FAÇADE CAVE No. 7.—AJUNTA.
NUMBER 7 is peculiar among the Caves of Ajunta, though not unlike some at Cuttack.
It consists merely of a large verandah 63 ft. 4 in. in length, by 13 ft. 7 in. in breadth, with the cells opening at the back of it. The front line of the verandah is broken by the projection of two porches, of two pillars each. These are particularly interesting here, as they are extremely similar to the pillars at Elephanta, and those in the Doomar Lena at Ellora, and therefore probably not far distant in date. There is also a chapel with two pillars at each end of the verandah.
Though it cannot pretend to rival in magnificence some of the other Viharas at Ajunta, as an architectural composition it is probably as pleasing as any others—externally at least.
36
