The Ajanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage complex of 30 rock-cut Buddhist caves carved into a horseshoe-shaped cliff above the Waghora River, roughly 100 km from Aurangabad. Cut between the 2nd century BCE and the 6th century CE, they served as monasteries and prayer halls for Buddhist monks, and are today ranked among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art and architecture.
A Site Lost and Rediscovered
Unlike Ellora, which remained in continuous local memory, Ajanta was largely abandoned after the 7th century and swallowed by jungle. It was famously rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer, John Smith, while on a tiger-hunting expedition, when he spotted the arch of one of the caves through the undergrowth from a viewpoint across the gorge.
Two Types of Caves
The caves fall into two categories: chaitya grihas (prayer halls with a stupa) and viharas (monasteries with monks' living cells around a central hall). Several — particularly Caves 1, 2, 16, 17, 19, and 26 — are considered must-see stops for their exceptional paintings and sculpture.
What Makes Ajanta Different from Ellora
While Ellora brings together Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves side by side, Ajanta is exclusively Buddhist and considerably older. It is most famous not for its rock-cut sculpture but for its paintings — among the oldest and best-preserved narrative murals surviving anywhere in the world.
