The imprint of Ajanta in Tibetan art

The mural paintings in Ajanta constitute a unique example of ancient Buddhist art in Asia. They are the only well preserved mural paintings from this era in India. These paintings from the Gupta period had an important impact on the arts in the rest of India and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the Indian pictorial tradition spread to the Northeast, East and Southeast Asia via the Silk Road. In the Himalaya, the Ajanta style had a very significant influence on Buddhist art. Thus, for instance, there are striking similarities between the architecture of the Ajanta caves and that of Tibet’s oldest temple, Jokhang. They allow the conjecture that the artists who conceived the Jokhang monastery had personally seen the Ajanta caves.