The caves of Ajanta are picturesquely situated in the wild secluded ravine of Lenapur, 4 miles west-north-west of the town of Ajanta, and 3½ miles south-west of Fardapur. They were excavated close to the main line of traffic; and the easiest approach to them at the present day, is via Pachora, a G. I. P. Railway station 35 miles from Fardapur. The trap hills are covered with brushwood jungle, and descend by two terraces into the plains of Kandesh. A hill stream close to Ajanta, falls over a couple of hundred foot, in a course of two miles, before it roaches the second terrace in which the caves are situated. It then descends a scarp in a narrow cascade of seven leaps, the last of which, is 80 feet in depth, and pours into a deep and capacious basin, which overflows, and debouches in the plains as the Wagora river. The perpendicular rock where the caves commence, is about 250 feet high, and sweeping round in a semicircle, closes the upper end of the lower ravine, and forms its northern boundary.

Ajanta is probably referred to by Ptolemy, under the name of ” Sazantium,” which is mentioned in connection with Ozene, Tiagura, Nasica and other places. [Memoir on the Cave Temples by Dr. Wilson, J. R. A. S., Bombay Branch, Vol. III.] Hiouen Thsang, the Chinese pilgrim of the 7th century, did not come to Ajanta; but after visiting Pulakesi the king of Maharashtra at his capital, he wrote an account from hearsay, which may be applied to Ajanta. [Hiouen Thsang heard, that in old times, a convent had been built by Lohan-o-tche-lo (Arhat Atchara), on the eastern borders of the kingdom. It was situated in a dark valley in a range of bills, whose summits rose one above another, and consisted of chains of rocks, two-storeyed peaks, and scarped crests. The monastery was roofed by the upper part of the hill in which it was built, and its structures and deep halls filled wide openings in the rock, while the monks' quarters were 100 feet high. There was a 70 feet statue of Buddha in the centre, surmounted by seven stone canopies, each three feet apart, and kept suspended by the power of Lohan's prayers. Representations of the events in Ju-lais (Thathagatas) life, during the lime he was a Buddhis. teacher, were sculptured on the stone walls round the monastery, and showed the happy signs that marked his rise to the dignity of Arhat or saint, and the divine wonders that followed his entry into nirvana. There were stone elephants outside the convent, to the right and left, which at time", uttered fearful cries and shook the earth.-See Cave Temples of India by Fergusson and Burgess.

According to Dr. Bhan Daji, one would almost think, that Hiouen Thsang, in speaking of the convent of Avarasila Samghirama of Dhanakatcheka (Dhenaka-Katha or Maha Andhra), was describing the caves of Ajanta. the passage is as follows:-" From thence to the south, he made 1,000 li, and arrived in the kingdom of Zana-kie-tse-kia (Dhanakat-cheka?). East of the capital the consent of Fo-po-chi-lo-kia-lan (Purvasila Samgharama) has been built upon a mountain west of the town; of the opposite side of the mountain the convent O-fa-lo-shi-lo-kia-lan (Avarasila Samgharama) has been constructed. An ancient king of this realm bad built it to the honour of Buddha, and had displayed in it all the magnificence of the palaces of Tahia (Baktriana). The thick woods by which it was surrounded, and a multitude of bubbling fountains made it a charming abode. This convent was protected by the spirits of heaven, and the sages and saints loved to walk about it and to inhabit it. During the space of 1,000 years, which have followed the nirvana of Buddha, thousands of lay people and of monks were seen. who came together, to spend there the time of retreat during the rainy season

At a small distance to the south of the town, there is an enormous rock. There Po-pi-wci-kia (Bhavaviveka), the master of the Sastras. dwelt in the place of the O-su-lo (Asuras), waiting for the Tse-shi-pu-sa (Ma reya Bodhisattva) to become Buddha, and to dissipate his doubts.-J R. A. S., Bombay Branch, Vol. VII.

Mr. Fergusson thinks this account refers to the Amravatti monastery. at the mouth of the Kistna.-Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 154.]

There are twenty-nine caves in all, five of which are chaityas and the remainder viharas; and the whole of them belong to the Buddhist religion. They extend for a third of a mile east and west, round the concave wall of amygdaloid trap; and vary in height from 35 to 100 feet above the bed of the torrent. Numbering them consecutively from the east end, the oldest caves are from Nos. VIII. to XIII.; while the others radiate right and left, almost in the order in which they were excavated.

No ancient remains in India exhibit such an admirable combination of architecture, sculpture, and painting as the Ajanta caves, which furnish the most complete and interesting series of monuments of the kind known, and present every variety of style of Buddhist art, from the 2nd century B.C., to the middle of the 7th century A.D. Besides the comparative beauty of many of the numerous architectural forms, the sculptured ornaments are characterised by a sharpness and crispness; while the many paintings resembling fresco, are highly illustrative of the geographical relations of India, and the state of its ancient society.