Site Name: Ajanta
Date: 462-480 CE
Subject: Facade, right half projection, Buddha panels and pillared chamber of Buddha
CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Cave 19 is Upendragupta’s “perfumed hall” that commenced in 470s. It was conceived originally as the devotional focus of the site. The exquisite facade of this chaitya-griha (monastery) with its pillared portico and projected cornice is dominated by chaitya window in the facade. This apsidal cave is divided into a nave, an apse, and aisles by colonnade of seventeen pillars. At the center of the apse stands a stupa and an umbrella wholly in stones reaching almost to the roof of the cave. The roof of the aisles has been painted chiefly with ornamental flower scrolls.
Cave 19’s motifs served as models for much later work but before the hall could be put into worship, the victorious Asmakas took over the region, broke a path through its forward court cells in order to more easily reach their own rival Cave 26, and forbade this cave’s use. Later on, in mid 478–480 CE, during the disruption of authority over the site following Harisena’s death, the eager donors covered Cave 19’s court extensions with intrusive votive images. For instance, the famous cobra king (Nagaraja) at the left would originally have been paired with another ancient divinity at the right; but since Upendragupta’s program was never completed, an intrusive seated Buddha, his seat planted on the ground in a characteristically late way, was placed there instead.
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