<P> The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India are about 29 rock - cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE . The caves include paintings and rock cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotion through gesture, pose and form . </P> <P> According to UNESCO, these are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that influenced Indian art that followed . The caves were built in two phases, the first group starting around the 2nd century BC, while the second group of caves built around 400--650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to Walter M. Spink . The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site . </P> <P> The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 250 feet wall of rock . The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, as well as rock - cut sculptures of Buddhist deities in vogue between the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE . Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India . While vivid colours and mural wall painting were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall - painting . </P> <P> The Ajanta Caves site are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval era Chinese Buddhist travelers to India and by a Mughal era official of Akbar era in early 17th century . They were covered by jungle until accidentally "discovered" and brought to the Western attention in 1819 by a colonial British officer on a tiger hunting party . The Ajanta caves are located on the side of a rocky cliff that is on the north side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, in the Deccan plateau . Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves . </P>

The paintings on the walls and ceilings in the ajanta cave depict mainly