Ajanta caves breathe better after Rs 100 cr cleaning effort

AJANTA: The ancient Buddhist caves of Ajanta appear to be breathing somewhat easier these days. So do the hundreds of tourists and pilgrims that visit this world heritage site every day.
And that’s because the first phase of the much-vaunted Japanese-funded environmental upgradation scheme for the Aurangabad-Ajanta-Ellora area has finally been completed by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in tandem with other government departments.These agencies launched the project nearly ten years ago, after the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) gave the Indian government a long-term soft loan of Rs 110 crores (repayable over 30 years at 1.8 per cent interest) to improve the environment and infrastructural facilities at this important section of the Buddhist trail in India.
The air’s cleaner now — thanks to private cars and buses now being stopped at a spanking-new terminus located about five kms away from the caves and all visitors transported in special nonpolluting buses (Euro-II emission norms) from there to the site. Plus, it’s less stuffy in the four major ‘painted’ caves, namely Cave 1, 2, 16 and 17,where the frescoes are a big pull. The new fibre optic lighting, though physically intrusive, is cooler than the conventional bulbs used before, and what’s more, is said to be less harmful to the frescoes as it does not emit the ultraviolet rays that they are allergic to.
There’s also more breathing space at any given point in any given cave — the complex houses 31 caves built between 200 BC and 600 AD, mostly during the Vakataka period. Ajanta is a spiritual experience, and it’s good to have a modicum of peace while reflecting on the myriad images of the Buddha. That’s because the traffic is now dispersed with two additional entry points to the caves having been created in the form of a pair of bridges constructed by the ASI across the Waghora river, on the hilly banks on which the caves are located. These bridges provide access to the central section of the complex, so you no longer have everyone — as many as 15,000 on a winter day — trooping along in one direction from the single old entrance near Caves 1 and 2.
Some might consider the new bridges a visual intrusion into the unspoiled landscape, but they aren’t an eyesore fortunately. They are of a discreet design (the Japanese aesthetic seems to have won the day) and what’s ll-important: they take the pressure off the precious Caves 1 and 2, where the most famous frescoes are. These bridges can be reached from the freshly recreated ‘John Smith Path’,which runs down the gorge from the so-called ‘View Point’ on the hill opposite the caves. John Smith, by the way,was the British gent who re-discovered these caves in 1819 while on a hunting expedition.
Taking the John Smith route is definitely a more exciting way to get to the caves than taking the bus there. Not only do you get to experience the rugged Deccan terrain but you also get a powerful sense of the drama of this horseshoe-shaped cave-complex situated in the middle of nowhere. Walking down the gorge to the caves takes less than half-an-hour.
“We’ve worked long and hard with the ASI, the PWD, forests, MWSSB, MSEB and the Airport Authority of India to implement all these schemes, and are looking ahead to taking them forward in the second phase of the operation,’’ says Ashish Kumar Singh, managing director of the MTDC, the nodal agency for the project. Though the first phase of the two-phase project has been completed over three years behind schedule, the Japanese are pleased with the work done so far.
According to E. Natarajan, senior project officer with the JBIC in Delhi, their team of international heritage experts surveyed and approved the developments at Ajanta-Ellora last month and also cleared the second phase of the operation. “The JBIC is now working out the loan for the Rs 435-crore second phase. The money should come India’s way by March 2003,’’Mr Natarajan says. Mr Singh says the second phase will involve further upgradation of the Aurangabad airport, the local road network, water supply and afforestation schemes, conserving the caves and establishing an Orientation and Interpretation Centre.
Adds S.K. Mishra, ASI’s superintending archaeologist for Maharashtra and Goa, “We’ve concentrated on improving visitor facilities and reducing the passenger load on the Ajanta caves in the first phase. In the next phase, we will take up conservation works like buttressing rocks and restoring some of the art and in making the caves a disabled people-friendly heritage site.’’
(This is the first article in a series on the Ajanta-Ellora-Aurangabad heritage circuit. )