AESTHETIC
PUNCTUATIONS OF AJANTA FRESCO
by Dr. Gautam
Chatterjee
Article Published in ART
TIMES 1999 Oct.
From the stand point of History of Indian art Ajanta
caves ventilate the most powerful combine of paintings, archiceture,
sculptures, which were created from 100 B.C. to A.D.600. Art Historian
Sheilal Weiner wrote "The Ajanta caves were once a Buddhist monastic
centre. Sculpted in imitation of structural prototypes, the doors,
windows,columns and walls of the rock-cut kass were adorned with carved
and painting figures....The site is a key to an understanding of the
development of Buddhist Art. The oldest caves were excavated during the
earliest phases ...and the most recent carvings were sculpted just before
the incrusion of Hindu elements. The caves contains old form front at
early Hinayana site, traditional form occurring only at Ajanta and
Mahayana forms that appears for the first time in the monistic halls and
areas of worship. "Thus we see Ajanta caves became the canvas for
recording the development of Buddhism from the moral and Philosophical
perspective to the icon studded Mahayana Buddhism. These caves are
embodiment of Gupta era’s golden age which took Indian aesthetics to a new
height.
In seventh century A.D. Hieuen Tsang wrote about this
caves which will be our entry point to the subject. "In the east of this
country(Mohalach’a= Maharashtra) was a mountain range, ridges are above
another in succession, tries of peaks and sheer summits.Here was a
monastery the base of which was in dark defile and its lofty halls and
deep chambers were quarried in the cliff and rested on those track and
faced the ravine. The monestry had been built by A-Che-lo of West India.
Within the establishment was a large temple above 100 ft height in which
was a stone image of the Buddha above seventy feet high.The image was
surmounted by a tier of seven canopies unattached and unsupported, each
canopy, separated from one above... the walls of this temple had depicted
on them the, incidents of Bhuddha’s bodi and small omens attending all
great and swmall were here delinated...’. This is one of the earliest
descriptions of Ajanta cave .However this world heritage was accidently
re-discovered by Madras Army in 1819 and initial works were carried out by
archeologist James Burgess and Major William Gill, who exhibited their
work in 1866. Since then much has been written on Ajanta and volumes of
reports and monographs have surfaced over the century. Thus today we would
only touch upon the aesthetic punctuations of Ajanta Fresco to refresh
some of our lost memory.
Whether Ajanta paintings are really fresco? The
explanations are found in the words of Benjamin Rowland who wrote about
the fresco elements and making of surface for Ajanta cave paintings.In the
book AJANTA CAVES he recorded "fresco in its true sense implies the
application of colors to a layer of moist lime plaster, Indian and all
other Asian murals were painted on a dry wall. At Ajanta the rough surface
of the rock wall was covered with a layer of earth or cow dung mixed with
chopped straw of animal hair as a binding medium to a thickness of an inch
or an inch and a half. When this surface has been completely smoothed off,
it was covered with a thin layer of finely sieved gypsum or lime plaster,
and it was upon this surface that actual painting was done"
In one of the celebrated analysis of Ajanta Paintings
Nalini Bhagwat wrote "It is very significant that the available space at
the disposal of Ajanta painter is not restricted like that of Sanchi,
Bharut or Amravati sculptures, but is comperatively extensive. The
complete wall is at the disposal of the Ajanta artist. There is no limit
of frame work except the break up of the area by the doom looms often the
wall is fully covered with the composition and sometime when the whole
wall is covered, the painting continues at right angle on adjoining wall
too" . Thus we see the canvas for Ajanta painters were wide open and the
continuance remained the key word of inter-connectivity from theme to
theme and then to the culture temperatures. On this given wide
unrestricted wall ‘canvas’ painter worked out variety of arrangements
mainly horizontal band and differentiation came to the fore with weavy
lines. The movement of themes ran from left to right and otherwise as
well. Sheilal Weiner observed that "... the paintings, on the otherhand,
appear overwheliming, it is due to their close proximity. The slender and
elongated figures and the painted Jatakas scenes present no more of a
contrast to the colossal and weighty qualities of the principal sculpted
deities that do the minor carved deities to the principle shrine images."
The No.10 Ajanta cave is said to be oldest and dates back to first century
A.D. In this one can see the depiction of Jataka stories which are
indication of previous births of Buddha before attaining Nirvana. The
paintings are so arranged in the form of a long freize and theme to theme
are linked with frame to frame. However, in some frame the Boddhisattva
played the axis which are encircled with various motifs without the
classical element of harmonising, nervertheless,the motif and decoration
are so placed that one explores one detail to another in an interrelated
fashion, without compromising at the axis prominance.
The composition generally confine to single band of
ornamentation though in later years paintings overspread the entire
surface of the rock canvas. Benjumin Rowland wrote "These paintings
overspread the entire surface with human beings in the enactment of Indian
Aesop’s fables, have the same sense of teeming life and vitality we
encounter in the densely crowded relief of the famous gateways of Sanchi".
At the level of composition, the ‘eye’ of human
compassion is almost universal and motifs like human being to animal are
punctuated in a manner without loosing its balance or character.
Ornamentation and hemming with flower and foliage are depicted with
‘dancing rhythm’ .Vartana or shading on the leaf are uniquly copy-book of
ancient aesthetic dictum.
The famous queen depiction in palace (cave I) is one of
the unique example lavanya or grace one of the six elements of art
mentioned in Kama Sutra. In this composition one finds the lyrical eyes
looking downword with compassion. Though the painting has faded but the
highlight and shades stands out prominently. Jewels and ornamentations
from necklace to arm-band are prominently placed without undermining the
flow and movement of the gesture. If we compare this posture with the cave
XVII where Indra and his celestial nymphs are shown one can find the
contrast. Though both are in their ‘grace’but colour temperature changes
rapidly. Indra is given a movement with the puffing air like white and
blue shades. The detail of ornaments are given a secondary treatment. But
the bhava of compassion is never lost.
In the cave XVII we find a depiction of Jataka "Visvavantra".
Here the queen and her associates seen in the palace garden.T he tree with
powerful stem and longish leaves are the reliefs. But the window, from
where two females are peeping makes it an interesting as if those are wall
hanging! The intricacies of any character is not neglected, but again the
queen with her standing posture becomes an axis. This is the uniqueness,
as none of the character is diluted to enchance one depiction. All are in
those isolation got enough highlight without defeating the theme.
If you analyse the eyes of Ajanta fresco, its really
unique. The eyes of the princess, kings and celestial gods are drawin with
weavy eye-lid of meditative nature to depict the sulime look of grace and
compassion. Similarly the eyes of the beggers(Cave XVII) are ‘soothing’
but has an element of pain and suffering. Then in the same cave where a
Brahman receiving ‘alms’ is shown with anxious ‘eyes’with the addendums of
creases and twitchings. Again in the same cave the eyes of the maid is
seen with the ‘element’of action. So the essence of resemblance true to
the mind and nature stood prominently in those fresco.
These are some punctuations. But delving deep into the
figures, the ‘compsit’compositions and the posture swings with the
character and theme of the frame which differed to create style within
style, and at times set out trends of super imposition in a tier system
.of characters without howerver loosing the sublime purpose of aesthetic
compositions.