The First Murals: Buddhist Caves and Religious Art

The First Murals: Buddhist Caves and Religious Art

After millennia of rock shelter painting by prehistoric peoples, Indian art underwent a profound transformation. Between the 2nd century BCE and the 10th century CE, a new form of monumental painting emerged—vast mural cycles covering the walls and ceilings of carved cave temples. 

This wasn't the spontaneous expression of individual hunters or gatherers, but organized religious art created by skilled professional artists working under royal and monastic patronage. Buddhism, and to a lesser extent Jainism and Hinduism, drove this revolution, transforming caves into sacred spaces where painted narratives could teach, inspire, and transport devotees toward spiritual realization.

The Buddhist Impulse

Buddhism's arrival in India around the 6th century BCE brought with it a fundamentally new approach to religious practice and art. The Buddha himself reportedly endorsed visual teaching aids, recognizing that images could convey dharma (religious truth) to those unable to read complex texts. Early Buddhism developed a rich narrative tradition—the Jataka tales recounting the Buddha's previous lives, stories of his historical life, accounts of devoted disciples, and depictions of celestial realms.

These stories demanded visual expression. Buddhist monasteries became centers of artistic production, where monks and professional artists collaborated to create painted teachings that would endure for generations. The cave temple, carved directly into living rock, provided the ideal canvas—protected from weather, acoustically resonant for chanting, cool in India's heat, and psychologically powerful as a womb-like space of spiritual rebirth.

Ajanta: The Supreme Achievement

No site better represents the glory of early Indian mural painting than Ajanta, a horseshoe-shaped ravine in Maharashtra where 30 rock-cut Buddhist caves preserve some of the finest paintings ever created in India.

Two Phases of Creation

Ajanta's development occurred in two distinct periods:

The earlier phase (circa 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE) under the Satavahana dynasty produced simpler caves with more austere decoration. These Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhist caves reflect an earlier tradition that avoided depicting the Buddha in human form, representing him instead through symbols: footprints, empty thrones, the Bodhi tree, stupas.

The later phase (circa 460-480 CE) under the Vakataka dynasty represents the zenith of Ajanta's artistic achievement. During this brief, extraordinarily productive period, Vakataka rulers and wealthy patrons sponsored the excavation and decoration of most of the major caves. These Mahayana Buddhist caves embrace the fully developed iconography showing the Buddha in human form, surrounded by elaborate narratives and celestial beings.

The Painted Caves

While all Ajanta caves contain some decoration, several preserve murals of breathtaking quality:

Cave 1, a late monastery, contains some of Ajanta's most famous images. The Bodhisattva Padmapani (lotus-bearer) and Bodhisattva Vajrapani (thunderbolt-bearer) flank the entrance to the shrine, painted as elegant, princely figures of otherworldly grace. Their dark skin glows against the painted background, their jewelry and crowns rendered with meticulous detail, their eyes cast downward in compassionate contemplation. These aren't remote gods but approachable, gentle presences—enlightened beings who delay their own liberation to guide suffering humanity.

The cave also contains elaborate Jataka scenes including the famous Mahajanaka Jataka, showing a prince who renounced his kingdom. The narrative unfolds across the walls with multiple episodes from the same story appearing in continuous space—an artistic convention allowing viewers to follow the tale as it progresses.

Cave 2 features ceiling decorations of extraordinary complexity—geometric patterns, floral motifs, mythological creatures, and divine beings arranged in intricate mandalas. The walls show Jataka tales and scenes of the Buddha's miracles.

Cave 16 contains the dramatic "Dying Princess" (more accurately, Princess Sundari in a swoon), one of Ajanta's most emotionally powerful images. The princess, learning of her husband Prince Nanda's decision to become a monk, collapses in grief, surrounded by attendant women. Her face expresses genuine anguish, her body slumps convincingly, and the surrounding figures react with varied emotions—shock, concern, sorrow. This psychological realism marks a high point in ancient Indian painting.

Cave 17, perhaps the best-preserved, contains the most extensive narrative cycles. The Simhala Jataka shows Prince Simhala's adventures with ogresses. The Vessantara Jataka depicts the ultimate act of generosity—a prince who gave away everything, even his children. These stories unfold with sophisticated visual storytelling: multiple scenes in unified compositions, architectural elements creating spatial divisions, varied scales indicating importance, and consistent character representation allowing viewers to follow individuals through complex narratives.

Technical Mastery

The Ajanta artists worked with extraordinary skill, developing techniques that produced paintings of remarkable durability and beauty:

Wall Preparation was elaborate and critical:

1. The rough rock surface was chipped to create better adhesion
2. A first layer of coarse mud mixed with rock grit, sand, plant fibers, and sometimes animal hair was applied thickly
3. A second layer of finer mud created a smoother surface
4. A final thin layer of fine lime plaster provided the actual painting ground
5. While this surface was still damp, artists began painting—essentially a fresco technique

The Painting Process followed careful stages:

Underpainting established the composition in red ochre lines—sketching the entire scene before adding color.

Base colors were applied in broad areas, blocking in the major forms.

Modeling came next, using gradations of tone to create three-dimensional form. Ajanta artists were masters of suggesting volume through subtle value shifts—highlights on projecting surfaces, shadows in recesses, reflected light in shadow areas. Their understanding of how light reveals form rivals Renaissance chiaroscuro.

Detail work added features, ornaments, patterns, and fine lines defining eyes, fingers, jewelry, textile patterns.

Outlining in strong dark or red lines defined forms with calligraphic elegance, a characteristic feature of Indian painting that would persist through all subsequent traditions.

Pigments came from mineral and organic sources:

• Red and orange: Red ochre (iron oxide), providing the warm tones that dominate
• Yellow: Yellow ochre, used for golden skin tones and highlights
• White: Lime or kaolin, for highlights and lighter values
• Black: Lamp black (carbon from oil lamps) for outlines and dark values
• Green: Terre verte (green earth) or compounds of copper
• Blue: Lapis lazuli imported from Afghanistan or azurite, used sparingly due to expense
• Brown: Various earth pigments

Binding agents likely included plant gums and animal glues, though organic materials don't survive for definitive analysis.

Stylistic Characteristics

Ajanta murals display distinctive aesthetic qualities that define classical Indian painting:

Tribhanga (triple bend): Figure poses with the body curved in three places—a graceful S-curve that became canonical in Indian art, suggesting both physical beauty and spiritual fluidity.

Idealized proportions: Bodies follow established canons—slender waists, broad shoulders on male figures, rounded limbs suggesting softness and prosperity. These weren't naturalistic portraits but ideal types representing spiritual qualities.

Expressive faces: Despite idealization, faces convey genuine emotion—joy, sorrow, devotion, serenity. Eyes are particularly expressive, often large and eloquent.

Rich ornamentation: Jewelry, crowns, textiles, and architectural details receive loving attention, creating visual splendor appropriate to celestial realms.

Spatial ambiguity: Rather than consistent linear perspective, Ajanta artists used varying scales, multiple viewpoints, and architectural elements to organize complex scenes. Important figures appear larger; architectural spaces compress or expand as needed; multiple time periods coexist in single compositions.

Narrative clarity: Despite complexity, stories remain readable. Viewers can follow protagonists through adventures, understanding relationships and sequence of events.

Spiritual atmosphere: A quality of serenity and grace pervades the paintings, even in dramatic scenes. This reflects Buddhist philosophy—all phenomena are ultimately expressions of enlightened awareness.

Beyond Ajanta: Other Buddhist Cave Murals

While Ajanta represents the pinnacle, other sites preserve important early Buddhist murals:

Bagh Caves (Madhya Pradesh)

Excavated during the 5th-7th centuries, these caves once contained paintings rivaling Ajanta. Most were destroyed or severely damaged over time, but fragments survive showing similar technical mastery and stylistic conventions. The "Dancing Girl" from Cave 4 displays the same graceful movement and rich decoration characteristic of Ajanta.

Ellora (Maharashtra)

Though primarily known for spectacular rock-cut architecture spanning Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain traditions, Ellora's earlier Buddhist caves (5th-7th centuries) contained paintings. Few survive well, but traces reveal continuation of Ajanta traditions in a new location.

Karla and Bhaja (Maharashtra)

These earlier caves from the 2nd-1st centuries BCE preserve fragmentary paintings showing the development of cave art before Ajanta's mature phase.

Jain Cave Paintings

Jainism, another major Indian religion emphasizing non-violence and asceticism, also sponsored cave paintings, though fewer survive:

Sittanavasal (Tamil Nadu)

This 7th-9th century Jain cave contains murals showing clear influence from Ajanta but adapted to Jain themes. The "Lotus Pond" ceiling painting depicts water lilies, fish, elephants, and gatherers in a delicate, lyrical style. The natural setting reflects Jain reverence for all life forms.

The figures display characteristic Tamil style—slender bodies, refined features, elegant gestures—while maintaining connections to broader Indian mural traditions.

Hindu Cave Paintings

As Hinduism reasserted dominance from the 6th century onward, Hindu themes entered cave painting:

Badami Caves (Karnataka)

These 6th-7th century caves show Hindu deities—Shiva, Vishnu, and their various manifestations—painted in styles related to Ajanta but adapted to different iconographic requirements. The transition from Buddhist to Hindu subjects marks broader religious shifts in Indian society.

Ellora's Hindu Caves

The later Hindu caves at Ellora (7th-10th centuries) contain fragmentary paintings showing continued mural traditions now serving different religious purposes.

Themes and Iconography

Early Buddhist murals developed rich iconographic systems:

The Buddha appears in specific postures (asanas) and hand gestures (mudras), each conveying different teachings or moments from his life:

• Bhumisparsha mudra (earth-touching): The Buddha calling the earth to witness his enlightenment
• Dhyana mudra (meditation): Hands folded in lap, symbolizing meditation
• Dharmachakra mudra (wheel-turning): Teaching the dharma
• Abhaya mudra (fearlessness): Right hand raised, granting protection

Jataka Tales provided endless narrative material, each story conveying specific moral lessons about generosity, wisdom, compassion, or the consequences of ignorance.

Buddhist cosmology structured many compositions—celestial realms above, earthly middle regions, lower realms below. Divine beings (devas), semi-divine musicians (gandharvas), and celestial dancers (apsaras) populate the upper registers.

Donor portraits sometimes appear, showing the wealthy patrons who funded cave excavation and decoration, seeking merit through supporting the sangha (monastic community).

Purpose and Function

These murals weren't merely decorative but served multiple essential functions:

Teaching devices: For illiterate or semi-literate populations, painted narratives made Buddhist teachings accessible. Monks could use images as visual aids while explaining doctrine.

Meditation supports: Beautiful, serene images facilitated contemplation and concentration practice. Gazing at painted Buddhas or bodhisattvas could inspire devotion and focus wandering minds.

Merit-making: Commissioning paintings generated religious merit (punya) for patrons, potentially improving their future rebirths.

Transformation of space: Paintings transformed raw rock into sacred environments, creating visually overwhelming spaces that separated devotees from ordinary reality and transported them to celestial realms.

Preservation of teachings: Painted narratives preserved stories across time, ensuring transmission to future generations even if oral traditions faltered.

Aesthetic experience: Buddhism valued beauty as a path to spiritual insight. The sheer magnificence of these paintings was itself religiously significant—glimpses of the splendor that awaits those who follow the dharma path.

Decline and Legacy

By the 8th-10th centuries, cave painting in India entered terminal decline. Multiple factors contributed:

Religious shifts: As Buddhism waned in India, patronage decreased. Hindu and Jain sponsors preferred different formats.

Architectural changes: Free-standing stone temples replaced rock-cut caves as the preferred sacred architecture. While these temples often contained paintings, the tradition evolved differently.

Political instability: The collapse of stable dynasties that had sponsored cave excavation and decoration disrupted the continuity of artistic transmission.

Climate: India's monsoon climate is harsh on paintings. Without continuous maintenance, murals deteriorate rapidly. As monasteries were abandoned, paintings began their slow fade.

Yet the legacy endured. The technical methods, stylistic conventions, and iconographic systems developed in these cave murals influenced all subsequent Indian painting traditions:

• Palm leaf manuscript illustration adopted similar figure types and composition strategies
• Later wall paintings in temples and palaces continued technical traditions
• Rajput and Mughal miniature painting shows clear descent from classical mural principles
• Export to other cultures: As Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Tibet, and East Asia, Indian painting styles traveled with it, influencing artistic traditions across half the world

Experiencing the Murals Today

Modern visitors to Ajanta enter a space layered with time. The paintings, though faded, still exert their power. In dim lighting (preservation requires limiting illumination), images emerge gradually—a face here, a gesture there, narrative scenes revealing themselves as eyes adjust.

Standing in these caves, one senses the accumulated devotion of centuries: the monks who chanted here, the artists who painted with profound skill, the pilgrims who journeyed seeking spiritual insight. The paintings aren't museum pieces but remain sacred objects, still capable of inspiring awe, still teaching their ancient lessons about compassion, impermanence, and the path to liberation.

The first murals—these Buddhist cave paintings—represent a pivotal moment when Indian art moved from prehistoric spontaneity to organized, professional, philosophically sophisticated visual expression. They established principles and standards that would echo through Indian art history, proving that painting could be not merely decoration but a profound vehicle for religious truth, a technology of spiritual transformation, a gift from one generation's skill and devotion to all who would follow.