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Bodhisattva Padmapani
Unknown, Ajanta Cave 1
A Vakataka-period wall painting that cannot be moved at all — the case where logistics means environment, not transport.
- Artist
- Unknown, Ajanta Cave 1
- Date
- c. 5th century
- Medium
- Mural, pigment on plaster
- Dimensions
- Wall painting, in situ
- Location
- Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
History
What the record shows
Painted on the rear wall of Cave 1 at Ajanta, cut into the basalt gorge of the Waghora river.
The caves were abandoned, overgrown, and rediscovered by a British hunting party in 1819; early copying campaigns damaged the surface.
Nothing here travels. Conservation is entirely in situ: visitor numbers, lighting, humidity and airflow are the only variables available.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
- 01Vakataka patronage, c. 5th century
- 02Archaeological Survey of India, from 1861
- 03UNESCO World Heritage listing, 1983
