Between 200 B.C. to roughly 480 A.D., in the long, ring of caves at the site we now call Ajanta, artists tackled the darkness with a bucket of water. According to legends, the buckets reflected light from outside the caves – and enabled the artists to make some of the finest, most intricate paintings in Indian art history.
Depicting Buddhist themes, these artists told the tale of the Jataka; moral fables based on the life of the Buddha. The tale of the Mahajanaka Jataka is among the most popular Buddhist fables, retold as far East as Thailand. In Cave 1 of the Ajanta Caves, you can see it in depiction.
Mahajanaka Jataka Mural at Ajanta Caves. Image: Public domainThis painting is sometimes called ‘the king in dilemma‘. According to the fable, Mahajanaka was the son of a king who lost his entire empire to the designs of his younger brother. The king was murdered, but not before his wife escaped bearing his child.
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