March
03
/ 2022
It was in 1819 when John Smith, a British army officer in pursuit of a tiger came across a cave near Ajanta village in India. More than thirty caves carved inside the rock of the mountainside and arranged in a horseshoe shape—the well-known Ajanta Caves—have now been discovered in that area. These Buddhist rock-cut caves are believed to have been constructed around 200 BC and were used as retreat places for Buddhist monks during the monsoon season. The caves were abandoned after the 7th century AD when Buddhism declined in India, but are still considered sacred by locals. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"94594","attributes":{"alt":"Carved Buddha inside one of the rock-cut Ajanta caves in India. (Rafal Cichawa / Adobe Stock)","class":"media-image","height":"306","style":"width: 610px; height: 306px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"610"}}]] Carved Buddha inside
