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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Buddhist temple of Pitalkhora

 Buddhist temple of Pitalkhora 






The monastery in the west is very little known today and is visited mostly by very few people, who are genuinely interested in the ancient history of the Deccan. This ancient monastery is known today by the name ' Pitalkhora', which means Brazen Glen in plain English. There are reasons for this comparative obscurity of this monastery. Firstly 'Pitalkhora' ravine is very deep, narrow and of much smaller length, which makes it very inaccessible. The ravine at Ajintha is shallower and shaped like a horse shoe, which makes it fairly long in total lenth. Because of this reason, newer and newer caves continued to be excavated at Ajintha even up to 6th century CE and in all there are 30 caves there as compared to 14 at 'Pitalkhora'. Secondly, even though both monasteries were excavated in black basault rock of Deccan trap, the rock at 'Pitalkhora' is somewhat of softer variety and crumbles with relative ease compared to Ajintha. Because of this reason, 'Pitalkhora' caves are in much worst state today and have crumbled and are damaged to a large extent. In the past however, things were rather different. When Buddhism was at its full glory in India, 'Pitalkhora' was extensively known in the Buddhist world. Ptolemy identifies 'Pitalkhora' as ' Petrigala' and a Buddhist chronicle ' Mahamayuri' calls it as 'Pitanglya'.



I am on my way now to visit this ancient Buddhist rock cut temple of 'Pitalkhora'. 'Pitalkhora' ravine is about 12 miles from the town of Chalisgaon, which itself is located on the Mumbai-Agra road; the major north-south artery of India. However, it is more convenient to travel to 'Pitalkhora' from the city of Aurangabad, which besides has many more tourist attractions like famous rock cut temples of Ajintha and Ellora and better places to stay. A metalled road in excellent condition, leads towards north from Aurangabad and is known as Aurangabad -Dhule road. In fact, there are so many tourist attractions on this road like Doulatabad fort, Rock cut temples of Ellora, famous Hindu temple of Lord Shiva at Ghrishneshwar and finally the burial site of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, that an average tourist may not even come to know about 'Pitalkhora' ravine at all.


The landscape now changes to a typical rural Indian setting. I see green fields stretched to the limit of my vision,, Sugar crane crops stand tall in many fields. In other fields, maize and cotton seedlings have just sprouted out of the brownish black soil. There is also a fair amount of foliage spread around and in the north as well as in the west, I can see faint images of greenish, bluish mountain ridges towering above the horizon. The car passes through many small villages, where the highway, on which I am travelling, serves as the main street. Few shops selling provisions and invariably mobile phones and sim cards are seen along the road side. After travelling for about an hour, we pass through a larger town called Kannad. These is an old fort here with ramparts and the gates still in place. After Kannad, a small road branches off to the left for a place called Kalimath, which actually is an impressive looking red coloured temple founded by Swami Pranawanand maharaj, about 2 KM down this small road. We proceed further down this road.














As I mentioned earlier, Pitalkhora group of ancient caves, consists of in all 14 caves; a number much smaller than the contemporary period group of caves at Ajintha and were discovered slightly later than Ajintha caves, around 1853. I am standing opposite the cave on extreme right. This cave has been numbered as number one. There are 8 more caves on this cliff face spread further to far left. Four more caves numbered 10 to 14 were also found on the opposite rock face of the ravine. Caves 1 to 9 face northerly direction and remaining face southwards. Except for cave number 3, which was a Chaitya Griha, all other caves facing in northerly direction, were 'Viharas' or monk's residency. On the other side of the ravine, the group of caves were Chaitya Griha prayer halls. Sevaral 'Stupas' are found in cave 11.


Unfortunately, almost all caves at Pitalkhora are in crumbled or damaged condition. However, whatever little of original art work that has still stood the vagaries of weather and has survived to date, is enough to give an idea to the visitor about the original grandeur of Pitalkhora monastery. Caves numbered from 2 to 4 share the same forecourt and obviously were excavated during same time period. After crossing the steel bridge provided by ASI, on the gulley, I have reached directly on this rock cut forecourt, about 3 to 5 feet up from the ground below. Ahead of me is cave number 1, which is really an opening in the rock face with few cells for the monks. Next to this, is cave number 2, which again is a plain looking 'Vihara, with few cells for the monks at the rear. The Vihara floor is couple of feet above the forecourt and two steps lead me into the cave. An excavated wall perhaps a foot higher than the Vihara floor has been retained in the front and the steps have been cut into this. The front of the wall has been carved with a design of vertical pillars and horizontal railings in the rock. From the number of 'Viharas' here, it is possible to imagine that a large number of monks probably lived here.




“ The Chaitya, whole front of which has been destroyed by the decay of the rock, is 34 ½ feet wide, and must have been 50 feet or more in length, and 30 ½ feet high to the top of vaulted roof. The nave (the central portion)is 20 feet 8 inches wide, and separated from the side aisles by plain octagonal shafts 14 feet high, of which there are still left eleven shafts and fragments of fourteen others. The pillars have a slight slope inwards. Above them the the vault had wooden ribs, but only the mortices remain to show that they once existed. The side aisles have quadrantal stone ribs like cave 10 at Ajintha. It appears that in excavating the cave originally, the workmen, after having made some progress, had come to a layer of very soft rock, about 4 ½ feet thick. This seriously interfered with their work, but they tried to meet the difficulty by building up the lower portions of 20 or more pillars, including all those round the apse, with large blocks of stone. The walls of the aisles too, where the layer cut them, were built up with a facing of stone, 6 or 8 inches thick in large slabs. These blocks have mostly fallen out now, and the Dagobas, (The Stupa) probably also from the same cause, having been a structural one, has almost entirely disappeared, only portions of solid basement remaining. The whole has been painted with figures of Buddha in various attitudes, but almost constantly with the triple umbrella over his head. This [painting is, doubtless, of later age than the excavation of the cave itself, which must belong to the same age as cave number 10 at Ajintha-what ever that may be-as it resembles this cave in every respect.”









I come out on the forecourt, I meet an officer of Archeological Survey of India, who has come on a visit to cover up parts of sculptures and carvings with tarpaulin so that onset of Monsoon rains would not cause further damage. I see a flight of about of 6 or 7 steps for alighting from the forecourt to the ground. I walk down the steps and then ASI officer points out to me to the sides of the stairs, where some figures have been engraved. I have a look at those figures and realize that the figures there are the first of the many surprises that Pitalkhora has to offer. Originally there were two flights of stairs, but only one remains now and on both sides of these steps, in a triangular border, three figures have been engraved. One on the right is a laughing Yaksha or a divine dwarf with big ear lobes and a large sized naval. In the centre a smaller edition of a Yaksha is carved. Both the figures raise their hands to support the flight of stairs. 






















The gate man on left side of the door is luckily still intact. As I thought, the figure has been carved round and is not a bass relief. This gate man is again a Yaksha with divine powers. He has a turban over his head cleverly tied with a crest knot in the center. The intricate design of the border of the fabric in front is seen clearly. He has large elephantine ears (Symbolic of supernatural powers) and wears spiral earrings in both ears. There is a necklace. A set of four thick bracelets adorn each of his forearms, and an armlet is worn on his left arm. He is wearing a dhoti or a loin cloth, which comes down to his ankles. (This kind of lower garment is worn even today by village-folk of Maharashtra.) The dhoti and his unstitched upper garment (Uttariya), are closely pleated at the sash, which holds the scabbard of his straight sword (Definitely a weapon not commonly used in ancient India. In India, curved swords were mostly used.) In his right hand, he is holding a heavy spear. I am describing this gate-man Yaksha, in such fine details, because the attire must have been the common attire of ordinary citizens in those days of Satvahana empire.






















After coming out of the Cave number 4 Vihara, I get busy looking at the boulders that are lying in heaps on the fore ground. ASI official points out to me to a rock surface, way up on the straight cut rock face on the side of the ravine. The spot at which he is pointing, must be at least 90 to 100 feet above my position. I am astonished to see rows of semicircular chaitya arches excavated there. The arches are carved in a typical Chaitya shape and have four or five arcs engraved inside the depression formed. Between these arches and also below them, few more Chaitya arches, which are the only remnants of another row of Chaitya arches, but of smaller size, are seen. I have seen similar arches in many Hinayana Buddhist temples including one at Karle'n. What is special here in Pitalkhora, is that the arches have been engraved about 50 to 60 feet above the top of the caves on a vertical cliff face. I keep wondering how this was accomplished, 2200 years back in such a remote place. The Chaitya arches design was made to cover entire part of cliff above cave numbers 3 and 4 and must have been there up to top of the caves below. It seems that Pitalkhora temple keeps on bringing more and more surprises for me.
From the boulders that lie on the ground, I am able to locate a head of an elephant from the front face of the pedestal of cave number 4. Many of the boulders still have engraved patterns on one face. I can recognize easily wooden lattice design and also typical Buddhist design railing ( Seen at Sanchi Stupa and also on Amaravati stupa boulders). I see a large panel with miniature Chaitya and wooden lattice patterns. I think that this panel must have been the facade or facia panel of the main Chaitya Griha. However, all bouldersd with bass reliefs have been moved by ASI from the site to avoid risk of pilferage and further destruction. Some of these, can be seen at the National museum in New Delhi. The sculptures, which are in New Delhi museum, are fairly important from point of view of learning about the life of the ordinary people and their attire in Satvahana empire days. I would discuss later about these museum pieces from Pitalkhora from this angle only.
Coming back to the New Delhi Museum, where there are in all, four exhibits that were found at Pitalkhora. I shall try to describe these. The first bass relief shows an couple. The young couple in love is shown standing and holding hand. The girl is wearing a long skirt type lower garment below her naval, which reaches to her ankles. The skirt is pleated near the waist and has an embroidered waist band attached to it . She wears heavy jewelery in form of multi-stranded pearl or bead necklace with a jeweled pendent in the middle, long hanging pendent type earrings and at least 2 bracelets and at 6 bangles on forearms. Her long hair are braided in the front near the forehead and two long braids also are seen on front side of face extending up to her shoulders. The man is wearing a dhoti and a knotted sash on his waist below the naval. He is wearing at least four bracelets on his forearm and a flower garland around his neck. The hair, which are shoulder high, are also knotted in a ball like shape near his forehead. Some kind of curtain is seen near the man.
The second bass relief is that of a royal couple and is of one of the Satvanana Kings. Here the queen has an elaborate hairdo with braids near the forehead going all the way up to shoulders and a large sized hair bun behind her head. She is wearing heavy jewelery in form of a necklace, long earrings, arm bands, bracelets and bangles on forearms and jeweled rings around ankles. Her Sari is wrapped around the legs tightly like that off Bharat Natyam dancers and reaches only up to her knees. She wears a jeweled sash around her waist. She is shown picking up something like flowers from a plate held by an attendant. The king is dressed plainly in a dhoti with a knotted sash. He wears 2 armbands, earrings and a necklace. He has shoulder long hair, again knotted above his forehead The couple is shown sitting on a tiger skin, spread on a daintily carved wooden throne or a bed. The Queen's paraphernalia of personal attendants, standing behind her, are also dressed in similar fashion.
To summarize, even though Pitalkhora caves do not have any direct reference to any of the Satvahana kings, from the time period of the caves, as seen from script characters used in the inscriptions, these caves were excavated during life times of Satvahana kings, Simuka, Krisha and Shree Satkarni. It is obvious that the Royal policy towards all religions was of consideration and respect. Wealthy citizens from the state capital Pratishthana, including a Royal physician donated to this Monastery handsomely. The attire of the people and the king himself was simple and functional. Ladies fashions are current even on this date in India. The Pitalkhora monastery must have been a grand spectacle and I have a feeling that it was built under supervision of an architect, who was either Greek (Yawan)or was influenced by Greek architecture in general. There is one question that still puzzles me. I fail to understand as to why these caves were excavated at such a remote place? After checking up with Google earth, I realize that the rivulet that flows along the Pitalkhora caves actually comes out of the Pitalkhora gorge and then flows gently along a flatter terrain, where villages in ancient times existed. There must have been a way up along this rivulet from the villages to the caves proper. 
  
 

  Rock cut Buddhist temple of Ajantha




In the year 629 CE, Xuen Zang, a learned Buddhist monk from China commenced a trip on foot to India, in search of original Buddhist scriptures. Luckily for us, he kept a detailed account of his travels, which is now considered as one of the few authentic documents of those times about India. During return leg of his journey, Xuen Zang, starting his epic journey from city of Kanchipuram in present day Tamil Nadu, travelled through Maharashtrra, ruled by Chalukya king Pulakesi, to reach Bhadoch town in present day Gujarat. On his way, Xuen Zang stayed for few days in capital of Pulakesi's empire. Unfortunately, Xuen Zang does not mention the name of the capital in his book, but according to me, considering all circumstantial references mentioned by Xuen Zang, it has to be Nashik city from present day northern Maharashtra. Due to some unknown reasons, Xuen Zang was not able to visit an important Buddhist monastery to the east of the capital. However he has described this monastery in his book. He writes as follows (Beal Translation),



“ On the eastern frontier of the country is a great mountain with towering crags and a continuous stretch of piled-up rocks and scarped precipice. In this there is a sangharama constructed, in a dark valley. Its lofty halls and deep side-aisles stretch through the (or open into the) face of the rocks. Storey above storey they are backed by the crag and face the valley (watercourse). This convent was built by the Arhat Achara (0-che-lo). The great vihara of the convent is about 100 feet or so in height; in the middle is a stone figure of Buddha about 70 feet or so high. Above it is a stone canopy of seven stages, towering upwards apparently without support. The space between each canopy 48 is about three feet. According to the old report, this is held in its place by the force of the vow of the Arhat ( Head priest). They also say it is by the force of his miraculous powers ; others say by the virtue of some magical compound ; but no trustworthy account has yet explained the reason of the wonder. On the four sides of the vihara, on the stone walls, are painted 49 different scenes in the life of Tathagata's preparatory life as a Bodhisattva : the wondrous signs of good fortune which attended his acquirement of the holy fruit (of a Buddha), and the spiritual manifestations accompanying his Nirvana. These scenes have been cut out with the greatest accuracy and fineness. On the outside of the gate of the sangharama, on the north and south side, at the right hand and the left, there is a stone elephant. The common report says that sometimes these elephants utter a great cry and the earth shakes throughout. In old days Jina (or Channa) Bodhisattva often stopped in this sangharama.”









The rock cut Buddhist temple of Ajantha is located in a deep ravine on the south side of a mountain range known today as Satamala or Indyadhri. The caves can be easily reached from modern city of Aurangabad as the distance between these is just 100 KM on Aurangabad- Jalgaon road. I am now on my way to Ajantha. The State Highway no. 8, being an important gateway, is fairly busy. As we leave Aurangabad city, I see a major landmark known as Delhi Gate. It is one of the 52 gates, that were erected all over the city in historic times and is an impressive structure. We pass the Dr. Salim Ali lake and later Sawangi lake on our right. After the city limits, the road passes through rich and fertile farmland growing sugar cane, maize and cotton, till we come across the first hilly region known as 'Chouk Ghat.' It is not much of a hilly road, but driving through it is a definitely pleasant experience because of the rich green foliage around. There is also a small shrine at the top of the Ghat. After this hilly track, we are back to rich farmland, interspersed with villages till we reach the town of Sillod, which has a bye pass road, but the town has also grown around this road and so called bye pass road has actually become a road in the town itself. Its all farmland again, till we finally reach the Ajantha town. The Buddhist caves derive their name from the name of this town. Few KM north of Ajantha town, the road starts climbing up on the first hills of the Satamala mountain range known as Ajantha Ghat. The road is full of curves and turns as we reach the top and then start rolling down towards the bottom of the valley.



Once in the Valley, we branch off to a very nicely designed parking lot of international standards, where our vehicle can be safely kept. They charge a small entrance fee of Rs. 10/-and additional Parking charges. From here I walk to the shuttle stand. The way is through a very busy market place specially built for tourists and offers short eats, drinks and mementos. I decide to make a halt here while returning. The shuttle stand is a well organized affair. There are shuttle buses to the caves every 10 minutes or so. Buses are large and fairly comfortable and cost just Rs. 12 per person. Being a Sunday, the place is heavily crowded with nationals of many countries around the world, along with Indians. There are also large numbers of school children on excursion trips. I recollect my first trip to Ajantha caves as a school going lad, probably sixty years before. At the shuttle stand, I have to wait for about 15 to 20 minutes because of the crowd, but finally get a seat and leave for the caves. The entire 4 or 5 KM route to the caves is through hilly forest region and riding the bus is a pleasure. The bus stops at a spot about 100 or 150 feet below the caves.



























 


'Earlier group' of caves in the Ajantha ravine, is a group of six caves, that were excavated during a period between 200 to 100 CBE or during reigns of early Satavahana kings, like Simuka, Krishna and Shree Satakarni. These caves have been numbered as 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. Out of this group, caves numbering 13 and 15A are small Viharas or places of stay for the monks. For both these caves, the facade has perished. From the size of the cells in cave no. 13, which are 7 in numbers and very narrow, it appears that this cave was a dormitory for the interns. Some of the Cells here have stone beds with stone pillows as well. In cave no 15A, there are only 3 cells. The area above cell doors is carved with semicircular Chaitya arches with a running moulding above, relieved with row of inverted and stepped pyramids design. The front wall was originally designed with a railing pattern. Nothing really exits in cave number 8 now and is being used as a store by ASI. There is not much that can be learned from these 3 caves. I therefore decide to concentrate on remaining three caves of this group.



It measures 41 feet 1 inch wide, about 95 ½ feet deep, and 36 feet wide. The inner end of the cave, as well as the colonnade that surrounds the nave, is semi circular, the number of columns in the latter being 39 plain octagons- two more than in the great Chaitya at Karle'n- but many of them broken. They are 14 feet high and over them rises a plain entablature (the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns ) 9 ½ feet deep, from which springs the arched roof, rising 12 ½ feet more, with a span of about 23 ½ feet. Like the oldest Chaitya caves at Bhaje, Kale'n, etc; it has been ribbed with wood. The aisles are about 6 feet wide, with half arched roofs, ribbed in the rock. The chaitya (stupa)is perfectly plain, with a base or a lower drum, 15/12 feet diameter; the dome is rather more than half a sphere, and supports the usual capital, considting of an imitation box, covered by a series of thin square slabs, each projecting a little over the one below it. There is an inscription on the front of the great arch at the right hand side”
In the period 1875-85, Mr.John Griffith of of Bombay School of Arts, and his students, copied the frescoes of cave number 10 at Ajantha. During this work, Mr Griffith noticed that some parts of the paintings have a higher thickness. On close inspection, it was revealed that newer paintings were done on top of old and earlier paintings. He also noticed that the style of paintings of the top layer was of 4th or 5th century CE, and was distinctly different than the style and colours used in paintings on layers below. This discovery led to the conclusion that the lower paintings have been drawn in the BCE periods and the top ones after another six hundred years. In other words, the fragments of lower level paintings, give us directly a glimpse of the life in the Satavahan period. A lucky break indeed.
The dresses are vary various but pretty clearly distinctive of the classes represented. The great ones, Devas', Rajas', Diwans' and nobles wear but little clothing, at least above their waist, but much jewllery, armlets, necklaces, fillets, and high crown or 'Mukutas'. Men of lower rank are often more covered, but have little or no jewellery. Bhikshus and monks usually are clothed by their robe, which leaves only the right shoulder bare. Queens (Ranis') and ladies of distinction, and perhaps also their more personal servants wear much jewellery on their persons but of different sorts according to their rank. The Ranis' are frequently, if not always, represented almost as if they were nude; very close examination, however shows that this is not intended, but that they are dressed in But they are dressed in- “ A wondrous work of thin transparent lawn.”- so thin that the painter has failed to depict it and has usually contended by slightly indicating it in a few very light touches of whitish colour Across the thighs, and by tracing its flowered border, and painting the chain by which it was held up round the waist. Dancing women are represented much as they would be now in an abundance of flowing coloured clothing, Dasis' and Kanchukinis' -household slaves or servants wear boddices and a Sari round their midriff, usually of stripped cloth.”



The cave number 10 in Ajantha was completely painted from inside. The large paintings on the walls, depicted many scenes from Jataka stories as well as incidences of significance, from those times, from Buddhist point of view. The paintings on pillars and on vaulted roofs of the aisles, mostly depict Buddha faces and figures in various postures along with some floral patterns. As mentioned earlier, only three of the surviving paintings in this cave, are believed to be from BCE or early Satavahana empire era. We shall consider these three paintings, one by one in detail. These paintings have been described in great details in a book by Mr. G. Yazdani and I am quoting mostly from this book, since it is no longer possible to see these now obliterated works of art, at close distances. What I felt as the most important aspect of all three frescoes, is that they depict a King, paying his respects to Buddha, represented in some form of other. Some of the older books tend to describe this King as a Naga King or a king of the tribal people. However, after seeing all the three frescoes in details, I think that the king depicted here, is definitely one of the early Satavahana kings. Mr. G Yazdani suggests that this king must be none other than Shree Satakarni, whose statue and an inscription about his deeds was created in a cave in the mountain pass of Naneghat. After studying the sketches, I agree with him totally.
 
The king is accompanied by 10 ladies and a child. The prayer could be concerning the child, who stands just below the tree. Five ladies on the left of the king watch intently his face, while those behind him watch the ceremony. A small girl stands on a pedestal to watch, what is going on. All the ladies are wearing various ornaments, such as ear-rings, armlets, necklaces and bangles, which are in use even today. The bangles appear to have been made from ivory and are worn in a large number covering portion of the hand from elbow to wrists. This is vary similar to what Lamani tribe women wear even today in India. The upper garments worn by ladies are made from finest lawn cloth, which makes them appear almost half naked, to the painter. Even then, their coiffure appears to be very elaborate. One of the ladies is wearing a head band with three peacock feathers. All other ladies have covered their heads with some kind of veils similar to what ladies from Rajsthan state of India wear today. The faces of all people are drawn roundish, short but pointed noses, narrow mouths with full lips and small yet bright eyes. In fact they very much look like people from Maharashtra region and not from the north or south of India. King is not wearing any crown but has a band of jewelery around a bob of his hair. Many of the ladies have hair parted on the left side of the head. Some of the ladies wear a 'Bindi' on their foreheads similar to what is shown in “Karle'n” caves







The portion in which the drawing can be made out with certainty shows first an umbrella , and close to it a mango tree. Below this we can see four human heads in which one is of the guard with the special headgear. To right of these figures is the Buddhist Torana or gateway. Such four Toranas in all cardinal directions can be seen even today at the Stupa at Sanchi, which is contemporary to Ajantha caves. One of the Royal party is just passing through the Torana, while sevaral others are outside it. One of the elephant riders holds a double edged sword in his right and and most peculiarly shaped shield or a crown in his left hand. Another attendant, to the right of the one holding a sword has raised his hand and is making a loop with his thumb and forefinger. Further to the right an elephant is shown raising his trunk to salute the King. The figure riding the elephant hold a goad in his hand. To the right, there are at least three more elephants with Royal personages riding them; as can be seen from the Umbrellas. Two elephants seem to be coming towards the Torana and the last one going away. Mr. G.Yajdani interprets this as coming and going back of the King visiting the Stupa. According to him, this particular painting shows the visit of Satvahana king Shree Satakarni to Bodhi Gaya. To support this, he says that in the right end of the painting, the King is shown carrying a vase on elephant's head with a branch planted in it. This must be a branch of the revered Bodhi tree under which Buddha received divine awakening. Some of the figures of persona from Griffith' original facsimile were redrawn by Burgess. From these sketches, all the points mentioned above become very clear. 
 




Burgess and Ferguson first suggested that this cave must be older than the one at number 10. However, after finding more evidence, it is now believed to be at least 100 years older than number 10. Like other Chaitya Graiha's of contemporary times, here in this Chaitya Graiha, a colonnade all round, divides the nave from the isles and at the back the pillars form a semicircular apse, at the centre of which, stands the Stupa. It's base is a plain cylinder 5 feet high, supporting a dome, 4 feet high and 6 feet- 4 inches in diameter. On the top there is a square capital about 1 ¼ feet high with Buddhist railing pattern carved on the sides. This supported a wooden umbrella like at Karle'n. Besides the two pillars inside the entrance, the nave has 21 plain octagonal pillars supporting an entablature, from which the vaulted roof originally fitted with wooden ribs springs. The aisles are flat roofed. Over the front door there is a horse shoe shaped great window. 11 and ½ feet high. The facade is decorated with usual Hinayana motifs like chaitya windows, wooden lattice patterns, berm rails and Buddhist rail patterns. 



The first painting is known as “ A Naga king with his attendants” and has been painted on the inner side of the front wall, above the left window. It was in this painting that Mr. John Griffith of Bombay School of Art, had first discovered that two monks with an inscription were added on top of paintings of two monks done in earlier times. The top painting, when removed by Mr. Griffith, the original painting was exposed. However, coming back to the main subject of the painting, on the left, two figures are shown sitting under a mango tree bearing fruit. Both are wearing dhotis' or loin cloth. A strip of cloth intertwined with the hair is used as a turban with a knob at the top; a typical Satavahana period hair arrangement. One of the figures is wearing a crown with 7 cobra heads and the other with one cobra head. It is obvious that the figure with 7 cobra head crown is the king and the other one his crown-prince. Both of them are shown wearing heavy jewelery consisting of wheel pattern ear-rings, broad necklaces, ornamental metal armlets and round heavy wristlets. The necklaces appear to be string of pearls joined together by gold clasps. The faces again are typically from this region; oval. roundish faces, short noses, full lips and bright eyes. Above the figures in picture, there is an Apsara flying towards the king. 











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