Buddhist rock-cut painting, second century BCE. When the guide re-illuminates the cave slowly, you see how the painters meant for you to see.
Thirty rock-cut Buddhist caves in a horseshoe gorge, abandoned around the sixth century and lost to everyone but the forest until a hunting party walked into them in 1819. Cave 26 is a chaitya hall, its stupa flanked by a long reclining Buddha entering parinirvana.
Lighting inside is kept deliberately low to protect pigment that is fifteen hundred years old, and there is a moment when the lamp moves across the carving and the whole wall changes. Photography rules are strict, and they are strict for a reason.
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A heritage stay near Aurangabad — Ajanta and Ellora both within striking distance.
