Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Technique of the Painting Process in the Bagh Caves in Gwalior State

Abstract

THE Bagh caves (lat. 22° 22′ N., long. 74° 48′ E.) are situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhya Hills, seventy miles from Mhow, a town on the Rajputana-Malwa section of the B.B. and C.I. Railway. The caves were at one time fully decorated with paintings. But there are remains of them1 only in caves III and IV. The caves, which are of sandstone, have crumbled, due to the excessive weight of the superimposing band of claystone with moisture percolating through it. Consequently many of the paintings have disappeared. The paintings probably belong to the early seventh century A.D.2, being contemporaneous with the paintings in Caves XVI and XVII at Ajanta.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rowland, Benjamin, and others, “The Wall Paintings of India. Central Asia and Ceylon” (Merrymount Press, Boston, 1938) 79–81.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Marshall, Sir John, and others, “The Bagh Caves” (India Society, London, 1927), 22.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Ibid., 4–5.

  4. NATURE, 137, 867 (1936); 139, 114 (1937); 140, 198 (1937); 142, 757 (1938). Technical Studies (Harvard University), 5, 221–240 (1936–37): Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 7, 282–292 (1938).

  5. Searle, “The Chemistry and Physics of Clays and other Ceramic Materials” (London: Benn, 1924), 262–63.

    Google Scholar 

  6. "Encyclopædia Britannica”, 14th edn., 18, 39–40.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

PARAMASIVAN, S. Technique of the Painting Process in the Bagh Caves in Gwalior State. Nature 144, 554–555 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144554b0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144554b0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing