Among the finest examples of some of the earliest Buddhist architecture, cave paintings and sculptures, these Caves comprise Chaitya Halls, or shrines, dedicated to Lord Buddha and Viharas, or monasteries, used Buddhist monks for meditation and the study of Buddhist teachings. The paintings that adorn the walls and ceilings of the Caves depict incidents from the life of the Buddha and the various Buddhist divinities.
Occupied for almost 700 years the caves of Ajanta seem to have been abandoned rather abruptly. They remained shrouded in obscurity for over a millennium, till John Smith, a British Army Officer, accidentally stumbled upon them while on a hunting expedition in 1819. Ajanta has been designated as a World Heritage Site.