Ajantā, in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, occupies a unique position in the history of Indian art as the only extant site of such grandeur to combine painting sculpture, and architecture. Caved in the period between 100 B.C. and A.D. 600, the Ajantā caves were once a Buddhist monastic center. Sculpted in imitation of structural prototypes, the doors, windows, columns, and walls of the rock-cut halls were adorned with carved and painted figures. The site is a key to an understanding of the development of Buddhist art. The oldest caves were excavated during the earliest phase of Buddhist art, and the most recent carvings were sculpted just before the incursion of Hindu elements. The caves contain old forms found at early Hinayana sites, transitional forms occurring only at Ajantā, and Mahayana forms that appear for the first time in the monastic halls and areas of worship at Ajantā. However, historical evidence with which to document the site is limited, and scholars have long puzzled over the sequence of development, the stylistic and iconographic origins of the art, and its sources of patronage. Dr. Weiner treats Ajantā in its Buddhist context. She assembles historical, inscriptional, numismatic, and stylistic evidence bearing upon the development of Ajantā, and considers the evidence in relation to other sites and in the light of the development of Buddhist thought.
