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MUMBAI, INDIA, December 18, 2002: The Japanese government has okayed the release of US$87 million for restoration of the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabad — the first time a foreign government is aiding an Indian Heritage site. But the aid has not come easy to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), which manages the site. After five years of working hard at sprucing up the area around the caves, the MTDC has managed to satisfy the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, which is funding the restoration. MTDC had approached the bank a few years ago, asking for funds to restore the caves. The bank agreed, only, it said, the money would be released in two phases. The second donation would depend on the MTDC’s performance in the first phase, during which it would have to set up the infrastructure (with the $26 million paid in the first phase) for the actual restoration work. MTDC did well, in fact, it even recently won the national award for the best executed conservation project for its infrastructure development near Ajanta and Ellora. The Buddhist murals and frescos of Ajanta, which go back to the 2nd Century BC, are considered to be the most beautiful expressions of Indian Middle Age art. The first mentions of these caves can be found in the writings of Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang, who visited India between 629 AD-645 AD. He talks of 30 caves laid out in a massive horseshoe and nestling deep in a gorge in the Sayadri mountain range, whose walls had been converted into exquisite pictorial records of Buddha’s life and teachings.

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