Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/223

 CHAP. VI. AJANTA VIHARAS. 189 in the other. It seems, however, that there was a pause in the excavation of caves after the first great effort, and that they were then extended, for some time at least, in a south-west direction. Thus caves Nos. 14 to 20 form a tolerably consecutive series, without any violent break. After that, or it may be contemporaneously with the last named, may be grouped Nos. 8, 7, and 6 ; and, lastly, Nos. 21 to 26 at one end of the series, and Nos. i to 5 at the other, form the latest and most ornate group of the whole series. 1 As above explained, four in the centre are certainly anterior to the Christian Era. One, No. 10, is certainly the oldest here, and may consequently be contemporary with the gateways at Sanchi ; and with it are associated Nos. 12 and 13. After this first effort, however, came the pause just alluded to, for Nos. u, 14, and 15, which are the only caves we can safely assign to the next three centuries, are com- paratively insignificant, either in extent or in rich- ness of detail. Leaving these, we come to two viharas, Nos. 16 and 17, which are the most beautiful here, and, taken in conjunction with their paintings, probably the most interesting viharas in India. No. 1 6 is a twenty- pillared cave, measuring about 65 ft. each way I0 7- (Woodcut No. 107), with sixteen cells and a regular sanctuary, in which is a figure of Buddha, seated, with his feet down. The general appearance of the interior may be judged of by the following woodcut (No. 108) in outline, but only a coloured representation in much greater detail could give an idea of the richness of effect produced by its decoration. 2 All Plan of Cave No. 16 at Ajanta. (From a Plan by J. Burgess.) Scale 50 ft. to i in. 1 The caves run in a semicircle along the north side of the Waghora torrent, which, after falling over the cliff here, makes a bend to the north. They were numbered consecutively, like houses in a street, beginning at the south-east end, the first cave there being No. I, the last accessible cave at the western end being No. 26. For a plan of the group, see 'Archaeological Survey of Western India,' vol. iv. plate 21. 2 In Mr. Griffiths's ' Paintings in the Buddhist Cave Temples of Ajanta,' plate 92, he gives a coloured view of the interior also of cave i.