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TAJ MAHAL

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The Taj Mahal Hindi: , from Persian/Urdu: "crownof palaces", pronounced also "the Taj") is a white

marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was

built by Mughal emperorShah Jahan in memory of his third

wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as

"the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally

admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example ofMughal

architecture, a style that combines elements

from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indianarchitectural

styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While the whitedomed marble mausoleum is the most familiar

component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex

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of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was

completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and

craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a

board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd

ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad

Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal

designer.

Origin and inspiration

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's

period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third

wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th

child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in

1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the

love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal The

principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the

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surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later.

Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Taj Mahal site plan.

1.The Moonlight Garden to the north of the Yamuna.2.Terrace area: Tomb, Mosque and Jawab.3.Charbagh (gardens).4.Gateway, attendant accommodations, and other tombs.5.Taj Ganji (bazaar)

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions

ofPersian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific

inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings

including; the Gur-e Amir(the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the

Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-

Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called theBaby Taj), and Shah

Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal

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buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah

Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-

precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new

levels of refinement.

Fourminarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth

facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the

false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual

graves are at a lower level.

The marble dome that surmounts the tomb is the most

spectacular feature. Its height of around 35 metres (115 ft) is

about the same as the length of the base, and is accentuated as it

sits on a cylindrical "drum" which is roughly 7 metres (23 ft)

high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion

dome oramrud(guava dome). The top is decorated with

alotus design, which also serves to accentuate its height. The

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shape of the dome is emphasised by four smaller

domedchattris(kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the

onion shape of the main dome. Their columned bases open

through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior.

Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base

walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome.

The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas.

The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial, which mixes

traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.

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HISTORY

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Taj Mahal as seen from Red Fort of Agra from where Shah

Jahan used to see the mausoleum of his beloved wife during his last

years

Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by

his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort.

Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum

next to his wife.

By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen badly into

disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj

Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials,

who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At

the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a

sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also

commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after

one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled

with British-style lawns that are still in place today.

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RED FORT

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The Red Fort (usually transcribed into English as Lal

Qil'ah or Lal Qila) is a 17th century fort complex constructed by

the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahanin the walled city ofOld

Delhi (in present day Delhi, India) that served as the residence

of the Mughal Emperors. The fort was the palace forMughal

EmperorShah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad, the seventh

city in the Delhi site. He moved his capital here from Agrain a

move designed to bring prestige to his reign, and to provide

ample opportunity to apply his ambitious building schemes and

interests. It served as the capital of the Mughals until 1857,

when Mughal emperorBahadur Shah Zafarwas exiled by

the British Indian government.

The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats that

surround most of the walls. The wall at its north-eastern corner

is adjacent to an older fort, the Salimgarh Fort, a defence built

by Islam Shah Suri in 1546. The construction of the Red Fort

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began in 1638 and was completed by 1648. The Red Fort has

had many developments added on after its construction by

Emperor Shah Jahan. The significant phases of development

were underAurangzeb and later under later Mughal rulers. It

was designated aUNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. The

earlier Red Fort was built by Tomara king Anangpala, now

known as the Qulb Mosque

History

TheRed Fortderives its name from the extensive use ofred

sandstone on the massive walls that surround the fort. Shah

Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort in 1638

when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Ustad

Ahmad and Ustad Hamid were chosen as the architects for

construction of the royal palace. Construction began in the

auspicious month ofMuharram on 13th May 1638Construction

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of the fort was supervised by Shah Jahan himself and was

completed in 1648. The Red Fort was originally referred to as

"Qila-i-Mubarak" (the blessed fort), because it was the residence

of the royal family. Unlike the other Mughal forts, layout of the

boundary walls of the Red Fort is not symmetrical so as to retain

and integrate the olderSalimgarh Fort. The fortress palace was

an important focal point of the medieval city of Shahjahanabad

(present day Old Delhi). The planning and aesthetics of the Red

Fort represent the zenith of Mughal creativity which prevailed

during the reign of emperor Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb, Shah

Jahan's successor, added the Moti Masjid to the emperor's

private quarters and constructed barbicans in front of the two

main gates, which made the entrance route to the palace more

circuitous.

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The administrative and fiscal structure of the Mughals declined

after Aurangzeb. The 18th century thus saw a degeneration of

the palace and people of the Red Fort. When Jahandar Shah took

over the Red Fort in 1712, the palace had been without an

emperor for 30 years. Within a year of his rule, Jahandar Shah

was murdered and replaced by Farukhsiyar. To combat the

declining finances, the silver ceiling of the palace Rang Mahal

was replaced by copper during this period. Muhammad Shah,

who was also known asRangila (the colourful) for his deep

interest in arts, took over the Red Fort in 1719. In 1739, Nadir

Shah, the Persian emperor, attacked the Mughals. The Mughal

army was easily defeated and Nadir Shah plundered the Red

Fort of its riches including the Peacock Throne. Nadir Shah

returned to Persia after three months leaving a destroyed city

and weakening Mughal empire to Muhammad Shah. The

internal weaknesses of the Mughal empire turned Mughals into

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titular heads of Delhi. A treaty signed in 1752

made Marathas the protector of the throne at Delhi. The Maratha

conquest ofLahore in 1758, put them in direct confrontation

with Ahmad Shah Durrani. In 1761, after the Marathas lost

the third battle of Panipat, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah

Durrani. In 1771, Shah Alam ascended to the throne in Delhi

with the support of the MarathasIn 1803, during the Second

Anglo-Maratha War, the forces ofBritish East India

Company defeated the Maratha forces in the Battle of Delhi,

ending the Maratha rule over the city and their control over the

fort.

After the Battle of Delhi, British took over the administration of

Mughal territories and installed a Resident at the Mughal courts

in Red Fort. The last Mughal emperor to occupy the

fort,Bahadur Shah II "Zafar", emerged as a symbol of the 1857

rebellion against the British in which the residents of

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Shahjahanbad participated. Despite being the seat of Mughal

power and its defensive capabilities, the Red Fort was not

defended during the 1857 uprising against the British. After the

failure of the rebellion, Zafar left the fort on 17 September. He

returned to Red Fort as a prisoner of the British and was tried in

1858. He was exiled to Rangoon on 7 October of the same year

With the end of the Mughal reign, the British gave official

sanctions to remove and sell valuables from the palace at the

Red Fort. In 1863, British destroyed many buildings inside and

outside the fort, filled up the gardens, stripped the fort of any

valuable items and reduced the fort to just a military structure.

AfterIndian Independence, the site experienced few changes in

terms of addition or alteration to the structures. The Red Fort

continued to be used as a cantonment even after Independence.

A significant part of the fort remained under the control of the

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Indian Army until 22 December 2003, when it was handed over

to the Archaeological Survey of Indiafor restoration.

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HARMANDIR SAHIB

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The Harmandir Sahib (Punjabi:) also Darbar Sahib (Punjabi

[db shb]) and informally referred to as the Golden

Temple is a prominent Sikh Gurdwara located in the city

ofAmritsar, Punjab,India. It was built by the fifth Sikh

guru, Guru Arjan Dev, in the 16th Century. In 1604, Guru Arjan

Dev completed the Adi Granth, the holy scripture ofSikhism,

and installed it in the Gurdwara.

There are four doors to get into the Harmandir Sahib, which

symbolize the openness of the Sikhs towards all people and

religions. The present dayGurdwara was rebuilt in 1764 by Jassa

Singh Ahluwalia with the help of otherSikhMisl's. In the early

nineteenth century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh secured the Punjab

region from outside attack and covered the upper floors of the

Gurdwara with gold, which gives it its distinctive appearance

and English name the Golden Temple.

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General

Sri Harmandir Sahib is considered holy by Sikhs. The most holy

text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is always present inside

the Gurdwara. Its construction was mainly intended to build a

place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and

all religions to come and worship God equally. Over

one lakh (100,000) people visit the holy shrine daily for

worship. The golden temple is made out of real gold.

History

Sri Harmandir Sahib literally means The Temple of God. The

fourth guru of Sikhism, Guru Ram Das ji, excavated a tank in

1577 CE which subsequently became known

asAmritsar(meaning "Pool of the Nectar of

Immortality") giving its name to the city that grew around it. In

due course, a Sikh edifice, Sri Harmandir Sahib (meaning "the

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abode of God") rose in the middle of this tank and became the

supreme centre ofSikhism. Its sanctum came to house the Adi

Granth comprising compositions of Sikh Gurus and other saints

considered to have Sikh values and philosophies, e.g., Baba

Farid, and Kabir. The compilation of The Adi Granth was

started by the fifth guru of Sikhism, Guru Arjan Dev ji.

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KHAJURAHO GROUP OF

MONUMENTS

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The Khajuraho Group of Monuments in Khajuraho, a town in

the Indian state ofMadhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur

District, about 620 kilometres (385 mi) southeast ofNew Delhi,

is one of the most populartourist destinations in India.

Khajuraho has the largest group

ofmedieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for theirerotic

sculptures.

The name Khajuraho, ancient "Kharjuravhaka", is derived from

the Sanskrit wordskharjura = date palm and vhaka = "one who

carries". Locals living in the Khajuraho village always knew

about and kept up the temples as best as they could. They were

pointed out to the English in the late 19th century when the

jungles had taken a toll on the monuments.In the 19th century,

British engineer T.S. Burt arrived in the area, followed by

General Alexander Cunningham. Cunningham put Khajuraho on

the world map when he explored the site on behalf of

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the Archaeological Survey of India and described what he found

in glowing terms. The Khajuraho Group of Monuments has been

listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is considered to

be one of the "seven wonders" of India.

History

Locals living in the Khajuraho village always knew about and

kept up the temples as best as they could. They were pointed out

to the English in the late 19th century when the jungles had

taken a toll on the monuments.

Some BargujarRajputs moved eastward to central India; they

ruled over the Northeastern region ofRajasthan,

called Dhundhar, and were referred to

as Dhundhel orDhundhela in ancient times, for the region they

governed. Later on they called themselves Chandelas; those who

were in the ruling class having gotra Kashyap were definitely all

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Bargujars; they were vassals of Gurjara - Pratihara empire of

North India, which lasted from 500 C.E. to 1300 C.E. and at its

peak the major monuments were built. The Bargujars also built

the Kalinjarfort and Neelkanth Mahadev temple, similar to one

at Sariska National Park, and Baroli, being Shiva

The city was the cultural capital of Chandel Rajputs, a Hindu

dynasty that ruled this part of India from the 10-12th centuries.

The political capital of the Chandelas was Kalinjar. The

Khajuraho temples were built over a span of 200 years, from

950 to 1150. The Chandela capital was moved

to Mahoba after this time, but Khajuraho continued to flourish

for some time. Khajuraho has no forts because the Chandel

Kings never lived in their cultural capital.

The whole area was enclosed by a wall with eight originates,

each flanked by two golden palm trees. There were originally

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experience various classical Indian dances set against the

backdrop of the Chitragupta or Vishwanath Temples.

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QUTB MINAR

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Qutb Minarpronunciation English: The Qutub Tower; Urdu

alsoQutub Minar, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Delhi,

India The Qutub Minar is constructed with red sandstone and

marble, and is the tallest minaret in India with a height of 72.5

metres (237.8 ft). It contains 379 stairs

and the base diameter is

14.3 metres and it narrows to 2.7 metres at the last storey. The

Construction was begun by qutub-ud-din Aibakin 1192 and was

completed by Iltutmish. It is surrounded by several other ancient

and medieval structures and ruins, collectively known as Qutub

complex. Tradition assigns the erection of the Pillar to Anang

Pal, whose name it bears, with the date 1052 C.E.

Qutab Minaris the nearest station on the Delhi Metro. A picture

of the minaret is also featured on the Travel Cards issued by

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

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Structure of Qutub Minar

The minar is made of fluted red sandstone covered with intricate

carvings and verses from the Qur'an. Numerous inscriptions in

Parso-Arabic and Nagari characters in different places of the

Minar reveal the history of Qutb. According to the inscriptions

on its surface it was repaired by saransh modgil (AD 1351-88)

and hrititk bajaj (AD 1489-1517

The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, located at the northeast of Minar

was built by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak in AD 1198. It is the earliest

mosque built by the Delhi Sultans.[7]Later, a coffee arched

screen was erected and the mosque was enlarged by Shams ud

Din Iltutmish (AD 1210-35) and Allaud - din Khilji. The Iron

Pillar in the courtyard bears an inscription in Sanskrit in Brahmi

script of the 4th century AD. According to this inscription, the

pillar was set up as a Vishnudhvaja (standard of Lord Vishnu)

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descendant- Wajid Ali Shah-repaired it), Qutub-ud-din

Aibak,[9]but others contend that it was named in honour

ofQutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a saint from Transoxiana who

came to live in India and was greatly venerated by Iltutmish

The nearby Iron Pillaris one of the world's foremost

metallurgical curiosities, standing in the famous Qutub complex.

According to the traditional belief, anyone who can encircle the

entire column with their arms, with their back towards the pillar,

can have their wish granted. Because of the corrosive qualities

of sweat the government has built a fence around it for safety.

The quality of Iron is an excellence of technology. The

smoothness of the pillar surface makes it rust proof. The

amalgamation of different metals with Iron produces such high

quality of smoothness.

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The minar did receive some damage because of earthquakes and

lightnings on more than a couple of occasions but was reinstated

and renovated by the respective rulers. During the rule of Firoz

Shah, the minar's two top floors were damaged due to lightning

but were repaired by Firoz Shah. In the year 1505, an earthquake

struck and it was repaired by Sikandar Lodi. Later on in the year

1794, the minar faced another earthquake and it was Major

Smith, an engineer who repaired the affected parts of the minar.

He replaced Firoz Shah's pavilion with his own pavilion at the

top. The pavilion was removed in the year 1848 by Lord

Hardinge and now it can be seen between the Dak Bungalow

and the Minar in the garden. The floors built by Firoz Shah can

be distinguished easily as the pavilions was built of white

marbles and are quite smooth as compared to other ones.

Qutub Minar has a tilt of 25 inches to the southwest. This is

considered to be "within safe limits", but experts have stated that

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the monument needs regular monitoring in case rainwater

seepage further weakens the foundation.

Before 1981, the general public could climb the top of Qutub

Minar after passing through the seven-storey narrow staircase.

However, on 4 December 1981 an accident occurred when the

electricity was gone and the staircase of the tower went into

darkness. Around 45 people were killed in a stampede that

followed the electricity failure. At that unfortunate moment

about 300-400 people were inside the tower. Most of the victims

were children. In those days school children on Fridays were

allowed freely in historical monuments and a lot of school

groups were taking advantage of that. Archaeological Survey of

India has closed the entry to stairway of the tower since then.

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In popular culture

Bollywood actor and directorDev Anand wanted to shoot the

songDil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukarfrom his movie Tere Ghar Ke

Samneinside the Qutb Minar. However, the cameras in that era

were too big to fit inside the narrow passage inside the tower,

and the song was shot inside a replica of the tower instead. The

site served as the pitstop of leg 2 on the second season ofThe

Amazing Race Australia, the Australian version of the Emmy-

winning seriesThe Amazing Race. This is the first Indian

monument to have E-ticket facility.It is located in Delhi.

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AJANTA CAVES

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The Ajanta Caves (Ajih leni; Marathi: in Aurangabad district

ofMaharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave

monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480

or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described

by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest

surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which

are masterpieces ofBuddhist religious art, with figures of the

Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales The caves were built

in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the

second group of caves built around 400650 CE according to

older accounts, or all in a brief period between 460 to 480

according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is

a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey

of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been

a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near

Jalgaon, just outside the village

of Ajinh(203156N754444E), about 59 kilometers

fromJalgaon railway station on the Delhi Mumbai line of

the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometers from Aurangabad.

They are 100 kilometers from the Ellora Caves, which

contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the

last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are

cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped

gorge on the small river Waghora (or Wagura), and although

they are now along and above a modern pathway running across

the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or

ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.

The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site

ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until

accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a

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hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently

representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The

caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the

path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some

barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the

traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden

under rubble when the numbering was done Further round the

gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high

are audible from outside the caves.

The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting;

indeed other survivals from the area of modern India are very

few indeed, though they are related to 5th-century paintings

at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka The elaborate architectural carving in

many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure

sculptures is a highly local one, found only at a couple of nearby

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contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related

to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.

History

It is now generally accepted that in the first phase of Ajanta five

caves were excavated: Caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. They have

been dated between third century BCE to second century BCE.

During this age the powerful Satavahana dynasty (230 BCEc.

220 CE) was ruling in the region. Of these, caves 9 and 10

are stupa halls ofchaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A

are vihras (see the architecture section below for descriptions

of these types). The first phase has been generally known as

theHinaynaphase, which is now being regarded as a

misnomer. Older literature on the subject adopted the

nomenclature based on a supposed Hinayna or Lesser Vehicle

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tradition of Buddhism. During this period the Buddha was

revered symbolically.

Scholars of nineteenth and early twentieth century believed that

at least two other phases took place afterwards. However,

according to a leading scholar, Walter M. Spink, the site of

Ajanta did not see any further excavation activity until circa 462

CE.

The second, the so-calledMahynaor Greater Vehicle phase

began in the 5th century. The phases is so known based on the

long held assumption that the Greater Vehicle tradition prevailed

in the Indian subcontinent. Scholars believed that the impression

of the Greater Vehicle is seen in Ajanta's second phase. Current

research, however, suspects this long-cherished view. The

proponents of the new line of thinking are Gregory Schopen,

Dieter Schlingloff, and Monkia Zin who argue that little

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Mahayana traits can be found in the Buddhist art of India up to

fifth century. Although the seeds of Mahyna teachings were

sown right from the first century there is little art and

archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream

cult. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but Bodhisatva who

is important. And, there are other important deities, such as

Manjushri, Tara, Aksobhya, Amitabha who are hardly seen

anywhere up to fifth century.

The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that

is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the

other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholars

rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta

shows most brilliantly that the stupa and image coincided

together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including

sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are

analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality

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between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as

the fifth century phase of Ajanta is concerned. It is imperative,

therefore, that we should stop using the 'Hinayana' versus

'Mahayana' categories when it comes to describing the art and

architecture of Ajanta.

In current research there is a growing inclination toward

adopting a new system of nomenclature. The new system, after

rejecting the 'Hinayana-Mahayana' model of classification

prefers to call the caves by the ruling dynasties of the region,

namely, the Satavahanas for the pre-Christian phase, and

theVkakafor the fifth century phase.

For a long time it was thought that the work was done over a

long period from the fourth to the seventh century CE, but in

recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the

caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took

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place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the

reign of EmperorHarishena of the Vakataka dynasty. Some 20

cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most

part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate

caves were produced in this period, which included some

"modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible

to establish dating for this period with a very high level of

precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given

below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly

widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The

Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the

traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around

5th 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two

centuries".Caves of the second period are 18, 11, 1429, some

possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29

arechaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.

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According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been

abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena,

in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and

forgotten During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back

and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although

the local population were aware of at least some of them.

Scene from cave 1

On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency,

John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger,

accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within

the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using

the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived.

Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more

than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain

Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date,

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April 1819. Since he stood on a five foot high pile of rubble

collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-

level gaze of an adult today A paper on the caves by William

Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society 1n

1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their

exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their

exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects

to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery,

covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established

the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and

record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay

Presidency, withJohn Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became

the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until

the Nizam of Hyderabadbuilt the modern path between the

caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to

Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary

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accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow

ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows

and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.

Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the

caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrastrha, and

are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the

caves, especially the paintings In 2012 the Maharashtra Tourism

Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI

visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16

& 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to

receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit

and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010

showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into

362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the

previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic

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visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the

first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.

Paintings

Paintings

ofPadmapani and Vajrapani on

either side of the Buddha in

Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of

caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier

caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-

led painting in India from this period, and "show that by

Stavhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered

an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of

people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of theSctoraa

crossbars"

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Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved

mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural

painting to the non-specialist" and fall into two stylistic groups,

with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later

paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a

century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology

proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier

group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style,

or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings

are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather

than into wet plaster.

All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as

used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity

with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We

know from literary sources that painting was widely practiced

and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much

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Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal

compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in

all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The

ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate

decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings

in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned

byHarisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which

show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an

animal or human commoner, and so show settings from

contemporary palace life.

In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished

areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as

shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's

account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of

work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of

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painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in

preparation for paintings that were never done.

Copies

a detail: original left, copy by Lady Herringham (1915) right

The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were

rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings

are important for a complete understanding of the works.

However the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued

by bad fortune. In 1846 MajorRobert Gill, an Army officer

from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by

the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave

walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his

painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to

be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and

photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals,

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paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to

see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has,

according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.

A further set of copies were made by Christiana

Herringham (Lady Herringham) between 1906 and 1911, and

published in book form; she went mad shortly after. More than

the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to

recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the

paintings as she was seeing them. Early photographic surveys

were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from

about 1856, and whose photos, including some

using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson

(many are available online from the British Library), then Victor

Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the

four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published

1930-1955).

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Cave 2, showing the extensive paint loss of many areas.

Cave 17, Decorative painting, and frieze with lovers

Painting from Cave 1

Section of the mural in Cave 17, the 'coming ofSinhala'. The

prince (Prince Vijaya) is seen in both groups of elephants and

riders.

Porch of cave no. 1.

Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped

scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This

would when first made have been a less prominent position,

right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the

latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been

taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the

dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is

shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the

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base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings

that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the

shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is

no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vkaka

EmperorHarishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is

reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with

those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives

of the Buddha in which he was royal.

The cliff has a more gentle slope here than at other caves, so to

achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into

the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There

was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade,

which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the

site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite

containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope

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into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably

carried away in mosoon torrents

eliefs and roof decoration in the porch of Cave 1

This cave has one of the most elaborate carved faades, with

relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces

embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved

from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative

motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century

photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with

cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a

high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both

ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that

the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when

pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas

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of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many

fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three

doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two

square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten

the interiors

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 feet (12 m) long and 20

feet (6.1 m) high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside

supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the

walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an

impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in

the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on

each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock

fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are

covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the

full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are

mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from

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the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as

a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his

veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at

Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective

bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the

entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see

illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of

the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely

because James Fegusson, a 19th century architectural historian,

had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received,

with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to

Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.

Cave Two

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Entrance of cave no. 9.

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have

been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar

to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.

Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the

faade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by

robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists

of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells

on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the

greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells

became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple

single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were

planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.

The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been

widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of

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the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the

stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2

show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles,

leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown

womanThe porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which

allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a

square-shaped window to brighten the interior.

The hall has fourcolonnades which are supporting the ceiling

and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or

colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the

hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-

beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and

painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental,

human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.

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Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for

the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due

to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the

painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted

narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls,

which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are

didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the

Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their

placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the

aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The

narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in

a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of

research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's

identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.

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Cave Four

The Buddha in a preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas, Cave 4

The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives

the following detail about cave 4:"This is the largest monastery

planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An

inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that

it was a gift from a person namedMathura and paleographically

belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a

hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of

unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the

panel of Litany ofAvalokitevara".

The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in

preaching pose flanked bybodhisattvas and celestial nymphs

hovering above.

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Caves 910

Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of

construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted

reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps

originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred

years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and

10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned

by individuals.

The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early

period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization

in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late

intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor

inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-

painting the "official" programme and after the best positions

were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not

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yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was

probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are

visible.

Other caves

Sketch map of the caves; the "horseshoe" of caves is in fact

rather wider.

Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it

was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon

abandoned Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors,

that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was

ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive

sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise

unfinishedCave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but,

perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in

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many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and

consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with

antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.

Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of

construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from

the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may

have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has

now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.

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Koh-i-Noor.

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negotiated peace withSikandar Lod, Sultan of Delhi and

became a vassal of the Delhi Sultanate.

A 1757 miniature ofEmirAhmad Shh Durrn, in which the

Koh-i-Noor diamond is seen hanging on the front of his crown,

above his forehead.

Humyn had much bad luck throughout his life.Sher Shh

Sr, who defeated Humyn, died in the flames of a burst

cannon. Humyn's son, Akbar, never kept the diamond with

himself and later onlyShh Jahntook it out of his treasury.

Akbar's grandson, Shh Jahn was overthrown by his own

son,Aurangzb.

Shah Jahan, famous for building the Taj Mahal in Agra, had the

stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne. His son,

Aurangazb, imprisoned his ailing father at nearby Agra Fort.

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Legend has it that he had the Koh-i-Noor positioned near a

window so that Shh Jahn could see the Tj Mahal only by

looking at its reflection in the stone. Aurangazb later brought it

to his capital Lahore and placed it in his own personalBdshh

Mosque. There it stayed until the invasion ofNdir

ShhofIran in 1739 and the sacking of Agra and Delhi. Along

with the Peacock Throne, he also carried off the Koh-i Noor to

ersia in 1739. It was allegedly Ndir Shh who exclaimedKoh-

i Noor! when he finally managed to obtain the famous stone and

this is how the stone gained its present name. There is no

reference to this name before 1739.

The valuation of the Koh-i Noor is given in the legend that one

of Ndir Shh's consorts supposedly said, "If a strong man

should take five stones, and throw one north, one south, one

east, and one west, and the last straight up into the air, and the

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space between filled with gold and gems, that would equal the

value of the Koh-i Noor."

After the assassination of Ndir Shh in 1747, the stone came

into the hands of his general,Ahmad Shh

DurrnofAfghanistan. In 1830,Shujh Shh Durrn, the

deposed ruler of Afghanistan, managed to flee with the

diamond. He went to Lahore whereRanjt Singhforced him to

surrender it in return for this, Ranjt Singh won back the Afghan

throne for Shah Shuj'.

Taken from India to England

Ranjt Singh was crowned ruler of the Punjab region and willed

the Koh-i Noor to theJagannth Templein Orissa on his death

bed in 1839. After his death however the British administrators

did not execute his will. On 29 March 1849, the British raised

their flag on the citadel of Lahore and the Punjab was formally

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proclaimed part of the British Empire in India. One of the terms

of the Treaty of Lahore, the legal agreement formalising this

occupation, was as follows:

The gem called the Koh-i-Noor which was taken from Shah

Shuja-ul-Mulk by Maharajah Ranjit Singh shall be

surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of

England.

A lithograph by Emily Eden showing one of the favourite

horses ofMaharaja Ranjit Singh with the head officer of his

stables and his collection of jewels, including the Koh-i-Noor

that he extorted from Afghan EmirShuja Shah Durrani.[7]

The Governor-General in charge of the ratification for this

treaty was Lord Dalhousie. He more than anyone, was

responsible for the British acquiring the Koh-i Noor, in which

he continued to show great interest for the rest of his life.

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surrendered directly from the hand of the conquered prince

into the hands of the sovereign who was his conqueror,

than it should be presented to her as a giftwhich is

always a favourby any joint-stock company among her

subjects. So the Court ought to feel.

Dalhousie arranged that the diamond be presented by

Maharaja Ranjt Singh's young successor,Dulp Singh,

to Queen Victoriain 1850. Dulp Singh was the youngest

son of Ranjt Singh and his fifth wife Maharani Jind Kaur.

Dulp, aged 13, travelled to the United Kingdom to present

the jewel. The presentation of the Koh-i Noor and

the Timur ruby toQueen Victoria was the latest in the long

history of transfers of the stones as a spoil of war. Dulp

Singh had been placed in the guardianship ofDr Login, a

surgeon in the British Army serving in West Bengal, East

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India. Dr Login, his wife Lena and the young Dulp Singh

travelled to England for the ceremony.

In due course the Governor-General received the Koh-i-

Noor from Login, who had been appointed Governor of the

Citadel, the Royal Fortat Lahore, with the Royal Treasury,

which Login valued at almost 1,000,000 (81.6 million as

of 2012), excluding the Koh-i Noor, on 6 April 1848, under

a receipt dated 7 December 1849, in the presence of the

members of the Board of Administration the local

resident H.M. Lawrence, C.C. Mansel, John Lawrence,

younger brother of H.M. Lawrence, and ofSir Henry

Elliot, Secretary to the Government of India. The jewel

was then sent to England in the care of John Lawrence, and

C.C. Mansel for presentation to Queen Victoria, sailing

from Bombay in the paddle sloop HMSMedeaunder strict

security arrangements.