Chapter 1: Introduction & Past Scholarship
Chapter 2: Bagh Caves
Chapter 3: Paintings
Chapter 4: Dating and Epigraphs
Chapter 3 – Paintings
“Yet it may well be doubted if the paintings even of Polygnotus or Zeuxis would have been more illuminating for the general history of Art, than the paintings of Ajanta and Bagh. For the school which these paintings represent was the source and fountain head from which half the art of Asia drew its inspiration, and no one can study their rhythmic composition, their indistinctive beauty of line, the majestic grace of their figures, and the boundless wealth of their decorative imagery without realizing what a far-reaching influence they exerted on the art, not of India alone and her colonies, but of every other country to which the religion of Buddha penetrated.”1
In the galaxy of Buddhist caves, the most famous examples of painted art are available in the caves of Ajanta. As they are numerous and better preserved therefore they are well-studied and documented and appreciated. If there is any other example that can rival those of Ajanta then it is the painted art of Bagh and there is unanimity in the scholarly circle over this. Asit Kumar Haldar, a celebrated painter of Bengal school, writes about Bagh Paintings, “Although the paintings of the Bagh caves are not earlier than the late works at Ajanta, the nature and style of the paintings very intimately follow those at Ajanta. The languid grace and the general type of pose of the figure easily recall the conventions of the artists of Ajanta. The Bagh paintings are the direct descendants of the School of Ajanta. They are supposed to have been executed between the middle of the sixth and the seventh century.”2
The paintings at Bagh have not survived in full but only in fragments as these suffered great damage due to a natural fault in the rock where the caves were excavated. A layer of claystone just above the ceilings of these caves allowed water to seep and damage the structure as well as the paintings. Paintings that were executed in the external facade of the caves were protected by an overhead roof and portico in front, however, all this protection was long fallen and exposed the paintings to the ravages of weather bringing further havoc. However, whatever has remained in situ is enough to ascertain the artists and their art were at par with those who worked at Ajanta. Haldar writes, “The folds in elephant’s trunk and soft portions of its neck have been so skillfully stippled that it is difficult to imagine an artist, at such an early period, producing such works. The shading of the legs, the body, and the muscles of horses are rendered with such delicacy as to stand comparison with the comparatively recent works of Rembrandt.”3
Paramasivan4 investigated the methods of painting at Bagh and informed the ground was prepared out of naturally occurring ferruginous earth or artificially prepared lime plaster. The principal components of the earth plasters were silica, iron, alumina, and lime. In the case of lime plaster, the principal components were lime and silica. The first coat of the earth or lime plaster contained vegetable fibers. The second coat was only applied on earth plaster to a thickness of 1 mm. The total thickness of earth plaster varied between 7.8 mm to 20 mm and of the lime plaster between 3.4 mm to 6.5 mm. This rough plaster was given a coat of fine plaster containing a mixture of lime and calcium sulfate in the case of earth plaster and of lime alone in the case of lime plaster. The final surface was smoothened. Following pigments were used, yellow ochre, red ochre, terre verte, lapis lazuli, carbon, and lime. The tempera technique had been employed in the execution of the paintings, the binding medium was glue. In the tempera mode of paintings, pigments are generally mixed with a binder allowing them to stick to the dry plaster. Marshall5 tells that the process and color employed at both the sites, Bagh and Ajanta, seem to be the same, however, at Bagh, less care had been taken over in preparation of the first rough coat (rinfazzo). Apart from this difference, paintings at both places exhibit the same broad handling of their subjects, the same poetry of motion, the same wonderful diversity in the poses of their figures, the same feeling of the color, and the strong yet subtle line-work.
As the caves were undergoing rapid decay, therefore the conservation of these paintings was a huge task. The Archaeological Department of the then Gwalior State and afterward Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) As the main culprit behind the decay is nature itself, therefore, invested a great amount of labor, technique, and expertise in conserving and preserving these exquisite pieces of art, however, the paintings continue to suffer from water seepage issues due to a natural fault of the rock that had no permanent cure. To avoid further damage, the Gwalior archaeological department carried out a project in the 1920s to copy these paintings. The painting work started in 1920-21 and the services of the best artists were availed. The first phase of the work was carried out by Nandalal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar, and Surendranath Kar, artists and art teachers of Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan. The next phase started in 1923-24 and was carried out by A. B. Bhonsle and B. A. Apte, students of the J J School of Arts, Mumbai. They were assisted by M. S. Bhand and V. B. Jagtap, two aspiring artists of Gwalior. ASI carried out chemical conservation of these paintings for more than ten years however as there was no permanent cure to stop water seepage-related damages, a few of the painting panels were removed from the caves and preserved in the Gwalior Museum during the 1980s. Ritu and Phanikant Mishra write about these conversation efforts, “In the thirty-year history of restoration and conservation of Bagh Caves, the ASI has deployed huge resources, expertise, and manpower in the damage control exercise, but there had been little improvement. Although experts have worked day and night on the gargantuan task of saving caves, also entailing huge expenditure, their incessant efforts have been drowned under continuous seepage and disintegration of rocks.”6 They conclude, “Thus the site has lost much of its initial glory with little to hold on to except its original ambiance, while nature’s elements still grow into its riches in a bid to completely wipe it out of history.”
Cave No 2 – No painting has been found in Caves 1 and 2, though Walter Spink7 mentions fragments of paintings in cave 2. He states a number of attractive paintings are still preserved including the scrolling flora forms closely to those of in the interior of Ajanta Cave 20 and below that one can see traces of a figure of a painted Bodhisattva on either side of the door.
Cave No 3 – Haldar mentions some decorative designs exist on the ceiling of the veranda adjoining the hall of Cave No 3. He describes, “On one side there is the figure of a girl in a stooping posture engaged in fanning with a fly-whisker on one side of the doorway, on another side only the face of a girl is visible. Within the room there existed at one time a representation of the Buddha in the posture known as Padmasana and with an umbrella overhead encircled by an aureole. All that remains now are portions of the feet of the Buddha, a part of the aureole and umbrella. A disciple of the Buddha is represented with an incense carrier beside one of the figures of the Buddha. There was, in the central wall of the room, a gigantic representation of the Buddha standing, with figures on either side of lions riding on elephants to represent a throne.”8 Two figures representing devotees paying homage to Buddha had survived as witnessed by early scholars. Both the figures were kneeling while paying homage. The figure shown bending towards a colossal figure of Buddha is identified by Talim9 as a lay devotee, probably belonging to the Mahayana tradition. The other devotee that holds an incense burner in his right hand, has no ornaments, with a shaven head has been identified as a Hinayana monk by Talim. As these paintings have no more survived, line drawings from C E Luard10 are our best bet to assess and identify the theme.
Cave No 4 – This cave, popularly known as Rang Mahal, has the best-preserved painting specimens. The portico shared by caves 4 and 5 runs for about 220 feet and inside this verandah were painted some of the best examples of Bagh paintings. The original portico has long since fallen and the paintings were exposed to nature resulting in their deterioration and damage. A modern portico has been constructed to conserve whatever remains of the original work. Eye-witness accounts of these paintings provided by earlier scholars are of utmost importance in reconstructing the panels as much has been lost to us from what was available at that time. As Haldar and his associates were involved in making copies of these paintings, we will rely on his accounts and descriptions as he would have studied the paintings minutely and for a considerable duration. About the paintings inside the cave and on the entrance portico, Haldar writes, “In front of the entrance to the Rang Mahal there are thirty-five paintings of Buddha in meditation (each about 5 inches in height) in seven rows, five in each row. Lotus petals in the shape of aureole adorn these, very much in the style of the background against which the temporary images of gods and goddesses in Bengal are set. These are apparently the handiwork of one and the same artist. There is a colored ornamental scroll around the hall of the Rang Mahal about six feet in width. It consists principally of black, white, yellow, and green colors. On a column in the hall, there are figures which look as if they are seated on boats. The raised portions of these boats look like human arms so the figures have the appearance of being four-armed. These figures are drawn in black and white. They are now in a state of utter decay. Beneath the ceiling, ornamental paintings of flowers, fruits, and birds appear on separate panels. More skill in drawing than coloring is evidenced by the paintings inside the caves. Just above the first entrance, there is a painting of a man squatting on the ground inside a walled enclosure with his hand resting on one of his knees which is raised while the other leg lies stretched on the ground. Close by, there stands the figure of a girl in a banana garden looking backward with one arm akimbo, and the other hand supporting her chin. Just above this is the figure of a man lying prostrate. In another painting, a portion of the face of a queer-looking man appears. On one side of this, on the wall close to a door, there is a conventional representation of hills in yellow and red, surmounted by a garden. Two or three men appear in the garden at the foot of the hills, there are faces of girls, the other parts of whose figures are completely obliterated. There is another wall close by. Near this wall, there is a slightly raised ground, with a man wearing a coat squatting with his head resting on his cheek in an attitude of contemplation. Alongside this, there is a figure of a man who looks like an ascetic seated on a bench with his hands clasped together. His expression is serious and devotional. At the feet of this man there sits a pigmy who is apparently a valet. On the top of the next doorway of the cave, there is a figure of a dark girl seated on a stripped cushion with another figure in front of her seated on a bench obviously discussing some serious topics. On another side of the same door, there is a girl in the act of plucking something from a tree. Close to her visible, portions of the face and hand of another girl. The background of this painting has been represented somewhat in the shape of hills and clouds drawn in a conventional manner. The hills are arranged in cubes just as done in Ajanta paintings. Two or three back-faced monkeys appear on the top of the hills. In the space at the middle of two doorways amongst the paintings is a colossal figure of a divine dvarapala wearing a coronet. Close to the dvarapala there is a royal personage at Bagh lost in deep meditation and close to it there are figures of two peacocks amidst clouds on a hill. Just on top of the head of the dvarapala are kinnaris with bird-like feet playing on an instrument like a sitar.”11
A K Haldar tells the paintings on the verandah outside the Rang Mahal were numerous and they selected the one on the left, which was 51 feet by 7 feet in size. This selection contains the specimens that have survived till now and the rest have been lost to us irrevocably. The identification of this long canvas is based upon two approaches, one approach is to take all the different panels composing this canvas as a connected narration of a single story or theme, and another approach is to take these different panels as not-connected and thus representing different themes or stories. Haldar writes, “The manner and sequence of events as depicted in the closely connected paintings leave no room for doubt that these paintings are intended to describe some particular historical event. We have compared them with Buddhist Jatakas and we found that they may agree in part only but not completely with some of those stories.”12 Scholars who have attempted identification in the past have taken either of these two approaches and we will discuss these in detail when we describe these different panels below. Let’s check out the different panels adorning the veranda of Caves 4 and 5.
Scene 1 – Haldar describes this panel, “The picture shows a figure of a queen seated on a veranda with blue pillars in an attitude of sorrow, her cheek resting on her hand. She is adorned with ornaments and jewelry. Before her is seated a girl attendant who is covering her eyes with one jeweled hand and making a gesture of despair with the other. At the top of the veranda are two little blue pigeons. In the background of the picture is a painted wall”.13 He suggests the scene represents a sorrowful queen and her chambermaid.14 Monika Zin15, who identifies the main theme of the canvas as the story of king Mandhatar, identifies these women as part of a royal court as the women of the court used to accompany the king on his peaceful conquests. As she identifies the next scene with King Mandhatar and Indra therefore the panel with ladies is identified as the women of the royal court of king Mandhatar. Anupa Pande16 identifies the weeping lady holding a cloth with Sundari, the wife of Nanda, their story is mentioned in Saundarananda of Ashvaghosa. Both Pande and Zin are of opinion that the whole canvas represents a single story therefore these different scenes are all connected to that single story.
Meena Talim17 takes a different approach where disconnected themes compose this canvas. She identifies this scene based upon Malinivastu of Mahavastu-Avadanam, the story of Malini, the daughter of Krki, the king of Varanasi. Malini was commanded by her father to feed twenty-thousand Brahmanas. She obeyed however she was dejected by the conduct of the Brahmanas who lusted after her beauty. Then she saw a few Buddhist monks and invited them for food. She was very happy and joyful after seeing the good conduct of the Buddhist monks. This made the Brahmanas angry and they asked the king to give up Malini as she had no respect for Brahmanas. The king feared the Brahmanas as they were in majority and he acceded to their demand. The king sent a messenger to go and fetch Malini. The messenger communicated to Malini that her father had given her up to the Brahmanas and the latter would put her to death. Malini ran to her mother while a cry rang through the whole palace. And the people of the city at the sound of that cry became distressed and bewildered. Great was the lamentation. Malini surrendered herself but, as per her last wish, she was allowed to carry out works of charity and merit for a week. King Krki, at the behest of Malini, invited twenty-thousand Buddhist monks to stay in his palace for seven days and he with his wife and Mailini served all those Buddhist monks. After this period of a week, when Malini was leaving the city, a large crowd including the army and soldiers was following her to the residence of the Brahmanas. The Brahmanas got scared looking at the huge crowd and they reverted their decision to send Malini away instead of putting her to death. Talim argues the scene in this painting shows Malini’s inner chamber where the news of her banishment was broken to her. The lady on the left-hand side, wearing all kinds of ornaments, represents Malini. While the lady on the right hand, who is bereft of ornaments and jewelry and overwhelmed by hearing this news, is the messenger who was sent by the king to fetch Malini.
Scene 2 – This scene follows the first scene and is separated by the wall of the chamber of the ladies on the left. Haldar18 describes the panel as two princes seated on cushions, the figure to the front wears a large crown, and that to the back a smaller one. Standing beside them is a blue-skinned dwarf, and facing them are two men seated on the ground. He suggests this represents a meeting between two princes and two visitors. Vogel19 describes the person second from the left appears to be of some superior rank as he wears an elaborate headdress of square shape and is beset with jewels. The person sitting right to him also wears a crown however of a different form. They are also adorned with double necklaces, bracelets, and bangles. The two persons on the right are simple in appearance but not wholly devoid of ornaments. One among them is a bald head and another wears a diadem. The dwarf figure wears a curious white crest, trefoil-shaped. The overall scene is set in a garden, park, or forest. The two persons on the left wearing crows over their heads are identified by Zin20 as king Mandhatar and Indra and the other two on the right are their ministers, one for each. King Mandhatar sharing the throne of heaven with Indra is a popular theme depicted in various mediums in Buddhist monuments. Zin mentions that though in the painting they do not sit on thrones but on the ground, however, the two kings were placed at the same level. Pande suggests the theme is of the sermon in the grove as mentioned in the Saundarananda. King Nanda’s journey to Buddhist monasticism started after this sermon. She identifies the person wearing an elaborate diadem with king Nanda. She takes the dwarf figure as of she-monkey that represents the real truth about what is superficially thought to be the beautiful female body, in other words, its essential ugliness, its deformity, and its being subject to decay and death.
Talim21 tells that after searching all five-hundred and forty-seven Jataka stories, she comes to the conclusion that this painting represents a scene from the Vidhurapandita Jataka. In this Jataka story, Vidhura was the minister of King Dhanajaya of Kuru. There were three contemporary kings to him, King Sakka, the king of the devas; Varuna, the king of the Nagas; and Venateyya the king of the Supannas or garudas (large golden eagles). One fine day, all four kings met in a garden and a debate started on who is most virtuous among all. King Dhananjaya asked his minister, Vidhura, to settle the matter. Vidhura with his intelligence satisfied all the kings explaining each one is virtuous on their own merits. Talim identifies the person with a bald head as Vidhura and the person next to him as King Dhananjaya. The other two wearing crowns are King Sakka and king Varuna. The dwarf king is Venateyya, the king of the Supannas, as they are usually depicted as dwarves. This identification appears apt as it fits to the Jataka tale and the depiction in the painting, however, the main theme of the Vidhuarapandita-jataka is not this specific scene but a different setting and scene.
Scene 3 – This scene shows a group of men and women, placed one above the other. Haldar says it depicts several sadhus floating through the air, carrying baskets of flowers. Below this is another group of maidens, one of whom holds a musical instrument of sitar. Of the other figures, only heads are visible. Each face is of an individual type, with a light brown complexion.22 Vogel mentions whether these two groups belong together or a single scene is impossible to decide, as long as the subject of these frescos has not been identified. He tells the upper group is evidently flying and issuing forth from the clouds. The person in the front is supposedly leading the group and his legs are partly visible. The rest of the figures only have their upper half visible. The leader only wears a dhoti, and the rest of the crew is wearing an upper garment leaving their right shoulder bare.23 Zin identifies this scene merely as a group of Apsaras and deities hovering in the clouds signifying that they are in heavenly regions. She tells this scene connects King Mandhatar’s journey that started from the earth and ended in heaven.24 Pande takes this theme as Nanda’s flight to Paradise and Mount Himavant, when he and Buddha took an aerial route to Paradise and passed over Mount Himavant. Talim suggests the painting is based on Jataka-atthakatha where Buddha was requested to come to Kapilvastu. On reaching Kapilvastu, elderly Shakyas were confused about whether to pay homage to him as Buddha was younger than them. Then, Buddha performed a miracle that made elderly Shakyas pay homage to him. She identifies the figure leading the group through the clouds as Buddha and argues the varada-mudra of the figure confirms him being Buddha but not Bodhisattva. The group of females below represents the crowd that gathered at Kapilvastu to witness this miracle of Buddha.25
Scene 4 & 5– These two scenes are painted side by side and both show a dancing troupe consisting of female musicians and a male dancer. Scene 4 is explained by Vogel26, the group consists of seven women standing around a male dancer. The dancer wears a long-sleeved tunic greenish with white dots reaching down to the knees a loose girdle and a broad flat kind of collar over which a necklace of pearls interspersed with large beads of lapis lazuli. Sleek locks fall down on both his shoulders. The legs are clothed in striped trousers set wide apart, the right one bent. The palms of the hands are turned upwards in the position assumed by dancing girls. Haldar27 tells the dancer is clothed in a brightly colored Persian costume. His eyes look away in distance. Around him is a group of dancing girls in multi-colored check costumes, their complexions also being of light brown of various shades. Some are beating small drums, others playing on cymbals, and other metal instruments. Scene 5 is very similar, the major difference is that it has six women instead of seven as in the previous scene. Of the six women, one beats a tabor, two handle cymbals, and three each a pair of sticks. Zin28 opines these two scenes represent the dance and music in two heavens, one heaven belonging to king Indra (Sakra) and another to king Mandhatar. It is believed that when king Mandhatar reached the heavens of Indra, the latter divided the kingdom into two and gave one to Mandhatar. Pande takes the theme as Nanda dancing with apsaras, and identifies the male dancer with King Nanda. She tells when King Nanda reached the heavenly kingdom of Indra, he danced with celestial damsels in ecstasy. He forgot about his wife, Sundari, and was full of passion and desire for those apsaras. Talim29 confesses unfortunately there is no textual information about this sequence in Pali or Sanskrit Buddhist texts. She agrees with earlier scholars that the male dancers in the scene represent Persian personage and this painting is thus of secular nature.
Beneath the partition of these two panels are the remnants of the solitary inscription. The only surviving letter is ‘ka’ written in Gupta characters.
Scene 6 & 7 – These two scenes can also be taken together as both represent a procession, one consisting of horses and another of elephants. Haldar mentions the panel is 20 feet long and 7 feet high. It gives a panoramic view of a part of a procession, the first portion showing men riding on horses and the next riders on elephants, all wearing check coats. In the center of the horsemen, one appears a prince as he has an umbrella above him. In the midst of the elephants is another important person who has attendants holding an umbrella above him. This prince is driving his own elephant and being without a coat or ornaments seems to be in mourning in his hands he holds a drooping lotus. In the center of the procession of elephants, there are six maidens with drums tied around their shoulders.30 About the first panel, Vogel writes at least seventeen horsemen moving towards the left in five or six rows. The main cavalier with a parasol above his head is clad in a blue-dotted yellowish robe and holds the reins of his bay steed with his left hand. The horse carries three yalk-tails one standing on the top of the head and two handing down along the head and the neck. About the next panel, he tells Dr. Impey mentioned the group consisted of six elephants and three horsemen, of these only one was traceable during his visit. He tells this panel was almost entirely gone, only the outline of the head was still visible.31
Zin32 takes these two panels as the triumphant procession of King Mandhatar to the heavenly worlds, in one he is seated on his elephant-jewel, and in another on his horse-jewel. Pande takes these scenes as the conversion of Shakyas. She tells the elephant procession is the culmination of the conversion of the Shakyas and the paintings depict prince Nanda, Sundari, and her companions. The queen is seated on an elephant and another elephant carries three more ladies from the king’s harem. The story of Saundarananda mentions that after King Nanda joined the sangha, the queen and other ladies of his harem would follow suit. Talim33 takes both panels as different and separate panels. For the panel of horsemen, she takes hints from Mahavagga and Mahavastu Avadana and identifies this panel with the Licchhavi procession. The story goes that once the Licchhavis of Vaishali suffered from a severe disease that was not cured by the best of the teachers. Therefore, Tomara, the leader of the Licchhavis, went to Rajagriha to request Buddha to come to Vaishali and relieve them of that disease. Buddha accepted on the condition that Tomara needed to take permission from king Bimbisara then only Buddha can move. Tomara took permission from the king on the condition that Vaishali must welcome Buddha such a victor is returning to the city. The entire city of Vaishali was decorated to welcome Buddha. The procession of colorful horses, chariots, and vehicles with a great retinue went out of the city to greet Buddha at the banks of the Ganga. This procession consists of a group of horses and riders in different colors. There were groups of horses in color blue, bright red, red, white, green, and mixed colors. We also find horses in different colors in this painting. Though not all colors are there, it has horses in blue, bright red, yellow, green, and white.
She identifies the next panel of the elephant procession with the Mahajanaka-Jataka. The story goes that one day king Mahajanaka expressed his desire to visit the park of his capital. He mounted an elephant along with his retinue and arrived at the park. He saw two mango trees there, one laden with fruit and one barren. He plucked on fruit and tasted it, it was delightful and divine. He expressed his desire that he will eat more on his return. His princes and followers also plucked fruits and ate, who did not find fruits devastated the tree. On his return, the king found that the tree which was laden with fruits was all in ruins but the barren one was intact. He asked his minister to explain. The latter explains that the people in search of fruit snatched away the foliage while the barren one was intact as a barren tree does not perish. Mahajanaka pondered over the situation and understood the hidden meaning, that a tree laden with fruits is like running a kingdom and one barren is like renunciation. Possession is a danger but not otherwise. Therefore I shall become like a barren tree sacrificing all my wealth and renouncing the world. The superior person on the leading elephant represents king Mahajanaka. This identification is primarily based on information from Dr. Impey that a few mango trees were painted in the scene and Mango trees play a very important role in the Mahajanaka-jataka.34
The panel right next to the elephant procession is no more visible now except for a few fragments. Haldar35 mentions the panel shows a Buddhist monk, clean shave, squatting under an Asoka tree in a garden or a park. As he is wearing a coat, he may be the same price who was ready to renunciate the world in the previous panel. The tree beneath which this monk sits is profusely decorated with streamers of colored cloth. Haldar opines although the paintings of the Bagh caves are not earlier than the late works at Ajanta, the nature and style of the paintings very intimately follow those at Ajanta. The languid grace and the general type of pose of the figure easily recall the conventions of the artists of Ajanta. The Bagh paintings are the direct descendants of the School of Ajanta.36
This ends the description of paintings that are visible at the site though in fragments. The rest of the paintings are only available through the descriptions left by early scholars and these may be studied with the copies made by Haldar and other artists during the 1920s. These copies are available in the Gwalior Museum. As I do not have copies of those, therefore describing those here would not be of much value and interest to the readers.
Next Chapter – Dating and Epigraphs
1 Marshall
2 Haldar, A K (1952). Art and Tradition. The Universal Publishers Ltd. Lucknow. Pp. 105-120
3 Halder, Asit Kumar (1921). The Paintings of the Bagh Caves published in Rupam – An Illustrated Quarterly Journal of Oriental Art chiefly India, No 8. pp. 12-19
4 Paramasivan, S (1939). The wall paintings in the Bagh caves—An investigation into their methods published in the Proceedings of Indian Academy of Sciences, Section A, vol. 10. pp. 85-95
5 Marshall, John, et al (1927). The Bagh Caves in the Gwalior State. The India Society. London. pp. 16-17
6 Mishra, Ritu & Mishra, Phanikant (2002). Bagh Caves: A Predicament for Conservation published in Marg Volume 53, No 3. pp. 46-55
7 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. p. 22
8 Haldar, A K (1952). Art and Tradition. The Universal Publishers Ltd. Lucknow. pp. 105-120
9 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. p. 23
10 Luard, C E (1910). Gazetteer Gleanings in Central India published in the Indian Antiquary vol. XXXIX. pp. 225-235
11 Haldar, A K (1952). Art and Tradition. The Universal Publishers Ltd. Lucknow. pp. 105-120
12 Halder, Asit Kumar (1921). The Paintings of the Bagh Caves published in Rupam – An Illustrated Quarterly Journal of Oriental Art chiefly India, No 8. pp. 12-19
13 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1923). The Buddhist Caves of Bagh published in the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 43. no. 247. pp. 159-167
14 Haldar, A K (1952). Art and Tradition. The Universal Publishers Ltd. Lucknow. pp. 105-120
15 Zin, Monika (2001). The Identification of the Bagh Paintings published in East and West, Volume 51, Nos. 3-4. pp. 318-19
16 Pande, Anupa (2002). The Buddhist Cave Paintings of Bagh. Aryan Books International. New Delhi
17 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. p. 28-31
18 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1923). The Buddhist Caves of Bagh published in the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 43. no. 247. pp. 159-167
19 Marshall, John, et al (1927). The Bagh Caves in the Gwalior State. The India Society. London. pp. 47-48
20 Zin, Monika (2001). The Identification of the Bagh Paintings published in East and West, Volume 51, Nos. 3-4. pp. 318-19
21 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. pp. 32-35
22 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1923). The Buddhist Caves of Bagh published in the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 43. no. 247. pp. 159-167
23 Marshall, John, et al (1927). The Bagh Caves in the Gwalior State. The India Society. London. p. 48
24 Zin, Monika (2001). The Identification of the Bagh Paintings published in East and West, Volume 51, Nos. 3-4. p. 320
25 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. pp. 39-40
26 Marshall, John, et al (1927). The Bagh Caves in the Gwalior State. The India Society. London. pp. 49-50
27 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1923). The Buddhist Caves of Bagh published in the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 43. no. 247. pp. 159-167
28 Zin, Monika (2001). The Identification of the Bagh Paintings published in East and West, Volume 51, Nos. 3-4. p. 320
29 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. p. 45
30 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1923). The Buddhist Caves of Bagh published in the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 43. no. 247. pp. 159-167
31 Marshall, John, et al (1927). The Bagh Caves in the Gwalior State. The India Society. London. pp. 51-55
32 Zin, Monika (2001). The Identification of the Bagh Paintings published in East and West, Volume 51, Nos. 3-4. p. 320
33 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. pp. 49-52
34 Talim, Meena (2014). Bagh Caves: Paintings and Sculptures. Buddhist World Press. Delhi. pp. 53-58
35 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1923). The Buddhist Caves of Bagh published in the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 43. no. 247. pp. 159-167
36 Haldar, Asit Kumar (1952). Art and Tradition. The Universal Publishers Ltd. Lucknow. pp. 105-120
Acknowledgment: Some of the photos above are in CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain from the collection released by Tapesh Yadav Foundation for Indian Heritage.