Indian Painting

1. Indian Painting The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta

3. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • Introduction: • The Ajanta caves are situated in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. • A total of about 30 caves are situated at Ajanta. Paintings and sculptures were made in these caves by the Buddhists from 2nd century B.C. to 7th century A.D.

4. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • The monastery, one of the oldest in the world, first reveals the Hinayana period (200 B.C. to 200 A.D), where Buddha is represented only by symbols, or in his supposed previous existence as related in the Jataka stories. We see this chiefly in the Chaitya (place of worship) of cave no.10 (2nd century B.C) and cave no.9 (1st century B.C).

5. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • Though the pictures depict stories related to the Buddha, the artists portrayed at the same time the costumes and customs of their own epoch, especially the extravagance of the court life. • Nor did they overlook life’s comedy and tragedy, its pathos and humour.

6. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • In order to proclaim the message of the Buddha, the monks employed artists who turned the stone wall into picture books of his life and teaching. • Representations from the Jataka tales illustrate his intelligence, noble character, selfless service and compassion by means of legends from his previous births.

7. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • The story of Veshvantara • The Veshvantara Jataka, the story of the generous prince, appears on the wall of the left corridor of cave no.17. • The first episode shows Prince Veshvantara in his royal chamber breaking the news of his exile to his young beautiful wife Madri, who accepts it with the grave expression characteristics of his noble breed.

8. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • The next scene shows their departure through the garden of the palace. • Above the first and third cell door, they take their leave in an ornamental chariot drawn by four horses while a big crowd looks on.

9. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • In the course of his journey, Veshvantara gives his horses to four Brahmins. Then he donates his chariot to another near mount Vamaka the place of his exile. The delineation of his Brahmin-scantily (small) clad (dressed), with a shaven head and dangling (hung loosely), moustache- is a masterpiece of Ajanta art, very much a realistic portrayal.

10. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • The painting between the third and the fourth cell doors is well preserved. It represents several incidents. • The one at the bottom left corner shows Veshvantara relinquishing (renouncing) his children to the rapacious (greedy) Jujaka.

11. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • The indignation depicted on the children’s faces and the portrayal of Jujaka reveals the artists skill in understanding and reproducing human emotions and character. • Jujaka has goat like beard and wiry hair covers his head. • His boldly defined limbs seem to move with a rhythmic sweep.

12. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • The square umbrella over his head to protect him from the sun appears like a touch of humour added to the grim (very serious) story. • In the next scene, Jujaka appears in the court of Veshvantara’s father, king Sanjay, demanding a ransom for the release of the children.

13. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • Jujaka’s sinister character is artistically pictured in the parrot-like nose, small vicious eyes and broken teeth, revealed by the excitement on his face at the jingle of money being poured into his scarf.

14. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • On the right hand corner below the court scene is a lake with birds and lotus flowers in full bloom. Their leaves cover the entire surface of the water, and with the white lilies and the birds feather give the mural a bracing freshness amid the sordid (unpleasant) human scenes.

15. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • Stylistic features: • A higher degree of craftsmanship, incorporating all the rules lay down by ancient Indian treatises on painting and aesthetics, marks the execution of these religious themes. One finds here, for instance, the Six Limbs of Painting as enumerated in Vishnudharmothara ( a text on aesthetics). • Male and female figures confirm to the traditional standards of beauty, with her arched eyebrows, long almond-shaped eyes, straight noses, full lips and slightly pointed chins

16. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • Minute changes in the poses, gestures and direction of the faces create variety, so that, surprisingly, there is neither obviousness nor repetitiveness. • The artists of Ajanta used perspective in a different way. A kind of multiple perspective has been introduced where different objects are perceived as if they were seen from within the panel.

17. The Veshvantara Jataka Cave no- 17, Ajanta • With only six pigments in his hand, the Ajanta artist created the vocabulary of the entire color-range, each speaking its own language and giving meanings to others. Far from dramatizing by climaxing color-contrasts, he took recourse to the more refined expression of tonalities. • Here the relationship of proportion is relative, not based on empiric knowledge but depend on emotional importance, spiritual reality-each different situation demanding a new evaluation.