The Ajanta Murals are dated to around 2nd century BC – 7th century AD and said to depict scenes from the previous lives of the Lord Buddha. The walls in the caves are covered with paintings depicting mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental.
The Ajanta Murals is one area of Buddhist art form - iconic. Buddhist art form varies across culture and time. Earlier Buddhist painting, which started in India is said to be aniconic (none graphic representation of divine beings or religious figures).
The Ajanta Paintings can be found in a wooded and rugged horseshoe-shaped ravine about 3½ km from the village of Ajantha. It is situated in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra State in India (106 kilometres away from the city of Aurangabad). The nearest towns are Jalgaon (60 kilometers away) and Bhusawal (70 kilometers away). Along the bottom of the ravine runs the river Waghur, a mountain stream. There are 29 caves (as officially numbered by the Archaeological Survey of India), excavated in the south side of the precipitous scarp made by the cutting of the ravine. They vary from 35 to 110 ft (34 m) in elevation above the bed of the stream.
Seeing the Ajanta Murals is a great short break idea whether you are on a pilgrimage are a lover of art and culture.