Copy of painting in the caves of Ajanta by John Griffiths and students of the Bombay School of Art.

This painting is dominated by an house front with a four-pillared verandah. The roof top is ornately carved. There is a man seated on the verandah, his face is not visible, he is surrounded by five women attendants all of whom have jewels in their hair and around their necks. There is a man peeping out of the front door at them. In the top left hand corner there is a horse and rider and another man in the right hand corner.

This painting joins with IS.87-1887 at the top and overlaps a small part of the roof top and horse and rider.

Commissioned by the Government of India between 1872-1885 and deposited in the India Museum, London.

Historical significance: The paintings inside the caves of Ajanta tell stories from the lives of the Buddha. This painting depicts scenes from the Dhanapala jataka.

Narrative:

The devious monk Devadatta wants to usurp power from the Buddha and take over the monastic order. With the aid of King Ajatasatru he plans to assassinate the Buddha by releasing a wild elephant called Dhanapala into the path of the Buddha. (IS.87-1887)

As the king has announced that he is going to release the elephant the next day, a citizen of the town who has invited the Buddha to his house sits despondently outside it as he believes that the Buddha will no longer come. (IS.40-1885)

As soon as the elephant is let loose in the courtyard of Devadetta’s palace it rampages into the main street and grabs a horse and rider in it’s trunk as if to crush them. The ladies looking out of their balconies look on the scene in horror. (IS.87-1887)

The rampaging elephant is eventually made calm by the Buddha and bows down in front of him. Through the power of his benevolence he has been tamed. (IS.87-1887)

The cave paintings of Ajanta are the oldest surviving examples of painting in India. They depict stories from the lives of the Buddha (the jatakas) and date from the 1st century BC to about AD 480. The cave complex was discovered in 1819 and since then attempts have been made to document the paintings inside them. In 1844 Major Robert Gill was commissioned to make copies. Unfortunately most of the paintings he completed were destroyed in a fire in 1866. To make up for this loss, from 1872, John Griffiths from the Bombay school of Art and seven Indian students spent every winter for the following 13 years at the caves producing approximately 300 paintings, of which this is one.

Painted by John Griffiths and students from the Bombay School of Art

This is a copy of a painting in cave 17 at Ajanta. These cave paintings date from the 1st century BC to about AD 480 and are the oldest surviving examples of painting in India. They depict stories from the lives of the Buddha (the Jatakas). This one shows a scene from the Dhanapala Jataka.

The Ajanta cave complex was discovered in 1819 and attempts were made to document the paintings inside them. In 1844 Major Robert Gill was commissioned to make copies. Unfortunately most of the paintings he completed were destroyed in a fire in 1866. To make up for this loss, from 1872 to 1885 John Griffiths from the Bombay School of Art and seven Indian students spent every winter at the caves. This is one of the approximately 300 paintings they produced.

IS.40-1885