Ajanta Caves 5 to 8

Places to visit in Ajanta Caves 5 to 8 showcase changes in Buddhist art and construction. Cave 5 features a fancy opening but remains unfinished. Cave 6 is a two-story vihara where the Buddha is sitting down. Cave 7 features Buddha statues, while Cave 8, one of the oldest caves, housed a simple stupa used for meditation.

Cave 5

Cave 5 of the Ajanta group of Caves contains an empty vihara. Its most fascinating features include the intricately carved opening and female images standing on makaras. The paintings have some of the most detailed and beautiful patterns in all of Ajanta, making it a highlight of Ajanta Caves tour packages.

Cave 6

The vihara in Cave 6 has two floors. The lower level has a hall, sanctum sanctorum, and a pillared hall. The top level has a hall with cells, secondary cells, and sanctum sanctorum. Buddha in a teaching pose is kept in each shrine. The most important works on the bottom floor are the ones that show the Miracle of Sravasti and the Temptation of Mara.

There are a lot of private votive carvings and an incomplete Buddha Shrine on the upper floor of Cave 6. Besides the main shrine, there are two other churches with Buddha statues. There are many carved figures of Buddha in different poses on the walls of the hall, antechamber, and shrine room in the cave.

There is a small standing figure on the left wall of the antechamber that has a lime coat that is so thin that it looks like marble. The same wall, near the feet of a relief of Buddha, features a beautiful drawing of a kneeling figure holding three lotus buds and a cylinder-shaped object with a lid.

Cave 7

Cave 7 was designed as a huge vihara, but it remains incomplete. Artists created only a very fancy porch and a few other features. The monastery has eight rooms and a sanctum sanctorum, which is an open, long hall with two small porticos supported by heavy hexagonal pillars. 

The temple is where Buddha lives when he is teaching. Other sculpture panels show the Miracle of Sravasti, Buddha sitting with Nagamuchalinda watching over him, and other scenes.

Cave 8

Cave 8 is an unfinished monastery at Ajanta. It is at the bottom of the hill and maybe the oldest of the temples. A landslip has taken away a large part of the waterfront. The parts of the cave that are still there showcase the beautiful design of the place.