Cave 18 is an elaborate cistern chamber that also functions as a pillared passage linking Upendragupta’s Caves 17 and 19. It commenced in 463/464 CE and was sponsored by Upendragupta, the sub-king at Ajanta. This water-channel, probably served both of its adjacent caves - Caves 17 and 19. An inscription in Upendragupta’s Cave 17 on a wall shared that the cistern shares with the cave’s court honors it with a special reference to its always being “filled with sweet, light, clear, cold and copious water”.

References:

• Debala Mitra, Ajanta, 1964.
• Walter Spink, Ajanta: A Brief History and Guide, 1990.
• Walter Spink, Volume 18/5 Ajanta: History and Development: Cave By Cave, 2007.