The Ajanta caves site is recognized as a UN World Heritage site. The caves were excavated between 2nd century BC and 6th century AD. There are 30 caves along a horseshoe shaped valley. The caves at the bottom contain mud-colour paintings explaining concepts of Buddhism including Buddha's life and stories from Jataka tales. The remaining caves have rock-cut sculptures.
The first two photos are from the last cave. I love the symmetry, intricacy and details of these sculptures.
The below photo is from the exteriors of one of the caves. The left half shows the intricate carvings, while the right half shows the weathering rocks and how this beautiful site is slowly getting destroyed.Moving on to the paintings: In order to preserve what is left of the paintings, the caves themselves are very dimly lit and flash photography is not allowed. The first photo below is a painting on an exterior wall, so the colours and details are visible. Not so much in the remaining two.
Note the face of the lady on the extreme left close to the shoulder of male figure in the centre. Black was considered a beautiful colour in those days and women figures were painted black in order to depict their beauty (or so we were told).