Ajanta Caves FactsThe Ajanta Caves are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval era Chinese Buddhist travellers to India and by a Mughal-era official of Akbar era in the early 17th century.The Ajanta Caves are one of the oldest UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.On 28 April 1819 a British officer named John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tigers discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 when a local shepherd boy guided him to the location and the door.The second period of construction was carried out during the rule of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty.The Ajanta Caves are approximately 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India.The Ajanta caves are home to paintings and sculptures that depict the heavy influence of Buddhist philosophy and religious teachings of the Buddha.The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock.The Ajanta Caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct phases, the first during the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, and a second several centuries later.The caves are over 2,000 years old, the Buddha statues had been added close 600 years later.The caves of Ajanta were excavated from a horse-shoe shaped cliff along river Waghora.Interesting Ajanta Caves Facts