History of Ajanta Caves

The history of Ajanta Caves stretches back more than 2,200 years. Carved into a horseshoe-shaped basalt cliff above the Waghora River in Maharashtra, these 30 Buddhist rock-cut monuments were built in two separate phases, abandoned for over 1,300 years, and rediscovered by chance in 1819. Today they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the largest surviving body of ancient Indian wall paintings anywhere in the world.

What makes Ajanta genuinely remarkable is not just the art — it is the story. A civilisation at its creative peak, a political collapse that stopped work mid-chisel, a jungle that swallowed everything, and a British army officer who stumbled into it on a hunting trip.

This guide covers the complete history of the Ajanta cave complex: who built it, when, why construction stopped, how it was rediscovered, and what it means in 2026.

Key Facts About Ajanta Caves

• Location: Ajanta village, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, India
• Total caves: 30 rock-cut excavations (including 1 unfinished), per ASI and UNESCO
• Cave types: 5 chaitya-grihas (prayer halls) — Caves 9, 10, 19, 26, 29; rest are viharas (monasteries)
• Built over: Two phases separated by ~400 years
• Phase 1: 2nd–1st century BCE (Satavahana period, Hinayana Buddhism)
• Phase 2: 460–480 CE (Vakataka period, Mahayana Buddhism)
• Rediscovered: 28 April 1819, by Captain John Smith
• UNESCO status: 1983, listed under criteria (i), (ii), (iii), (vi)
• Famous for: Largest surviving body of ancient Indian painting

Phase 1: The Satavahana Caves (2nd–1st Century BCE)

The earliest Buddhist caves at Ajanta date to the 2nd century BCE. Six caves were carved during this phase — Caves 9 and 10 (chaitya-grihas, or prayer halls) and Caves 8, 12, 13, and 15A (viharas, or monastic dwellings). Cave 10 is the oldest, containing the earliest surviving paintings at the site: fragmentary but still visible fragments of the Chaddanta Jataka, dating to the 2nd century BCE.

These caves followed the Hinayana (Theravada) tradition of Buddhism, in which the Buddha was not depicted in human form. Worship focused on symbols — the stupa, the Bodhi tree, footprints. The architectural style mimics earlier timber construction: carved stone beams and rafters that serve no structural purpose, preserving in rock a wooden building tradition that has otherwise completely vanished.

Who Funded Phase 1?

Direct royal funding was limited. Ajanta sits along the ancient Dakshinapatha trade route, and the early caves were largely financed by wealthy merchants who earned religious merit through donations to Buddhist monasteries. The Satavahana dynasty provided political stability rather than patronage. The simplicity of Phase 1 caves — unadorned walls, functional layouts — reflects this merchant funding model.

The 400-Year Pause (1st Century CE to 5th Century CE)

After Phase 1, work at Ajanta stopped for roughly four centuries. The Satavahana dynasty weakened, trade routes shifted, and Buddhist communities moved to other sites. The existing caves continued to be used for meditation and pilgrimage — Chinese traveller Faxian, who visited India around 400 CE, documented Buddhist monasteries in the Deccan, and the records suggest Ajanta remained a known pilgrimage site during this period.

This gap is important. It explains why the caves look like two entirely different artistic civilisations. Because they are, separated by 400 years.

Phase 2: The Vakataka Caves and the Golden Age (460–480 CE)

The second phase transformed Ajanta from a modest monastic site into one of the greatest ancient art complexes in the world. According to scholar Walter Spink, whose research on Ajanta chronology is the most widely cited in the field, the bulk of Phase 2 construction happened in just 20 years — between approximately 460 and 480 CE.

The driving force was Emperor Harishena of the Vatsagulma branch of the Vakataka dynasty. Under his patronage, new caves were excavated, older ones expanded, and the interiors were covered in the paintings that would make Ajanta famous across the world.

Who Funded Phase 2?

Harishena did not fund everything himself. Inscriptions at cave entrances record individual donors:

• Cave 1: Most likely sponsored directly by Harishena
• Caves 16 and 17: Funded by Varahadeva, Harishena’s prime minister
• Cave 20: Commissioned by Upendragupta, a Vakataka feudatory
• Cave 4: Donated by a merchant named Mathura

This network of royal and aristocratic donors explains why Phase 2 caves feel so varied in ambition and detail — different patrons hired different artisans.

Why Did Construction Stop?

Work stopped abruptly. Several caves (5, 24, 29) remain unfinished today — tools down, mid-chisel, as if the workforce simply walked away. They did. Harishena died around 477–480 CE. Without royal patronage, the coalition of donors and craftsmen dissolved. The Asmaka kings briefly held the territory but could not sustain the momentum. By around 500 CE, the monks had left. The jungle moved in.

Ajanta Caves Architecture: Chaityas and Viharas

Cave 1 is the most elaborate vihara: a verandah, a main hall with 20 painted pillars, 14 monks’ cells, and a central shrine with a seated Buddha. Cave 26 is the finest chaitya, containing the massive reclining Buddha (Parinirvana) sculpture. Cave 4 is the largest vihara at the site by physical size.

The Ancient Indian Paintings: Technique and Significance

The murals at Ajanta are not frescoes. They are tempera paintings on a prepared lime-plaster surface. Pigments came from local minerals: red and orange from hematite, yellow from ochre, green from malachite, dark tones from carbon. The polished finish gave the surface a subtle luminosity that has contributed to the paintings’ durability.

What most people don’t realise when they arrive is how much has already been lost. Large sections of the painting scheme have degraded or collapsed entirely. What survives — the Padmapani in Cave 1, the Dying Princess in Cave 16, the Flying Apsara in Cave 17 — is a fraction of what once existed. That fraction is still the largest surviving body of pre-medieval Indian painting anywhere.

The Rediscovery: 28 April 1819

The caves were not truly lost — local villagers knew of the cliff structures. What changed in 1819 was that the outside world learned of them.

Captain John Smith of the 28th Cavalry, Madras Presidency, was on a tiger-hunting expedition in the Sahyadri hills when a local shepherd boy led him toward the gorge. From the opposite cliff, Smith spotted the arched facade of Cave 10. He reached it with villagers who cleared a path through the undergrowth.

Inside, he found rock-cut halls, sculpted pillars, and mural paintings in remarkable condition. His response: he scratched his name and rank on the 13th pillar of Cave 10, across a Bodhisattva painting. The inscription — “John Smith, 28th Cavalry, 28th April, 1819” — is still visible today, roughly 7 feet off the ground (the debris inside Cave 10 at the time was 3–4 feet deep).

Note: Smith didn’t ‘discover’ the caves in any meaningful sense. They were mentioned in Abu al-Fazl’s 16th-century Ain-i-Akbari and were known to local communities. What Smith’s visit did was bring the site to the attention of British colonial scholars, triggering systematic documentation and, eventually, conservation.

Within five years, William Erskine had published an account. By 1848, the Royal Asiatic Society had formed the Bombay Cave Temple Commission, with James Wilson as president. This work directly contributed to the formation of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1861.

Documentation and Conservation: A History of Near-Misses

Major Robert Gill (1844–1863)

The East India Company commissioned Major Robert Gill to document the Ajanta paintings. He spent nearly 20 years at the site, producing approximately 30 large-scale oil-on-canvas copies. Most were sent to London for exhibition at the Crystal Palace. In 1866, a fire at the Crystal Palace destroyed 25 of his 30 paintings. Only 4 survive today, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

John Griffiths and the Bombay School of Art (1872–1885)

To replace what was lost, the Government of India commissioned John Griffiths to lead a new copying project. Working with his students from the Bombay School of Art over 13 years, Griffiths produced approximately 300 paintings. In 1885, a fire at the South Kensington Museum (which later became the V&A) destroyed over 100 of these copies. Around 200 survive in the V&A collection today.

Lady Herringham and the Bengal Renaissance (1909–1911)

Lady Christiana Herringham organised a team of Indian artists to copy the murals, including Nandalal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar, and Mukul Dey — key figures in what became the Bengal Renaissance. Their work helped establish Ajanta’s paintings as a touchstone of modern Indian artistic identity.

Ghulam Yazdani and the Nizam’s Department (1920s–1930s)

The most systematic pre-independence documentation came from Ghulam Yazdani, working under the Nizam of Hyderabad’s Archaeological Department. His four-volume work on the Ajanta paintings remains a primary reference. The Nizam also funded road construction and a rest house at the site. However, early restoration workers applied varnish to the paintings to ‘brighten’ them — a well-intentioned decision that accelerated deterioration and is now considered one of the most damaging conservation mistakes in the site’s history.

UNESCO Status and Post-Independence Conservation

After India’s independence in 1947, the Archaeological Survey of India took over stewardship of Ajanta. In 1983, the caves were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the first batch of Indian sites to receive the designation — alongside Ellora Caves, Agra Fort, and the Taj Mahal.

UNESCO recognised Ajanta under four criteria: as a masterpiece of human creative genius (i), a significant exchange of values (ii), exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition (iii), and directly associated with living Buddhist heritage of universal significance (vi). (Source: UNESCO WHC, whc.unesco.org)

The modern mandatory eco-shuttle system and the MTDC Visitor Centre at Fardapur (about 4 km from the cave entrance) were designed specifically to reduce direct visitor impact on the fragile site. In 2012, MTDC announced plans to build full replicas of Caves 1, 2, 16, and 17 at the visitor centre — giving tourists an immersive experience without adding to the humidity and CO₂ load inside the originals.

Ajanta vs Ellora Caves: Key Differences

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When were Ajanta Caves built?

Ajanta Caves were built in two phases. Phase 1 dates to the 2nd–1st century BCE (Satavahana period). Phase 2 dates to approximately 460–480 CE (Vakataka period). The two phases are separated by roughly 400 years.

2. Who built the Ajanta Caves?

Phase 1 was carved by Buddhist monks and artisans financed by merchants along the Dakshinapatha trade route under Satavahana rule. Phase 2 was built under the patronage of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty, his minister Varahadeva, and several feudatory donors.

3. Who discovered the Ajanta Caves?

Captain John Smith of the 28th Cavalry, Madras Presidency, is credited with the modern rediscovery on 28 April 1819. He was led to Cave 10 by a local shepherd boy during a tiger-hunting expedition. The caves were already known locally and were mentioned in the 16th-century Ain-i-Akbari by Abu al-Fazl.

4. Why are Ajanta Caves famous?

Ajanta Caves are famous for containing the largest surviving body of ancient Indian wall paintings. The murals in Caves 1, 2, 16, and 17 are considered masterworks of ancient Buddhist art. The Bodhisattva Padmapani in Cave 1 is often cited as one of the finest paintings in the ancient world.

5. How many caves are in Ajanta?

There are 30 rock-cut excavations at Ajanta, including one unfinished cave. Five are chaitya-grihas (prayer halls): Caves 9, 10, 19, 26, and 29. The remaining 25 are viharas (monasteries). (Source: ASI, asi.nic.in)

6. When did Ajanta Caves get UNESCO status?

Ajanta Caves were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, in the first batch of Indian sites to receive the designation. UNESCO recognised them under criteria (i), (ii), (iii), and (vi).

7. Why were Ajanta Caves abandoned?

Construction stopped around 480–500 CE following the death of Emperor Harishena. Without royal patronage, the network of donors and craftsmen collapsed. The monks eventually left, the jungle overtook the site, and Ajanta remained largely unknown to the outside world for approximately 1,300 years.

8. What painting technique was used in Ajanta Caves?

The Ajanta murals are tempera paintings, not true frescoes. They were painted on a prepared lime-plaster surface using mineral pigments: hematite (red/orange), ochre (yellow), malachite (green), and carbon (dark tones). The surface was polished after painting, giving it subtle luminosity.

9. Which is the oldest cave in Ajanta?

Cave 10 is the oldest, dating to approximately the 2nd century BCE. It contains the earliest surviving paintings at Ajanta — fragmentary remains of the Chaddanta Jataka, considered the oldest wall painting extant in India.

10. What is the difference between Ajanta and Ellora Caves?

Ajanta is exclusively Buddhist, dates from 2nd century BCE to 6th century CE, and is famous for its murals. Ellora dates from the 6th to 11th century CE, contains Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monuments, and is celebrated for its rock-cut sculptures, particularly the monolithic Kailasa Temple. Ajanta is closed on Mondays; Ellora on Tuesdays.

11. Which dynasty built Ajanta Caves?

Phase 1 was built under the Satavahana dynasty (2nd–1st century BCE). Phase 2 was built under the Vakataka dynasty, primarily Emperor Harishena of the Vatsagulma branch (~460–480 CE). Both were Buddhist patronage projects, though the Vakatakas themselves followed Hinduism.

12. How long does it take to visit Ajanta Caves?

A focused visit covering the most important caves (1, 2, 16, 17, 26) takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours. A thorough guided visit of all accessible caves typically takes 4 to 5 hours. Plan for a full half-day. The caves are open 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, Tuesday to Sunday.

Conclusion

The history of Ajanta Caves is a story of extraordinary human achievement, political fragility, and improbable survival. For 700 years, merchants, ministers, and kings poured resources into this remote gorge. Work stopped mid-chisel when patronage collapsed. The jungle covered everything. And 1,300 years later, a shepherd boy led a British officer to a cliff face — and the paintings were still there.

If you are planning a visit, the caves are open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 AM to 5:30 PM. Hire a licensed guide at the entrance. Allow at least 3–4 hours. Stand in Cave 1 in front of the Padmapani and give it the time it deserves. A 1,500-year-old painting rewards patience.

For help planning your Ajanta–Ellora tour, contact Pilgrimage Tour India at +91 8826094899. We handle the logistics so you can focus on the experience.

Also Reads on: 

• Travel Tips for Visiting Ellora Caves
• How to Reach Ellora Caves
• History of Ellora Caves
• Best Time to Visit Ellora Caves