Robert Gill 1868 View from the left of the interior of the verandah of Buddhist vihara, Cave VII, Ajanta
Stereoview 12.2 x 19 cm
British Library Courtesy of the British Library, Image number: 2071, Shelfmark: Photo 1000/20(2071)
Stereoscopic photograph of the interior of the verandah of the Buddhist vihara, Cave 7 at Ajanta, taken by Robert Gill in 1868. The water barrel and the various boxes placed in the shade of the verandah were probably for the photographic plates. The Buddhist cave temples of Ajanta were excavated into a horse-shoe shaped cliff overlooking the Waghora River in the 2nd - 1st century BC and later in the 5th century AD, a period of time which coincides with the Hinayana and Mahayana phases of Buddhist art. Cave 7 is a monastery from the late 5th century which consists of two small porticos with octagonal columns with fluted cushion capitals. There are small cells at the ends and the shrine in the middle of the rear wall has a standing and a seated Buddha. The walls of the antechamber are carved with the miracle at Sravasti.
