“I looked everywhere but it was not there!
The discovery eluded my quest!
Little did I know that what I seek
Is within me and is the best!”
How a Tiger disappearing into a ‘rock’ and how the curiosity of an English officer paved the way of discovery of one of the biggest tourist attraction in Maharashtra!
It was a rediscovery of history of sorts!
read on!
In the novel ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World’ by William Dalrymple; among other things, he talks about this amazing tiger hunting party!
There are so many books and novels written by Indian authors in their own native languages mentioning the glory of Bharat and how the ancient Universities like Nalanda were among the peak of education at the time! The mega university was so imposing and world renowned that people all over the world used to flock to it for education!
We were literally teaching the world! But education without protection is waste because at The End Of 12th Century Invader Bakhityar Khilji Demolished the Monastery, Killed The Monks And Burned The Valuable Library!
Then again this is not about Nalanda which may need a hundred blogs just to cover the foundation!
The tragedy is until an englishman or ‘firangi’ tells or writes about the great history of India or Bharat; no one really cares!
The colonial mindset is difficult to shake!
Nevertheless, it is slowly changing!
Even the introduction of his book would give you goosebumps if you are a true Indian! And this story was a part of just the introduction!
The audio book is close to 14 hours long so watch out for more!
So the story goes that a young officer called Smith was chasing a tiger with his team when suddenly it went into a ravine and simply disappeared into the wall!
Though initially dazed at that! Smith recovered his senses and investigated the disappearing wall!
When he went near he saw that the big stone wall actually had an entrance! It was a man made (or woman!) cave!
Further investigation and more clearing of the vegetation revealed more caves! But even that was not amazing! What was amazing were the paintings inside the caves with vivid description of the life and times of budha made so eloquently!
Now these caves are a world heritage site called the Ajanta caves!
These Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India.
They are Universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, the caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form!
The Caves constitute ancient monasteries (Viharas) and worship-halls (Chaityas) of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock.
The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura’s Jatakamala or the Jataka tales! and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities!
Of course with all the pomp and translation the glory is forgotten! But like the ever shining gold, the shine will remain! Like how birthday celebrity Karan Dewan and his golden acts will never be forgotten!
Now plan a trip to Ajantha sometime in the future and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
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