meals

Ankur students with Anna, a student and friend who had joined us in the tour.

group presentation

a sketching of Naravaraha - an avatar of Vishnu who saved the drowning earth

a carving on the paper

these students had decided to carve their reflections on Ajanta on the paper. group presentation underway

creative photo by elison

amazing for a 9th standard student to take this photo. when i saw this photo, i immediatly recognized the creativity he has for photography. he took this shot using the torch.

poetry reading

young ankur poets wrote their poems that summarized the entire study tour at ellora, cave no 32. the rocks that inspired the artists and the architects more than thousand years before also inspired the poets of today.

sketching

sketching enabled the students to interpret the sculptures and paintings they perceived in thier own way.

i enjoyed my stint as the tour guide. i believe, i was able to make the students appreciate the myriad manifestations of Indian art

maravijaya

Maravijaya: this sculpture in cave number 26 shows Mara and his armies, the personifications of doubts and emptations assailed him from time to time. However, Buddha was unshaken in his meditation and won over all the armies of Mara.

this has been my third visit to Ajanata. and the ankur students have been lucky to visit when the caves have been well lit and renovated. this particular photo shows buddha as the dharmachakravartin, carved in the shrine of a vihara in remembrance of his first sermon at Sarnath. we know this by reading his mudra and the deer and the rotating wheel carved below.

Sakshi, sister of Nisarg, an ankur student also joined us for the tour

naga king and queen

in this sculpture, the naga king is sculpted in the regal pose accompanied by the queen . the style embodies the gupta idiom.

buddha's parinirvana

ritesh on ajanta

Ajanta Ellora Caves Ajanta Ellora caves near Aurangabad in Maharastra are one of the most important monuments of both historic and spiritual significance. They were built over the period of around 700 years starting from 1st century B.C. to 6th century A.D. These caves prove the brilliance of Buddhist art and architecture. The caves were carved out from rock for the Buddhist monks to live in monsoon and winter. They are replete with sculptures of Buddha and others. There are also Stupas in many caves signifying the journey towards Buddha hood. These caves were discovered by British captain John Smith in 1819 while he was on a hunting expedition. The caves are an exclusive amalgamation of architecture, sculpture and paintings. The caves are not just important for all the above, but also more important because of the journey and inspiration that they represent towards becoming a Buddha. If you really make an effort to understand the spiritual search that those monks had gone through, there is nothing that stops you from exploring the same in this modern world too. And there is a possibility in all of us to become a Buddha. It is just a matter of time that we start our journey towards attaining it. Possibility of Buddha hood is the seed that every human being has; the point is to make a tree out of it.

ajanta-ellora study tour

just want to share with you some of the photos of the ankur study tour to ajanta-ellora caves held on 3rd-8th of November 2008. the tour was a great success. personally i enjoyed being a guide. in fact it was my personal dream to take the ankur students for a study tour to ajanta and ellora.