being a reliquary or a mere symbol, has become the shrine where the Blessed One Himself is worshipped as the Deity. On and above the capitals inside and outside the Chapter-houses and on the walls of the outer ambulatory, crowds of the mysterious Beings, the Bodhīsattvas, helping the progress of humanity towards the final goal, are absorbed in yoga, or teaching Divine wisdom.
The spirit of the classic age of Sanskrit poetry and drama reveals itself in the greater refinement of technique, elegance of design, and carefully studied proportions. The Chapter-house now known as Cave XIX is one of the gems of Buddhist architectural design, but in dimensions it is far less important than the Kārlē Assembly-hall, for it is considerably less than half the size of the latter.[1] The sumptuous fresco paintings of the earlier Ajantā school are here transformed into coloured bas-reliefs.[2] The stūpa is glorified into a noble shrine for the image of the Master as the Teacher, with a canopy like a church steeple, reaching almost to the summit of the vaulted roof—a finely conceived design, uniting the fantasy of Gothic sculpture with the dignified rhythm of the Renaissance. The upper part of the steeple is formed by the relic casket and a triple umbrella, or lotus with turned-down petals, symbolising the heavenly spheres. They are supporting, by dwarf figures, the pishāchas, or demons, who submitted themselves to the Law of the enlightened One.
The latest of the Chapter-houses of Ajantā, No.
