THE SPELL OF THE CAVES
How and how very much the jewel of India, well one the jewels in her crown inspired me! The ruins of Ajanta and Ellora caves located in the interiors of Maharashtra, India, is a testimony to our prowess in creativity and workmanship from as early as 8th Century AD. A catalogue of my trek up to the deep Gorge by the river Sahyadri with my 3 year old son.
The very first sight of the Ellora caves was majestic. An astonishing fact about them is that the complex cave system is cut out from a single rock piece.The craftsmen took a top down approach to chisel gigantic rocks into ‘viharas’ or temples. The rocks being a part of a volcanic landscape, has a layered texture to it. We can see the sharp and strong rock face with an underlying reddish brown rock texture. The Ellora caves were never lost to the world and find mention in multiple travel accounts over the years. There are thirty-four caves in all, which are architectural splendor of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain sects. I find the rock cuts, themes and sculptors very similar to the caves and temples or Viharas of Ankor Wat in Cambodia. And this would be probably because of the rising influence of Buddhism and Jainism and their wandering devotees travelled by feet and carried their religion across the Asian countries.Their astute skills in art and architecture birthed this magnificent structures.The carvings on the cave reflect the liberal perspective of the time: appreciation of sensuous beauty and their perfect aptitude in replicating the symmetry in nature and of course the fair treatment to all lives.
ELLORAL CAVES - SPACE OF SPLENDID SCULPTURES
I was specially fascinated by Cave 16, which is a Hindu cave known as the Kailasa temple.It is heralded as the cynosure of Ellora, The massive sculptures and cursive drawings in the caves are suggestive of an elephant’s elite grace and ponderous strength. I have borrowed the poise, majesty and stateliness of the formations in Ellora caves for my Ajanta Ellora collection where I hope the sarees resonate the sophistication and panache of the distinct structures.
DESIGNS INSPIRED BY ELLORA CAVES
The saree below is inspired by the carvings and murals from the caves. It is completely hand painted on tussar silk. My hand painted sarees are usually made to order and can be re created on demand.
AJANTA CAVES - HAVEN OF MAGNIFICENT MURALS
The Ajanta caves have a whole different feel to it. From a distance it looks like a garland of crudely set rock stupas or mounds. And to lend the location some more austerity is the steep gorge cut by the shimmering waterfalls. My little boy of three and I scrambled a wickedly winding and steep path up to these caves, thankfully to be hugely rewarded.
Stunning aspect of the Ajanta caves is the continuous expanse of paintings on the walls or murals. The multifarious themes of the paintings cover tales from the Jatakas: An account of Budha’s former lives and the story of his incarnation; The famous embellished bull called ‘Nandi; Abundant flora and fauna.The voluptuous and curvilinear lines outlines inscribe complex patterns on marbles.
.The The intricate paintings are free flowing and loaded with abundance of Prana (life), Roopa (beauty), Lavanya (grace), Bhava (expressions) and Sadrishya (similitude). The traditional techniques of wall paintings on these caves were the foundation of modern time’s mural decoration. The layout of the painting however ornate in nature is well balanced with perfect aesthetic.
DESIGNS INSPIRED BY AJANTA MURALS
The saree below is an ode to the murals of Ajanta. The entire saree has complex screen printing on tussar silk.The border is a depiction of the decorated bull or Nandi in conflict with each other. The upper border is of the typical swans from the Ajanta murals. The pallav ofcourse is a mural from the ceilings of the Ajanta cave. The choice of colours are inspired by yellow and red ochre, lamp black and the blue of lapis lazuli.
PIGMENTS USED ON THE WALLS
The pigments used on the walls were all extracted from natural dyes. They are yellow, blue, red, white, black and green mostly. The colours were extracted from natural minerals like kaolin, lime, gypsum, bauxite etc. The blue extracted from Lapis lazuli gives these wall paintings a third dimension effect.
Do view my designs inspired by the magnificence of the caves at https://labelolee.in/product-tag/ajanta-ellora/
All photos of murals, caves and sculptors are from my personal album. They are not borrowed from anywhere else.
This is by no chance an official write up on the caves. There is plenty of informative literature on the same, if you are interested. Below are a couple of links I found especially useful.
References:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/milmv9iwoi765l0/BkE-SwaminathanS-Ajanta-A-Layman’s-Guide-0312.pdf?dl=0
