Ajanta Cave Paintings (MCQs)

 100 multiple choice questions (MCQs) about Ajanta Cave Paintings, divided into categories

🏛️ General Information

1. Where are the Ajanta Caves located?
   A) Maharashtra
   B) Karnataka
   C) Gujarat
   D) Madhya Pradesh
   Answer: A
2. Ajanta Caves are famous for which type of artwork?
   A) Sculptures
   B) Pottery
   C) Paintings
   D) Carpets
   Answer: C
3. How many caves are there in Ajanta?
   A) 20
   B) 28
   C) 30
   D) 35
   Answer: C
4. Ajanta Caves are a part of which mountain range?
   A) Himalayas
   B) Vindhyas
   C) Sahyadris
   D) Satpura
   Answer: C
5. Which river flows near the Ajanta Caves?
   A) Krishna
   B) Godavari
   C) Waghora
   D) Narmada
   Answer: C

🕰️ Historical Context

6. When were the Ajanta Caves discovered by the British?
   A) 1819
   B) 1900
   C) 1850
   D) 1785
   Answer: A
7. Who discovered the Ajanta Caves?
   A) John Smith
   B) Alexander Cunningham
   C) James Prinsep
   D) William Jones
   Answer: A
8. Which emperor’s reign is associated with the later Ajanta caves?
   A) Ashoka
   B) Harsha
   C) Kanishka
   D) Harisena
   Answer: D
9. Which dynasty is responsible for the patronage of the later caves of Ajanta?
   A) Maurya
   B) Satavahana
   C) Vakataka
   D) Gupta
   Answer: C
10. Ajanta caves were mainly used as:
    A) Military Camps
    B) Jain Monasteries
    C) Buddhist Monasteries
    D) Royal Palaces
    Answer: C

🖌️ Art and Paintings

11. What painting technique was used in Ajanta?
    A) Tempera
    B) Fresco
    C) Oil
    D) Watercolor
    Answer: B (Fresco-secco technically)
12. What materials were used to prepare colors in Ajanta paintings?
    A) Natural Minerals
    B) Synthetic Chemicals
    C) Crude Oil
    D) Plastic Derivatives
    Answer: A
13. The Ajanta paintings mostly depict stories from:
    A) Mahabharata
    B) Ramayana
    C) Jataka Tales
    D) Puranas
    Answer: C
14. What is the main subject of Ajanta paintings?
    A) Nature
    B) Warfare
    C) Buddha’s life and teachings
    D) Hindu gods
    Answer: C
15. Which of the following is a famous painting from Ajanta?
    A) Bodhisattva Padmapani
    B) Krishna Leela
    C) Gita Updesh
    D) Arjuna’s Penance
    Answer: A

🏛️ Architecture & Layout

16. Cave 1 at Ajanta is especially famous for the murals of which two Bodhisattvas flanking its doorway?
    A) Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara
    B) Padmapani and Vajrapani
    C) Maitreya and Samantabhadra
    D) Tara and Kshitigarbha
    Answer: B
17. Which cave is the largest vihāra (monastic hall) at Ajanta but remains unfinished?
    A) Cave 2
    B) Cave 4
    C) Cave 6
    D) Cave 11
    Answer: B
18. The Ajanta Caves were carved into which type of rock?
    A) Limestone
    B) Granite
    C) Basalt (volcanic trap)
    D) Sandstone
    Answer: C
19. Cave 9 is classified architecturally as a:
    A) Mahā-stūpa
    B) Chaitya-griha (prayer hall)
    C) Gṛiha-patrika
    D) Mandapa
    Answer: B
20. The vaulted ceiling with ribbed stone imitation of wooden beams is a key feature of:
    A) Cave 19
    B) Cave 25
    C) Cave 15
    D) Cave 3
    Answer: A
21. Which cave contains a colossal reclining Buddha representing Mahāparinirvāṇa (the Buddha’s passing)?
    A) Cave 21
    B) Cave 24
    C) Cave 26
    D) Cave 12
    Answer: C
22. How many chaitya halls exist among the thirty caves?
    A) 2
    B) 3
    C) 4
    D) 5
    Answer: B (Caves 9, 10, 19)
23. The cloistered verandah with ornate columns and painted wall panels is characteristic of which major vihāra?
    A) Cave 6 (upper)
    B) Cave 2
    C) Cave 17
    D) Cave 28
    Answer: B
24. Most Ajanta caves face which cardinal direction, taking advantage of natural light?
    A) North
    B) South
    C) East
    D) West
    Answer: D
25. Cave 8 is unique because it lacks:
    A) Inner sanctum (garbha-gṛiha)
    B) Decorative pillars
    C) Paintings
    D) A façade porch
    Answer: C

🖋️ Iconography & Narrative Themes

26. Ajanta murals predominantly illustrate stories from the:
    A) Panchatantra
    B) Bhagavata Purāṇa
    C) Jātaka Tales
    D) Arthashastra
    Answer: C
27. The “Mahajanaka Jātaka” narrative is painted mainly in:
    A) Cave 16
    B) Cave 2
    C) Cave 10
    D) Cave 27
    Answer: A
28. Which Jātaka tells the tale of a self-sacrificing Bodhisattva king who offers his flesh to a starving tigress?
    A) Shyama Jātaka
    B) Vessantara Jātaka
    C) Ruru Jātaka
    D) Simhala-Avadāna
    Answer: B
29. The painting of the “Dying Princess” scene belongs to:
    A) Chaddanta Jātaka
    B) Hasti Jātaka
    C) Mahāsumedha Jātaka
    D) Mahājanaka Jātaka
    Answer: D
30. In Cave 17 a dramatic depiction of Prince Simhala being rescued from ogresses appears. Which literary source is that?
    A) Lalitavistara
    B) Avadāna-śataka
    C) Simhala-Avadāna
    D) Divyāvadāna
    Answer: C
31. The painting of King Bimbisāra paying homage to the Buddha can be seen in:
    A) Cave 6
    B) Cave 1
    C) Cave 17
    D) Cave 20
    Answer: B
32. The “Temptation of Mara” is depicted with demons trying to distract the Buddha in:
    A) Cave 19
    B) Cave 26
    C) Cave 14
    D) Cave 22
    Answer: B
33. Which Bodhisattva is often shown holding a blue lotus (utpala) in Ajanta?
    A) Vajrapani
    B) Padmapani
    C) Lokeshvara
    D) Maitreya
    Answer: B
34. The regal, crown-wearing Buddha images at Ajanta signal the rise of:
    A) Esoteric Vajrayāna practice
    B) Bodhisattva ideal in Mahāyāna
    C) Hinayāna orthodoxy
    D) Shaivite influence
    Answer: B
35. Animals such as elephants, peacocks, and swans appear frequently because they symbolize:
    A) Fertility and wealth
    B) Royal court life
    C) Moral virtues and cosmological guardians
    D) Zodiac signs
    Answer: C

🎨 Techniques & Materials

36. The pigment binders in Ajanta murals mainly used which medium?
    A) Egg tempera
    B) Lime water (fresco-secco)
    C) Linseed oil
    D) Animal glue
    Answer: B
37. Lapis lazuli imported from Afghanistan was primarily used to obtain which color?
    A) Deep red
    B) Emerald green
    C) Ultramarine blue
    D) Bright yellow
    Answer: C
38. Which mineral supplied the yellow ochre seen in many Ajanta panels?
    A) Hematite
    B) Goethite
    C) Malachite
    D) Cinnabar
    Answer: B
39. Surface preparation before painting involved a two-layer plaster of clay and:
    A) Gypsum
    B) Marble dust
    C) Cow-dung and rice husk
    D) Fine lime
    Answer: D
40. Fine dark outlines in the murals were usually applied with brushes made from:
    A) Crow feathers
    B) Goat hair
    C) Reed pens
    D) Boar bristles
    Answer: B
41. Artists created chiaroscuro (light-and-shade) modeling mainly through:
    A) Hatching with charcoal
    B) Superimposed translucent washes
    C) Gold leaf application
    D) Stippling with bone tools
    Answer: B
42. Polishing of painted surfaces to impart a satin sheen was accomplished using:
    A) River pebbles
    B) Bronze spatulas
    C) Beeswax cloths
    D) Sandpaper
    Answer: A
43. White highlights in Ajanta paintings often derive from:
    A) Gypsum or kaolin
    B) Lead white
    C) Zinc oxide
    D) Shell chalk
    Answer: A
44. Comparable large-scale wall-painting traditions in early India are also found at:
    A) Badami and Bagh
    B) Konark and Khajuraho
    C) Mahabalipuram and Ellora
    D) Nalanda and Sarnath
    Answer: A
45. The term ‘fresco-secco’ used for Ajanta means:
    A) Painting on wet lime plaster
    B) Painting on dry, fully-set plaster
    C) Painting on stone with oil
    D) Painting with tempera on cloth
    Answer: B

⏳ Chronology & Patronage

46. Scholars divide Ajanta’s artistic activity into two phases; Phase I belongs roughly to:
    A) 2nd century BCE – 1st century CE
    B) 1st – 2nd centuries CE
    C) 4th – 5th centuries CE
    D) 6th – 7th centuries CE
    Answer: A
47. Phase II (the “Vākāṭaka phase”) flourished mainly under King:
    A) Pravarasena II
    B) Harisena
    C) Rudrasena II
    D) Sarvasena
    Answer: B
48. The prime minister of King Harisena, believed to have sponsored several caves, was:
    A) Varāhadeva
    B) Karkarāja
    C) Aniruddha
    D) Bhadra
    Answer: A
49. An inscription credits which merchant-guild with funding Cave 17 murals?
    A) Silk-weavers of Paithan
    B) Seafaring guild of Broach
    C) Lay Buddhists of Nasik
    D) Potters of Ujjain
    Answer: C
50. Ajanta was abruptly abandoned around:
    A) 450 CE
    B) 477 CE
    C) 550 CE
    D) 619 CE
    Answer: C

🛠️ Conservation & Rediscovery

51. The modern rediscovery of Ajanta in 1819 was made by:
    A) Major Robert Gill
    B) Dr. John Smith
    C) Captain Wilkins
    D) Sir Thomas Daniell
    Answer: B
52. Which British officer spent years making meticulous watercolor copies of the murals, many of which perished in a London fire?
    A) James Fergusson
    B) Robert Gill
    C) Alexander Cunningham
    D) John Marshall
    Answer: B
53. The Archaeological Survey of India classifies Ajanta as a Monument of:
    A) National Importance
    B) State Heritage
    C) Intangible Cultural Value
    D) Endangered Sites List
    Answer: A
54. Ajanta was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in:
    A) 1974
    B) 1983
    C) 1990
    D) 1999
    Answer: B
55. A major threat to the murals today is:
    A) Seismic activity
    B) Industrial pollution from nearby mines
    C) Fluctuating humidity due to tourist influx
    D) Acid rain from chemical factories
    Answer: C
56. Laser-cleaning of soot and varnish layers was first piloted in which cave?
    A) Cave 1
    B) Cave 2
    C) Cave 10
    D) Cave 19
    Answer: A
57. Protective glass barriers now restrict visitor proximity particularly in:
    A) Cave 16
    B) Cave 17
    C) Cave 26
    D) Caves 1 & 2
    Answer: D
58. The ‘Visions of Buddhist Paradise’ international exhibition (1999) featured full-scale facsimiles from Ajanta created by:
    A) Japanese team led by Koichi Yoshikawa
    B) National Museum, New Delhi
    C) Victoria and Albert Museum
    D) Smithsonian Institution
    Answer: A
59. To reduce mold growth, the ASI installed a climate-control monitoring system in what year?
    A) 2001
    B) 2006
    C) 2013
    D) 2019
    Answer: B
60. Drone-based 3-D laser scanning of the cliff façade was first completed in:
    A) 2010
    B) 2015
    C) 2018
    D) 2022
    Answer: C

✨ Stylistic Features & Aesthetics

61. Ajanta figures are renowned for an S-shaped tribhanga pose derived from:
    A) Gandhāran prototypes
    B) Yakshi sculptures at Sanchi
    C) Classical dance postures (nritya)
    D) Hellenistic torsion style
    Answer: C
62. Eyes in Ajanta portraits are typically drawn in a style termed:
    A) Fish-shaped (matsya-akṣī)
    B) Half-moon (ardha-candra)
    C) Lotus petal (kamala-patra)
    D) Almond (bādamī)
    Answer: D
63. Transparent muslin garments are indicated through:
    A) Fine white hatching over flesh tones
    B) Gold outlines alone
    C) Leaving the under-layer bare
    D) Scratching through wet paint
    Answer: A
64. Jewelry rendered with rhythmic dotting is a hallmark also seen later at:
    A) Sittanavasal (Tamil Nadu)
    B) Lepakshi (Andhra Pradesh)
    C) Chola bronze art
    D) Tabo monastery (Himachal)
    Answer: A
65. Expressive hand gestures (mudrās) are crucial in conveying:
    A) Narrative sequence
    B) Musical rhythms
    C) Agricultural cycles
    D) Textile patterns
    Answer: A
66. Architectural trompe-l’œil—painted imitation of wood or stone—is especially visible on:
    A) Ceiling coffers
    B) Door lintels
    C) Pilaster bases
    D) Floor borders
    Answer: B
67. Perspective in Ajanta murals is achieved mainly through:
    A) Linear vanishing points
    B) Overlapping and diminish-in-scale figures
    C) Atmospheric haze
    D) Colored shadows
    Answer: B
68. Faces of royalty often show a head-tilt and downward gaze signifying:
    A) Divine compassion
    B) Courtly modesty
    C) Awareness of samsara
    D) Sarcastic humor
    Answer: B
69. Lotus motifs doubling as aureoles behind the Buddha indicate:
    A) Abstract time cycles
    B) Illumination and purity
    C) Solar deities
    D) Tantric chakras
    Answer: B
70. Scenes with massed attendants in diagonally receding tiers demonstrate:
    A) Influence of scroll painting
    B) Proto-Renaissance perspective
    C) Hierarchical space-division common in Indian art
    D) Persian miniature conventions
    Answer: C

🌍 Influence & Legacy

71. Ajanta’s painting tradition directly inspired later works at the 6th-century Bagh Caves in:
    A) Madhya Pradesh
    B) Odisha
    C) Rajasthan
    D) Bihar
    Answer: A
72. Ellora’s Kailāśanātha temple incorporates painted fragments echoing Ajanta’s palette in:
    A) Cave 14
    B) Cave 16
    C) Cave 21
    D) Indra-Sabha
    Answer: B
73. Some art historians see stylistic parallels between Ajanta and the murals of:
    A) Dunhuang (China)
    B) Pompeii (Italy)
    C) Luxor (Egypt)
    D) Angkor Wat (Cambodia)
    Answer: A
74. The Padmapani figure from Ajanta appeared on an Indian postal stamp first in:
    A) 1954
    B) 1963
    C) 1975
    D) 1985
    Answer: B
75. Modern Indian painters of the Bengal School—like Nandalal Bose—studied Ajanta sketches made by:
    A) Abanindranath Tagore
    B) Sister Nivedita
    C) Lady Herringham
    D) Anagarika Dharmapala
    Answer: C
76. Ajanta’s narrative sequencing has been compared to:
    A) Early Japanese emakimono scrolls
    B) Mayan codices
    C) Greek friezes
    D) Bayeux Tapestry
    Answer: A
77. An Indo-Japanese preservation project launched in 1991 focused chiefly on:
    A) Cave 2 ceiling
    B) Cave 6 lower hall
    C) Cave 17 Jātaka panels
    D) Cave 1 portal paintings
    Answer: D
78. UNESCO cites Ajanta as a masterpiece of which broad cultural zone?
    A) The Hellenistic world
    B) Indo-Islamic heritage
    C) Buddhist Palae-Asian interchange
    D) Rock-cut South Asian art
    Answer: D
79. Contemporary replicas of Ajanta murals are housed in full-scale at the:
    A) National Museum, Delhi
    B) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
    C) Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
    D) Indian Museum, Kolkata
    Answer: A
80. Virtual-reality walkthroughs of Ajanta released in 2024 were pioneered by:
    A) Google Arts & Culture in partnership with ASI
    B) Archaeological Survey of Sri Lanka
    C) Smithsonian 3-D Lab
    D) Microsoft HoloLens Studio India
    Answer: A

❓ Miscellaneous & Fun Facts

81. The Sanskrit term “Ajinnaṭa,” possibly a corruption of which means ‘remote’?
    A) A-jīna-ṭha
    B) Ajāta-nātha
    C) Ajñāta (unknown)
    D) A-jina-ratha
    Answer: C
82. The horseshoe-shaped cliff at Ajanta forms a bend of the:
    A) Bhima River
    B) Waghora River
    C) Purna River
    D) Tapti River
    Answer: B
83. Which wildlife species is commonly sighted near the cliff today and occasionally entrances tourists?
    A) Spotted deer
    B) Bonnet macaque
    C) Indian gaur
    D) Leopard
    Answer: B
84. Traditional access to Ajanta before modern stairs was through:
    A) Pulled bamboo ladders
    B) Rope bridges from the cliff top
    C) A forest footpath skirting the riverbed
    D) Stone-cut tunnel from behind the cliff
    Answer: C
85. The nearest major railhead for visitors to Ajanta is:
    A) Nagpur
    B) Jalgaon
    C) Pune
    D) Nasik
    Answer: B
86. An early 20th-century attempt to detach murals for European museums failed because:
    A) Local protests halted it
    B) Fresco-secco surface crumbled on removal
    C) British Museum lacked funds
    D) Lime plaster was too firmly bonded
    Answer: B
87. Which year saw Ajanta closed briefly due to a large rock-fall hazard?
    A) 1967
    B) 1979
    C) 1992
    D) 2005
    Answer: D
88. A 19th-century lithograph series of Ajanta was published in “The Cave Temples of India” by:
    A) James Fergusson & James Burgess
    B) Monier Williams
    C) Richard Temple
    D) Edwin Arnold
    Answer: A
89. Ajanta’s cliff is approximately how high above the Waghora stream at its tallest point?
    A) 20 m
    B) 35 m
    C) 60 m
    D) 90 m
    Answer: C
90. The portable scaffolds for conservation work are designed to fit through entrances only:
    A) 90 cm wide
    B) 1.5 m wide
    C) 2 m wide
    D) 3 m wide
    Answer: B
91. To control bat activity, ASI installed ultrasonic emitters in:
    A) 1998
    B) 2008
    C) 2014
    D) 2021
    Answer: C
92. The word “vihāra” literally means:
    A) Lecture hall
    B) Monastic dwelling
    C) Shrine room
    D) Gateway
    Answer: B
93. The motif of pearl-bordered halos around deities signals influence from:
    A) Central Asian Sogdian art
    B) Roman coin imagery
    C) Persian Sasanian textiles
    D) Gupta ivory carving
    Answer: C
94. Analysis shows the red backgrounds often contain high proportions of:
    A) Cinnabar (mercury sulfide)
    B) Red lead
    C) Hematite (iron oxide)
    D) Cadmium red
    Answer: C
95. The Waghora valley’s tropical microclimate exacerbates mural decay chiefly because of:
    A) Acidic rainfall
    B) High diurnal temperature range and humidity cycles
    C) Saline groundwater seepage
    D) Alkaline dust deposition
    Answer: B
96. Which legendary scholar first proposed a two-phase chronology for Ajanta in 1925?
    A) Ananda Coomaraswamy
    B) Stella Kramrisch
    C) Walter Spink
    D) Percy Brown
    Answer: D
97. The most extensive modern monograph series on Ajanta (1967–2017) was authored by:
    A) M. K. Dhavalikar
    B) Debala Mitra
    C) Benoy K. Behl
    D) Walter M. Spink
    Answer: D
98. A hallmark of Phase II painting is the use of dotted white ‘eye-sparkles’ to suggest:
    A) Tears of compassion
    B) Inner illumination
    C) Camera-flash highlights
    D) Medical cataracts
    Answer: B
99. A small number of inscriptions at Ajanta are written in:
    A) Brahmi script in Sanskrit language
    B) Kharosthi in Pali
    C) Tamil-Brahmi in Prakrit
    D) Gupta script in Apabhramsha
    Answer: A
100. Collectively, Ajanta’s murals are often hailed as the “classical flowering” of Indian painting because they combine:
     A) European naturalism with Persian design
     B) Monumental scale, sophisticated narrative, and refined aesthetics
     C) Bronze casting techniques with mural art
     D) Hindu mythological themes only
     Answer: B