Ajanta’s ancient murals decoded in a new children’s book

Discover Ajanta’s ancient Buddhist murals and hidden stories in Ashwin Prabhu’s engaging children’s book, Magnificent Murals.

Two years ago, author Ashwin Prabhu stepped into Ajanta’s dark caves with intension. “I have always had a sense of the fact that this was a spectacular site and held a lot of value. I walked in knowing that I was going to write a book,” he says.

The 30 caves are located somewhere in the middle of nowhere, a few hours away from Aurangabad in Maharashtra’s Sahyadri Hills. His aim was to observe, imbibe, photograph, and note down every detail of Buddhist murals inside the caves. These were recorded in history books in 1819 by a British officer named John Smith while he was hunting for tigers.

At Ajanta, a Buddhist monument home to perfectly chiseled viharas, well-constructed stupas, and ornate paintings, dating back almost 2,200 years, one requires a keen eye to take in all the details.

The caves are a repository of some of India’s finest ancient art, and home to monasteries, worship-halls and intricate sculptures. Through gestures, colours, and poses alone, one sees a non-linear story, painted by anonymous artists, come alive in darkness. An innate sense of wonder about these rock-cut caves comes alive in Ashwin’s latest, Magnificent Murals – Buddhist Art of Ajanta (published by Tulika Books). Although a children’s book, this text, written concisely without condescension, takes time to run adults and adolescents alike, through what one might find on a visit to this historical site today. More importantly, it makes one want to plan a trip there, to experience the remnants of the caves in all their glory.

Author Ashwin Prabhu | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Did you know that the first four major attempts to record and reproduce the murals at the cave, including that of Buddha’s life story, his enlightenment, and the fabled Jataka tales, all fell victim to various fires? One has no choice but to believe that forces, and perhaps a curse was at play. “It was a chance discovery. When something is set so far back in time, we tend to gloss over why some incidents happened. The chroniclers just said that they had gotten destroyed without getting into the details. Piecing it together meant making connections about the disasters,” he says.