Jaina Rock Cut Caves In Western India Part 01

Author(s): Viraj Shah
Publisher: Agam Kala Prakashan

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Jaina Rock-cut Caves in Western India The ornamentation found on these two types of pillars and verandah pilasters in Cave II is also very common in Vakataka art. The bands above and below the octagonal or fluted portion on the shaft of the latter type pillar are carved with a half medallion flanked by a quarter medallion; each filled in with flowers. These types of medallions are very commonly found in the pillar ornamentation at Ajanta and Aurangabad (Gupte and Mahajan 1962: Plates XXIII, XLVIII, Berkson 1986: 75, 77, 104, 113, 176, 191). However, here the lower bands usually have full medallions. They are filled in with different designs and also some figures. The other type of pillars and verandah pilasters of Cave II have three bands of design. The lower band is of festoons, second is of rounds and rectangles and the upper most is a narrow band of flowers. The central band in Cave III is of rounds and lozenges, divided by floral designs. Most of the pillars at Ajanta and Aurangabad have the bands of festoons and of rounds and rectangles (Fergusson and Burgess 1880 Plates XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVIII, XLI, XLII, Berkson 1986: 72). Though, the band of beaded festoons forms a part of the pillar ornamentation till later times, the design of a loop with three hanging strings within and a long string dividing each loop is typical to Vakataka art. Similarly, the band of rectangles and rounds, which give an appearance of semi precious stones, is also found carved at Ajanta. The band of lozenges and rounds, divided by a floral design carved in Cave III, also occur on a number of pillars at Ajanta. The sandstone pillar in the hall of Keval Narasimha temple at Ramtek has almost identical three bands of design in the upper portion of the pillar. Here the band of festoons does not have a string dividing the loops and the central band has another narrow band of lozenges and ovals below and above it.
The third type of pillar at Dhärashiva has octagonal shaft with or without base and brackets. All the pillars of this type in Caves II and III have been destroyed. The pillars in Cave VII have a thin square member at the base and top of the octagonal shaft and rolled brackets. Though the octagonal pillars occur throughout the history of architecture and thus cannot be considered for dating a site, the pillars in Cave VII are almost identical to the pillars in the main cave at Ghatotkacha and Ajanta Cave XVII (Spink 1967: Fig 7, 13).
Doorway: The sakhas in the hall doorways of Caves III and IV also appear in Vakataka art. Most of the doorframes at Ajanta have sakhas of padma, ratna and pătra and a rounded sak ha carved with design of beads, waves, ovals, squares and rounds in slanted rows and a decorative square piece at regular intervals (Spink 1991: Plates 103, 107, 110, Poduval 1991: Plates 114, 119, 120, 121, 125, 126). However, the doorways at Ajanta are very ornamental. They have few more sakhas, of which stambha and rüpa are present in almost all cases. All the doorways have figures on lower portions. Some of the caves have a 'T' shaped doorway with figures of Ganga-Yamuna on the top portion. Most of these sakhas are present in some of the doorways at Aurangabad and Jogeshvari also (Spink 1991: Plate 105, Berkson 1986: 113b, Poduval 1991: Plate 122).
Shrine image: The shrine images in Caves II and III are carved as the Buddha figures in the shrines of Ajanta caves. The image, carved out of the rock left in the middle of the shrine with the pradaksinäpatha around and covering almost the full height of the shrine, looks almost identical to the Ajanta shrine images. The composition of the image with a