By Prakrita  Ranajan Barua, Bangladesh

      I have much pleasure to mention here that the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, invited His Holiness Sanghanayaka Suddhananda Mahathero, President of Bangladesh Bouddha Kristi Prachar Sangha (BBKPS) and me to attend “International Buddhist Conclave 2018, Buddha path the Living Heritage” at New Delhi, India from 22 to 27 August, 2018. We made all preparations to attend the same. But one day before our journey Sanghanayaka Suddhananda Mahathero suddenly fell sick. His Doctor of Square Hospital, Dhaka advised him not to move anywhere. Hence, I left for Delhi by Jet Air on 22 August 2018. In Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport I met Ven. Sunandapriya Bhikkhu, Secretary of Bangladesh Buddhist Federation and Resident monk of Dhaka International Buddhist Temple, Merul Badda, Dhaka and learnt that he was also going to Delhi in the same plane to attend the same conference.

We reached Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. India via Mumbai at about 9 p.m. Our accommodation was arranged at hotel The Ashok. On 23^rd morning after breakfast we were taken to Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi where we attended the opening ceremony of the conference.

Hon’ble President of India His Excellency Shri Ram Nath Kovind was the Chief Guest. There we met Tourism Minister and Tourism Secretary of the Government of India. We also met there Hon’ble Tourism Minister of Bangladesh Mr. A.K.M Shajahan Kamal. Delegates from 31 countries attended the conference. Hon’ble Minister, Secretary and High officials of different countries including Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bhutan also attended the conference.

The opening ceremony was addressed by Secretary and Minister of Tourism, Government of India. His Excellency the Ambassador of Japan to India also addressed the meeting as an honored guest. The opening ceremony continued for one hour. After that we had lunch in the same venue where I and Ven. Sunandapriya Bhikkhu met our Tourism Minister Mr. A.K.M Shajahan Kamal. He attended the conference with his wife. He was very happy to see both of us.

The Plannery session was held in the afternoon in the same venue and it continued for 2 hours. In the plannery session representatives of participating countries spoke. Panel discussion was held on “Role of living Buddhist Heritage in the Contemporary Society.” From Bangladesh I spoke in the Plenary session. During my speech I extended heartiest greetings to the Tourism Ministry of India for extending invitation to us. Ven. Sunandapriya Bhikkhu gave me an important point to speak in the meeting and this was about making Visa procedure easier for the Bangladeshi people. While I spoke about it, the Moderator of the meeting took cognizance of the same and said that he would bring it to the knowledge of the appropriate authority.

      At night, we attended dinner at hotel The Ashok where we met representatives of 7 to 8 countries and exchanged views with them. Mostly the European and African delegates showed much interest in knowing about Buddhists and Buddhism in Bangladesh. When I spoke to them about Buddhist Scholar Atish Dipankar Srijnan, who was a great Son of Bangladesh, they showed much interest to know about him.

      On 24 August, we left Delhi for Aurangabad district by two Chartered planes. In all 200 delegates and some officials of Tourism Ministry of India including the Secretary went to Aurangabad. It took one hour forty minutes to reach Aurangabad from Delhi. Aurangabad is under Maharashtra State of India. The name of the district was made in the name of Emperor Aurangzeb. At the airport we were given a hearty welcome by the High officials of Maharashtra State. Then we were taken to the vehicle earmarked for our journey to Ajanta Cave. Ven. Sunandapriya Bhikkhu and I myself moved together, sat together and performed the journey together during our whole trip of the conference. It took two and half hours to reach Ajanta Cave which is situated at a distance of 100 km from Aurangabad district headquarter.

      First we were taken to Ajanta Visitor Center, which was made by the Japanese Government. There Hon’ble Minister of Tourism Government of Maharashtra Mr. Jaykumar Rawal addressed our delegation in a reception arranged for us. We took lunch there. After that we went to Ajanta Cave directly which is situated at a distance of 5 kilometers from the Ajanta visitor center. When I arrived at Ajanta Cave I was astonished to see the number of tourists and local visitors. I was told that every day hundreds of people from home and abroad visit these historical places. The cave is very high and I found it difficult to move on foot. Hence, I hired one rental chair carried by 4 persons who took me to the cave. They took 1500 Rupees. In all, there are 30 caves in Ajanta. I came to know from my Guide that the work of the first cave was started 2,200 years ago. The height of the cave is approximately 300 feet from the sea level. All the caves are situated side by side and all the caves are visible from outside. The work of last cave was completed in the 6^th century AD.

The caves of Ajanta are situated in a beautiful hillside. Ajanta represents a beautiful blending of architecture, sculpture and painting. The location of the caves reveals the artistic and aesthetic sense of those who selected this exciting site. Ajanta is about hundred kilometers North of Aurangabad. The Ajanta caves are excavated in the Sahyadri ranges, ten kilometers North West of the town of Ajanta. They are excavated in the face of an almost perpendicular scrap of rock about 250 feet high, sweeping round in a complete semicircle or horseshoe shape.

The location of Ajanta reveals great artistic sense. The caves are secluded yet not completely isolated. Seclusion was necessary for meditation. The earliest reference to Ajanta caves is found in the traced accounts of Huien Tsang, a Chinese traveler who visited India during the reign of Harshavardhana of the Pushyabhuti dynasty in the 7^th century. Though he did not visit the caves, he heard about them and wrote about them. He has left a graphic account of the general conditions of Maharashtra. He mentioned about Maharashtra and gave a description of mountain, big caves and colossal figures of Lord Buddha.

The Ajanta caves were lost to the world for a long time. The monastic establishment of Ajanta was probably closed or abandoned following the decline of the Buddhist regime. These caves had to be rediscovered. This happened accidently in 1819 when a British company visited these parts on a hunting expedition. The caves were difficult to access. The Journey to Ajanta described by Mukul Dey in his “My Pilgrimage to Ajanta” seems like adventure. So the caves were hardly visited by scholars, it was only in 1824 that General Sir James, E. Alexander on a tour through the Emperor Nizam’s territories visited the caves and sent short account of them and their wall paintings to the Royal Asiatic Society, which was published in 1829. In 1928 Mr. Ralph visited the caves and wrote an account of them. Later Mr. Fergusson, who visited the caves in 1839, presented his paper in 1843 who did justice to the caves. His account was short but accurate. His paper created interest about the caves. The East India Company claimed its victory to procure copies of Ajanta paintings. Major Gill was appointed to do the work. He collected a large number of paintings and sent them to London. They were sent for exhibition to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, and were unfortunately burnt in a disastrous fire in 1860. Later, Major Griffith was sent to work on the paintings in 1872. He worked there until 1885 and took out one hundred and twenty five pictures. They were sent to South Kensington Museum in England. But as ill luck would have it, eighty six of these were destroyed in a fire in 1885. Of whatever paintings that remained was his monumental work on the paintings of Buddha Caves of Ajanta in 1906-1907. Lady Herrincham visited the caves and published her work on Ajanta frescoes in 1910-1911. By 1914, the Nizam’s Government established a Department of Archeology and proper roads and guest-houses were constructed for visitors. In 1963 the Archeological Survey of India of the then Government of India took over the up keeping of the caves.

The Ajanta artist expressed religion through the form of art. Religion becomes the handmade of art. Through the medium of stone and color Lord Buddha is still kept alive there. The palaces with their inhabitants, the kings and the queens and the ordinary men and women, who serve them, are kept alive in more sense than one. During the architectural activity the Buddhists developed two principal architectural forms, the Chaitya and Vihara, the chapel and the monastery.

One wonders as to how the Buddhist monks could excavate caves of such extraordinary skill and beauty requiring very considerable financial outlay. The large number of inscriptions in the western Indian caves make it clear that the people who followed diverse professions. Kings and princes, Bhikkhus and laymen contributed to those excavations. Much of this artistic activity was carried out during the reign periods of the Guptas from the 1^st to the 5^th centuries. Unlike Ellora caves which are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain, the Ajanta caves are all Buddhist. The Ellora caves are masterpieces of sculpture. At Ajanta it’s the magnificent paintings which have enthralled the people all over the world. Mention may be made here that Ellora is also situated in Aurangabad district and it is in another direction. It’s distance from district headquarter is 35 kilometers. Unparalleled in its history of aesthetics and excellence in the world, Ajanta paintings are exceptional area of our cultural heritage. But after a span of nearly 2,000 years now the paintings of Ajanta are in a damaged condition, either ravaged by nature or brutalized by men.

We were in the caves for more than two hours. Then we came back to Aurangabad district Headquarter where we stayed in Hotel ‘Taj’. We were entertained with dinner by the State Government of Maharashtra followed by a cultural program.

On 25 August early morning we left Aurangabad by two chartered planes for Gaya. It took us two hours and when we reached Gaya airport we were warmly received by the officials of Tourism Ministry of Bihar State. From there we visited Nalanda and Rajgir by AC coach and returned to Bodhgaya in the evening. We stayed there in hotel ‘Maha Bodhi’. We also enjoyed cultural program there during dinner. Early morning on 26 August, Ven. Kalyanapriya Bhikkhu, Abbot of Bangladesh Buddhist Temple, Bodhgaya took us (me and Ven. Sunandapriya Bhikkhu) to our temple, and gave a good reception. We had been there for a short while and then joined our delegates in the main Temple of Bodhgaya.

President of Bodhgaya Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee, District Magistrate of Gaya and Divisional Commissioner of Magadh Division of Bihar State, who is the Chief Advisor of the Temple Management Committee, gave us a good reception and presented one magazine of Mahabodhi temple to each of the delegate. Then we were taken to the airport and we left Gaya airport for Varanasi by chartered flight. After 35 minutes journey we reached Varanasi airport. We were given a hearty welcome by the officials of Tourism Ministry of U.P. (Uttar Pradesh). Then we went to hotel ‘Taj’ and took lunch there. Hon’ble Minister of Tourism Smt. Rita Bahuguna Joshi of Uttar Pradesh welcomed us in the hotel and took lunch with us. In her address of welcome, she said she came from Lucknow to meet us travelling 350 kilometers by road and after lunch she would have to go back again to Lucknow as on the next day she will have to attend a meeting there. After lunch we visited Saranath and then we left Varanasi for Delhi in the afternoon in the same chartered plane. We reached Delhi in the evening and stayed in hotel The Ashok. On 27 August morning I along with Ven. Sunandapriya Bhikkhu left Delhi for Dhaka by Jet Airways and reached Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport safely at noon. It was an excellent visit to India this time and I benefitted a lot from my visit to Ajanta caves which is unparalleled in its history of aesthetics and excellence in the world. The entire history of Buddhism, including the life history of Lord Buddha have been shown there by paintings in thirty caves.

The writer is D.I.G of Police (Retd.) and Secretary of Bangladesh ABCP National Chapter.