Treatises on Painting in Sanskrit and Ancient Indian Mural Paintings -Theory and Practice-

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The murals of the cave temples at Ajanta are typical of the ancient Indian paintings. Compared with other examples, it is safely said that the ajanta murals have common qualities of the ancient Indian murals. The Ajanta murals consist of those in the early caves and in the late caves. The former can be sharply differentiated from the latter in respects of technique and representation. the latter can be further divided into two groups, the one formed of paintings in Caves 16, 17 and the like and the other formed of those in Caves 1, 2 and the like, on the basis of distinctions of representation. In the history of Indian painting, the culmination was attained by the paintings in caves 16 and 17 at Ajanta. We can see there the subtle observation of the painters in their human and animal figures. It is also noteworthy that the painters of the Ajanta murals as well as those of later periods did not give enough space to the environmental representation.On the other hand, the Ajanta murals correspond with the treatise on painting in the "Visnudharmottara-Purana" to some extent, whereas it contains descriptions reflecting paintings of much later times. The chronology of its compilation is controversial. Nevertheless it remains useful for studies of the ancient Indian paintings in some respects.