An art historian by training William Dalrymple’s curiosity was
more than aroused when he visited Cave 10 at the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad.
The murals on the walls, which remained undiscovered for a long period and
survived several botched attempts at restoration, unveiled a rich treasure
trove of Indian paintings dating back as far as the 1st century
BC.
“Here were the oldest images of Indian faces, but also the
oldest Buddhist paintings in existence,” reveals Dalrymple. “The appeal is in
the simplicity of its style and a different technique from the rest of the
paintings in the other 31 caves. They look much less ethereal and more real and
life like.” Intrigued and interested by the paintings Dalrymple wrote a few
articles on the subject. Although tomes have been written about the
famous Ajanta and Ellora caves, not much is known about the two caves, located
at the centre of the cliff, which remained hidden for a long time.
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Painstakingly restored by Manager Singh from 1999 with
infra-red light, micro-emulsion and cutting-edge Japanese conservation
technology, these murals signalled the birth of Indian classical painting. Scholars
working at the caves also unearthed the fact that there were two distinct
phases of work at the caves, separated by as many as 600 years. One of the oldest structures of its kind in
the world, the caves and murals, particularly those in cave 10, show fragments
of the oldest surviving painting of the life of Buddha. As Dalrymple points out, the Buddhist
intuition of the close connection between the animal and natural world to
humankind through cycles of reincarnation are clear and realistic in their portrayal.
“Unseen since 1920s after several attempts to restore them, these
paintings are now being rediscovered and their immense importance being
recognised,” avers Dalrymple.
Although Dalrymple has no immediate plans to write a book on
the subject, he will nevertheless discuss the matter in some detail at his
lecture at the Sunaparanta on the topic ‘Birth of Indian Painting’. The event will be paired by an unveiling of
artist and research photographer, Prasad Pawar’s ‘Unseen Ajanta’, a collection
of nine photographs of these unseen cave murals. “Prasad’s unrivalled expertise
on Ajanta will give us an opportunity to look into a different world,” emphasis
Dalrymple.
As he takes us through the various stages of the history of
Caves 9 and 10 of Ajanta, Dalrymple will once again, in his inimitable style,
help us rediscover the rich classical history of Indian painting.
(William Dalrymple
will deliver a lecture on ‘Birth of Indian Paintings” at the Sunaparanta – Goa
Centre for the arts, Altinho, Panjim today at 7pm)
