The Timeless Art Of Ajanta

Pauranic Prana-aesthetics, a finer shade different from that of vitalistic aesthetics )the earlier having breathing-rhythm of Ksaya-Vrddhi --diminuation and augmentation--other than the latter`s emphasis only on the rhythm of augmentation), has been delineated in this study with examples from the world`s two of the best art-monuments: Ajanta (India), now not remaining unknown even to the most casual connoisseur, and Sopocani (Yugoslavia), the most significant and monumentally beautiful work of Byzantine art. Tracing Prana-aesthetics as the aesthetics of inner-light coded in the creeper-motif by the artists of Ajanta, this work emphasises decoding of the creeper-motif by Byzantine artists culminating into the frescoes of Sopocani done in Hellenistic-Byzantine aesthetics beatifield by Hesycast meditation to which that of Buddhists was not unknown. Comparisons of various determinant aspects, aesthetics and artistic denominators, and constraints not allowing similar consummation are properly investigated to substantiate the thesis that Prana-aesthetics transfigures at Ajanta but transubstantiates at Sopocani. The significance of the anabolic aspects of this aesthetics is highlighted especially as a way out from the reductivistic tendencies of the present day visual-arts straining them upto the stage of catabolic dissolution.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1977.

Annotation. Volume Two begins with the contentious, yet challenging, views of Hans Bakker and Richard Cohen, both of whom are involved with an overview of Ajanta's development. This is explored further in shorter essays by Karl Khandalavala, Arvind Jamkhedkar, and Brahmanand Deshpande. At the same time, the author presents a detailed analysis of the form and development of Cave 26, as a model upon which his other arguments are built.

This book about the cave paintings of Ajanta where the author tried to reveal out the pulse of those ancient paintings of Ajanta cave, in the light of his artistic knowledge and some hidden backgrounds he discovered from several resources. His artistic discussion is not only related to the grammatical aspects of art but also enlighten the soul of Buddhist spiritualism which is necessary to realize the inner soul of those paintings.

These photographs of the Ajanta cave complex are the indispensable complement to the text volumes of Ajanta: History and Development. With maps, timechart, ornamentation checklist, and numerous details of the art of Ajanta.

A revised edition of a classic title, now with digitally restored photographs, showcasing the finest surviving examples of ancient Buddhist art.