{"it":{"id":"ASI-001","kind":"site","sub":"Asia","name":"Ajanta Caves","place":"India","lat":20.553,"lon":75.7,"date":"The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century…","mat":"basalt;granite","nfacts":41,"tags":["Asia"],"sum":"The caves at Ajanta in India were not built. They were carved out of a cliff of solid basalt, from the top down, with no way to add stone back if a cut went wrong. There are 30 of them, Buddhist monuments dating from the 2nd century BCE.","why":"It is a monastery cut down into living rock, where one wrong stroke could never be undone.","src":[276,593],"nsrc":3,"yt":"Carving down from the top leaves no room for error. What would the planners need to know about the rock before the first cut?","rel":["ANG-WAT","ASI-002"],"hook":"In Ajanta's Cave 10, an officer scratched 'John Smith 28th Cavalry, 28 April, 1819' on a painted Buddha."},"S":{"276":["Wikipedia: Ajanta Caves","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves"],"593":["UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Ajanta Caves","https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242"]},"rec":{"id":"ASI-001","alias":[],"ms":[{"f":"Chaityas of different Buddhist traditions carved into a","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"75","u":"m","o":"The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries (Viharas) and worship-halls (Chaityas) of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75 m wall of rock.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0630"},{"f":"It is about","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"59","u":"km","o":"It is about 59 km from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 104 km from the city of Aurangabad, and 350 km east-northeast of Mumbai.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0631"},{"f":"km from the city of Jalgaon Maharashtra India","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"104","u":"km","o":"It is about 59 km from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 104 km from the city of Aurangabad, and 350 km east-northeast of Mumbai.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0632"},{"f":"104 km from the city of Aurangabad and","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"350","u":"km","o":"It is about 59 km from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 104 km from the city of Aurangabad, and 350 km east-northeast of Mumbai.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0633"},{"f":"This cave","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"35.7","u":"m","o":"This cave (35.7 m × 27.6 m) has one of the most elaborate carved facades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0634"},{"f":"This cave 35 7 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"27.6","u":"m","o":"This cave (35.7 m × 27.6 m) has one of the most elaborate carved facades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0635"},{"f":"Each wall of the hall inside is nearly","a":"length","v":"40","u":"ft","o":"Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 ft long and 20 ft high.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0636"},{"f":"hall inside is nearly 40 ft long and","a":"height","v":"20","u":"ft","o":"Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 ft long and 20 ft high.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0637"},{"f":"Cave 2 35 7 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"21.6","u":"m","o":"Cave 2 (35.7 m × 21.6 m) was started in the 460s, but mostly carved between 475 and 477 CE, probably sponsored and influenced by a woman closely related to emperor Harisena.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0638"},{"f":"among the Ajanta caves and it measures nearly","a":"area","v":"970","u":"m2","o":"This monastery is the largest among the Ajanta caves and it measures nearly 970 m2 (35 m × 28 m).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0639"},{"f":"Ajanta caves and it measures nearly 970 m2","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"35","u":"m","o":"This monastery is the largest among the Ajanta caves and it measures nearly 970 m2 (35 m × 28 m).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0640"},{"f":"it measures nearly 970 m2 35 nbsp m","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"28","u":"m","o":"This monastery is the largest among the Ajanta caves and it measures nearly 970 m2 (35 m × 28 m).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0641"},{"f":"excavation was planned as a monastery 10 32","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"16.8","u":"m","o":"Cave 5, an unfinished excavation, was planned as a monastery (10.32 × 16.8 m).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0642"},{"f":"Cave 6 is two-storey monastery 16 85","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"18.07","u":"m","o":"Cave 6 is two-storey monastery (16.85 × 18.07 m).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0643"},{"f":"Cave 7 is also a monastery 15 55","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"31.25","u":"m","o":"Cave 7 is also a monastery (15.55 × 31.25 m) but a single storey.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0644"},{"f":"Cave 8 is another unfinished monastery 15 24","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"24.64","u":"m","o":"Cave 8 is another unfinished monastery (15.24 × 24.64 m).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0645"},{"f":"Cave 9","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"18.24","u":"m","o":"Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m) is smaller than Cave 10 (30.5 m × 12.2 m), but more complex.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0646"},{"f":"Cave 9 18 24 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"8.04","u":"m","o":"Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m) is smaller than Cave 10 (30.5 m × 12.2 m), but more complex.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0647"},{"f":"8 04 m is smaller than Cave 10","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"30.5","u":"m","o":"Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m) is smaller than Cave 10 (30.5 m × 12.2 m), but more complex.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0648"},{"f":"is smaller than Cave 10 30 5 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"12.2","u":"m","o":"Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m) is smaller than Cave 10 (30.5 m × 12.2 m), but more complex.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0649"},{"f":"Cave 11 is a monastery 19 87","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"17.35","u":"m","o":"Cave 11 is a monastery (19.87 × 17.35 m) built during c. 462 to 478.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0650"},{"f":"an early stage Hinayana Theravada monastery 14 9","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"17.82","u":"m","o":"According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Cave 12 is an early stage Hinayana (Theravada) monastery (14.9 × 17.82 m) from the 2nd to 1st century BCE.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0651"},{"f":"Cave 14 is another unfinished monastery 13 43","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"19.28","u":"m","o":"Cave 14 is another unfinished monastery (13.43 × 19.28 m) but carved above Cave 13.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0652"},{"f":"15 is a more complete monastery 19 62","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"15.98","u":"m","o":"Cave 15 is a more complete monastery (19.62 × 15.98 m) with evidence that it had paintings.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0653"},{"f":"Cave 16","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"19.5","u":"m","o":"Cave 16 (19.5 m × 22.25 m × 4.6 m) influenced the architecture of the entire site.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0654"},{"f":"Cave 16 19 5 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"22.25","u":"m","o":"Cave 16 (19.5 m × 22.25 m × 4.6 m) influenced the architecture of the entire site.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0655"},{"f":"Cave 16 19 5 m 22 25 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"4.6","u":"m","o":"Cave 16 (19.5 m × 22.25 m × 4.6 m) influenced the architecture of the entire site.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0656"},{"f":"veranda of this monastery is 19 5 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"3","u":"m","o":"The veranda of this monastery is 19.5 m × 3 m, while the main hall is almost a perfect square with 19.5 m side.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0657"},{"f":"Cave 17","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"34.5","u":"m","o":"Cave 17 (34.5 m × 25.63 m) along with Cave 16 with two great stone elephants at the entrance and Cave 26 with sleeping Buddha, were some of the many caves sponsored by the Hindu Vakataka prime minister Varahadeva.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0658"},{"f":"Cave 17 34 5 m","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"25.63","u":"m","o":"Cave 17 (34.5 m × 25.63 m) along with Cave 16 with two great stone elephants at the entrance and Cave 26 with sleeping Buddha, were some of the many caves sponsored by the Hindu Vakataka prime minister Varahadeva.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0659"},{"f":"The hall of this monastery is a","a":"area","v":"380.53","u":"m2","o":"The hall of this monastery is a 380.53 m2 square, with 20 pillars.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0660"},{"f":"18 is a small rectangular space 3 38","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"11.66","u":"m","o":"Cave 18 is a small rectangular space (3.38 × 11.66 m) with two octagonal pillars and it joins another cell.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0661"},{"f":"is a worship hall chaitya griha 16 05","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"7.09","u":"m","o":"Cave 19 is a worship hall (chaitya griha, 16.05 × 7.09 m) datable to the fifth century CE.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0662"},{"f":"Cave 20 is a monastery hall 16 2","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"17.91","u":"m","o":"Cave 20 is a monastery hall (16.2 × 17.91 m) from the 5th century.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0663"},{"f":"Cave 21 is a hall 29 56","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"28.03","u":"m","o":"Cave 21 is a hall (29.56 × 28.03 m) with twelve rock-cut rooms for monks, a sanctum, and twelve pillared and pilastered verandah.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0664"},{"f":"Cave 22 is a small vihara 12 72","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"11.58","u":"m","o":"Cave 22 is a small vihara (12.72 × 11.58 m) with a narrow veranda and four unfinished cells.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0665"},{"f":"also unfinished consisting of a hall 28 32","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"22.52","u":"m","o":"Cave 23 is also unfinished, consisting of a hall (28.32 × 22.52 m) but a design similar to Cave 21.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0666"},{"f":"features the second largest monastery hall 29 3","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"29.3","u":"m","o":"It features the second largest monastery hall (29.3 × 29.3 m) after Cave 4.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0667"},{"f":"Its hall 11 37","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"12.24","u":"m","o":"Its hall (11.37 × 12.24 m) is similar to other monasteries, but has no sanctum, includes an enclosed courtyard and is excavated at an upper level.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0668"},{"f":"26 is a worship hall chaityagriha 25 34","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"11.52","u":"m","o":"Cave 26 is a worship hall (chaityagriha, 25.34 × 11.52 m) similar in plan to Cave 19.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0669"},{"f":"REF91 It is a","a":"plan dimension (pair)","v":"3.66","u":"m","o":"REF91 It is a 3.66 m × 3.66 m cave with three cells, each with two stone beds and stone pillows on the side of each cell.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1379635432 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0670"}],"lab":[{"k":"Materials","mat":"site material (as stated in article)","m":"documentary mention (Wikipedia, auto-extracted)","v":"The caves are carved out of flood basalt and granite rock of a cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous geological period.","by":"no inline ref in article","b":"S","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432"},{"k":"Materials","mat":"site material (as stated in article)","m":"documentary mention (Wikipedia, auto-extracted)","v":"The caves are carved out of flood basalt and granite rock of a cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous geological period.","by":"no inline ref in article","b":"S","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432"},{"k":"Materials","mat":"site material (as stated in article)","m":"documentary mention (Wikipedia, auto-extracted)","v":"Later, the artists attempted to overcome this geological flaw by raising the height of the ceiling through deeper excavation of the embedded basalt lava.","by":"no inline ref in article","b":"S","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432"}],"eng":[],"ori":[],"gaps":[],"dat":[],"aa":[],"ac":[],"me":[],"ci":[],"cq":[],"sd":[],"sub":[],"site":{"age":"The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India.","dm":"[see dating_excerpt; method not extracted]","lab":"NO: inference only (style/context/king list/textual)","weak":"no direct lab result on the structure in our records; date from stylistic, contextual or textual inference","unesco":"https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242","dens":"CENSUS"},"co":{"lat":"20.55333333","lon":"75.70027778","src":"Wikidata P625 + UNESCO WHC list XML (agree ≤0.05°)","agree":"agree","b":"V","note":"two independent sources agree; max delta 0.0009 deg (~0.10 km)","osm":"https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/115567314"},"src":[{"id":"S0258","t":"no inline ref in article","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ajanta_Caves&oldid=1379635432"},{"id":"S0418","t":"Wikipedia: Ajanta Caves","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves"},{"id":"S2594","t":"UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Ajanta Caves","u":"https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242"},{"id":"VASI-001-4","t":"Ajanta: An Interactive Multimedia and Virtual Walkthrough CD-ROM IGNCA","u":"https://ignca.gov.in/ajanta/html/Introduction.htm"},{"id":"VASI-001-5","t":"UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Ajanta Caves","u":"https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/242/"},{"id":"VASI-001-6","t":"Archaeological Survey of India","u":"https://asi.nic.in/pages/WorldHeritageAjantaCaves"}],"sum":"On 28 April 1819 a British cavalry officer named John Smith stood inside a dark cave in western India and scratched his name into a pillar. He cut it straight across the chest of a painted Buddha: \"John Smith 28th Cavalry, 28 April, 1819\". The words are still there, and they hold a small puzzle. They sit about seven and a half feet up the pillar, too high for a man standing on the floor. Smith was not climbing. He was standing on about a metre of fallen rock and the droppings of bats and birds, piled up over the centuries since the last monk walked out.\n\nHe had come hunting tigers. What he found, in a gorge that had kept its secret for more than thirteen hundred years, were the Ajanta Caves.\n\nAjanta lies in Maharashtra, about 107 kilometres north of the city of Aurangabad. A narrow stream called the Waghora, a name that means \"tiger\", winds through a ravine that ends in a chain of seven waterfalls. Where the stream bends like a horseshoe, a cliff rises nearly 76 metres, and cut into that cliff, one beside another along the curve, are 30 caves.\n\nThe word \"cave\" misleads. These were not found; they were made. Every hall, pillar and statue was carved out of the cliff itself, a dark rock called basalt laid down in successive volcanic eruptions, part of the Deccan Traps formed at the end of the Cretaceous. Nothing was built, and nothing could be added. The carvers worked from the top down, taking stone away, and a cut in the wrong place could never be undone. Every room had to exist complete in someone's mind before the first chisel touched the rock.\n\nThere are two kinds of space. Five caves, numbers 9, 10, 19, 26 and 29, are chaityagrihas, prayer halls with a vaulted ceiling, a rounded far end, and a stupa, a domed shrine, carved from the living rock as the focus of worship. Each has a façade dominated by a great horseshoe-shaped window. The rest are viharas, monasteries with a central hall surrounded by small cells on three sides, where monks slept and studied. Some are vast. Cave 10, the hall where Smith left his name, runs about 30.5 metres deep and 12.2 metres wide. Cave 17 measures about 34.5 by 25.6 metres, a hall bigger than a tennis court hollowed out of a cliff.\n\nThen there are the paintings. UNESCO counts them among the masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, and they are among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian painting. They are not true frescoes, which are painted onto wet lime. The Ajanta painters coated the rock first with rough, iron-rich earth mixed with grit, plant fibre, rice husk and grass, then a finer layer of mud and rock powder, then a thin wash of lime, and painted on the dry surface with glue as the binder. Their colours came from red and yellow ochre, green earth, lime, kaolin, gypsum, lamp black and lapis lazuli. On the walls unfold the Jataka tales, stories of the Buddha's earlier lives, along with scenes from his life and from the social life of the time.\n\nThe caves were made in two bursts, about four centuries apart. The first came under the Satavahana dynasty in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. These early caves are simple and austere, with few paintings, and the Archaeological Survey of India places them in the early Hinayana phase of Buddhism. Then the cliff was silent for a long time. The second burst came under the Vakataka dynasty and its vassal rulers, the Asmakas and Rishikas, in the 5th and 6th centuries CE. Now the Buddha appeared as an image, carved and painted, at the centre of worship.\n\nHere the story turns to power. Inscriptions show that kings, ministers and princes paid for this work. Varahadeva, minister to the Vakataka king Harishena, gave Cave 16 to the Buddhist community; a vassal prince gave Cave 17. A cave was not only an act of devotion. It was a statement carved in stone, permanent and public, of who was rich enough, pious enough and close enough to the throne to give it.\n\nHow long that second phase lasted is fiercely argued. UNESCO spreads it across the 5th and 6th centuries, and the Archaeological Survey dates Harishena's reign to about 475 to 500. The art historian Walter Spink offers a much shorter clock. In his reading Harishena came to the throne in about 460 and died suddenly late in 477, and nearly all the later work was crowded into those two decades. Then, he argues, the site was \"precipitously abandoned in about 480\", so suddenly that some paintings were left so close to finished that \"they surely could have been finished in a week or two.\" The unfinished caves, 5, 24 and 29, still show the method in progress. Spink links the halt to Harishena's death and a struggle for power among the vassal princes, though that sequence is his reconstruction, not a recorded event.\n\nThat is the mainstream picture: two waves of royal patronage, a golden age, and an ending tied to politics. Both readings rest on the same inscriptions and on the order in which work was dropped. No independent date for the plaster or binder in the late caves has been reported to settle it.\n\nAnd so the questions remain open. Why did work stop so sharply, with brushes almost lifted? The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hien described Ajanta in the early 5th century, though only from hearsay, and Spink reads his account as showing a few monks still living there. After that, the cliff fell silent. Debris slid down over the doorways and the forest closed in. Spink suggests that very debris kept some paintings in \"amazingly pristine condition.\"\n\nStand in Cave 10 and look at what the planners achieved. Before the first stone fell, someone had to know the cliff: where the rock was sound, where it was flawed, how a hall thirty metres deep would hold its own weight with nothing added. The record notes that later carvers even tried to correct a flaw in the stone by cutting the ceiling higher. That is knowledge gained the hard way, passed from master to apprentice, and almost none of it was written down.\n\nWhere did that inherited mastery of rock begin, and how much older is the knowledge than the caves that preserve it?","qs":["Carving down from the top leaves no room for error. What would the planners need to know about the rock before the first cut?","Smith's 1819 graffiti sits on a painted Buddha. Is it now part of the site's history, or damage that should be treated as damage?"],"gal":[{"src":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Ajanta_%2863%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ajanta_(63).jpg","title":"Ajanta (63).jpg","lic":"CC BY 2.5","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5","by":"No machine-readable author provided. Soman assumed (based on copyright claims).","cap":"Ajanta caves, Maharashtra"},{"src":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/%2APlate_3%2A_%3D%3D_Ajunta--_Interior_of_Chaitya_Cave%2C_No._10.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:*Plate_3*_%3D%3D_Ajunta--_Interior_of_Chaitya_Cave,_No._10.jpg","title":"*Plate 3* == Ajunta-- Interior of Chaitya Cave, No. 10.jpg","lic":"Public domain","licurl":"","by":"James Fergusson","cap":"Plate 2 == \"Ajunta--Central View of Caves comprising caves Nos. 21 & 26\" Source: http://www.petrafineart.net/other/indian_temples.html (downloaded Nov. 2004) \"I"},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/003_Cave_16%2C_Main_Shrine_%2834298723855%29.jpg/1280px-003_Cave_16%2C_Main_Shrine_%2834298723855%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:003_Cave_16,_Main_Shrine_(34298723855).jpg","title":"003 Cave 16, Main Shrine (34298723855).jpg","lic":"CC BY 2.0","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0","by":"Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand","cap":"Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad, India"},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/008_Cave_1%2C_In_the_Forest_%2834239644366%29.jpg/1280px-008_Cave_1%2C_In_the_Forest_%2834239644366%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:008_Cave_1,_In_the_Forest_(34239644366).jpg","title":"008 Cave 1, In the Forest (34239644366).jpg","lic":"CC BY 2.0","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0","by":"Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand","cap":"Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad, India"},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/013_Cave_19%2C_Buddha_Meditating_%2833535639164%29.jpg/1280px-013_Cave_19%2C_Buddha_Meditating_%2833535639164%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:013_Cave_19,_Buddha_Meditating_(33535639164).jpg","title":"013 Cave 19, Buddha Meditating (33535639164).jpg","lic":"CC BY 2.0","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0","by":"Photo Dharma from Sadao, Thailand","cap":"Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad, India"}]},"img":null,"md":null,"hh":[{"v":"970","u":"m²","h":"Largest monastery at Ajanta, carved out of solid rock","s":[31]},{"v":"29.3","u":"m","h":"Second-largest monastery hall at Ajanta, 29.3 × 29.3 m of hollowed rock","s":[31]},{"v":"Basalt, granite","h":"Made of","s":[31]}],"hs":{"31":["Wikipedia: Ajanta Caves (and sources cited there)","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves"]},"lh":{"s":"img/h/ASI-001.webp","w":1280,"h":960,"o":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Ajanta_%2863%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled"}}