the ajanta caves
photo by Alex Gaylon

The 29 caves in India date back to the second century BC and contain Buddhist paintings and sculptures. The caves preserve some of the best masterpieces of Buddhist art. The monks used them as monasteries and prayer rooms for nine centuries. Today, for an easier access, a path connects the 29 caves.

The caves are numbered from 1 to 29, but for practical reasons, it is best to visit them in reverse order. Cave 1 is a monastery-cave and it's also the most popular. Even though time has put its print, you can still see the original paintings on the wall and murals of two great bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara (or Vajrapani), the most important bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism and bodhisattva Padmapani.

In 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and they represent one of the world's greatest historical monuments.

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The photos displayed on this page are the property of one of the following authors:

Alex Gaylon, Danial Chitnis, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay

Some photos courtesy of: . The photos provided by Flickr are under the copyright of their owners.

This travel guide also includes text from Wikitravel articles, all available at WikitravelView full credits

This travel guide also includes text from Wikipedia articles, all available at WikipediaView full credits

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