The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad - Wat Florida Dhammaram

90 chapter three
While the sites of Aurangabad and Ajanta appear to be closely
linked in terms of patronage and artistic achievements, the roles they
performed must have been very different. The caves at Ajanta, in the
ravine of the river Waghora, seem to have been conceived first and
foremost as monasteries—more than one hundred new residential cells
are distributed among the fifth century vihāras. At Aurangabad, on the
other hand, where the caves are carved in a very accessible position
overlooking the plain, there is a noticeable lack of monastic residences.
Cave 1, the only cave that could have been developed into a grand
vihāra with cells, was abandoned right after the cutting of the porch
(figs. 10, 11); cave 4a is a very small public shrine carved right below
the older caitya (fig. 45); cave 3, the only one that was completely
finished, has only four cells because the planners apparently opted to
replace some of the residential units with two rectangular side chapels
opening onto the interior of the cave (fig. 30). Perhaps cave 3 was
never inhabited by monks: most of the entrances to the cells have door
hinges that do not show signs of wear. 50
The lack of evidence of post-Vākāṭaka patronage and activity at
Ajanta seems to be confirmed by Xuan Zang’s description of the site
as a deserted monastery. The caves at Aurangabad, however, having no
clear imperial links, thrived in post-Vākāṭaka times, when the sāmantas
were emerging as major political and economic powers. Perhaps it was
because of the ‘local’ matrix of its patronage that the rock-cut site of
Aurangabad continued to be significantly expanded in the sixth and
seventh centuries, when regional powers became the important forces
in Indian history.
It is probably for political reasons that the sponsors of the Aurangabad
caves sought to continue the patronage practices initiated by
the Vākāṭakas at Ajanta. Those who were responsible for the late fifth
century caves at Aurangabad may have deliberately chosen a new site
with no imperial connection. Aurangabad was the ideal choice: it was
very accessible, possibly located within the territory controlled by the
patrons, and it had a pre-existing caitya that, we should assume, was in
worship during the fifth century. Otherwise, new rock-cut units would
not have been clustered around it. Thus the renaissance of the Aurang-
50 The door fittings in the two innermost cells at Aurangabad appear to be similar
to those found in the later period at Ajanta and labeled by Spink (2007, 386) as ‘door
fitting mode D’.