Past Perfect

Conservationist and museum-owner O.P. Jain on the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Conservationist and museum-owner O.P. Jain on the Ajanta and Ellora caves
India is a vast country rich with natural and monumental heritage. Asking someone like me who8217;s so involved with the preservation of that heritage to choose a 8216;classic8217; heritage is a difficult propositionit8217;s like asking a mother to pick her favourite child. Can you believe it there are some 2,000 objects in my museum?

A monument becomes a heritage because of its architectural aesthetics,size,the human effort that went into building it,the period of history it belonged to and the idea behind its conception. And it is these aspects,again,that determine a heritage monument8217;s popularity among the masses. The Taj Mahal scores well on these points and thus it8217;s the most-visited Indian heritage site.

For me,though,the Ajanta and Ellora caves are classic. They represent the extreme of human endeavour. Cutting a whole mountain and making an awesome,voluminous temple,sculptures and paintings out of itcan anything get bigger than that? The caves belong to the BC periodroughly the same era of the Mohenjadaro citybut the latter is gone. The Ajanta is still there.

When I first visited the caves in 1951,at the age of 22,I was completely taken over by them. Is this for real,can anyone actually build this kind of a thing,I had thought.
Whenever I visit the caves,I instantly feel that they are my property and that I should take care of them. I feel grateful towards the craftsmen and the kings who were involved with building them.

The caves are very tolerant and cosmopolitan. They reflect Buddhist,Jain and Hindu ethos. They are not one man8217;s work or ideathey reflect the collective responsibility of people towards art and philosophy. Above all,they are a statement of excellence and that includes excellence in craftsmantship,skill and vision.