Of these, those on the left aisle ceiling are well preserved. At other places either colours have faded or have peeled off. 8. The ceiling of this side aisle is divided into squares, more or less of uniform size.
There are two rows of squares till the centre after which the squares appear in three rows (Plate 64). Each square has few flying figures in various attitudes. Some are dancing, some are in añjali mudrā, some are playing musical instruments while some carry a patra with offerings. They are either in pairs or a single male is flanked by females. In one frame two couples are seated. One man holds a white lily in a hand while other man is offering white lily to the female who sits facing him. There is no uniformity in the direction to which these figures face. In addition to the border of each square, there runs a thick double border between the squares at few places from almost the centre of this aisle.
