Ajanta F
rom top down they carved deep into soft rock––
caves to line the length of the curved valley. From top down they chiseled Buddha's top knot, the snails warming his head. Down to his beneficent smile, elongated earlobes. In each cave a Buddha in the rear chamber, fingers poised in mudra. The antechamber graced with pillars, fluted or ringed with lotus, from the top down to the leveled stone floor. Walls lined with Buddha's life in bas-relief and now peeling frescos. Porticos and steps carved up and down link cave to cave. Windows fashioned in stone––views of where we've been, where headed. Sudden doorways open to green valley far below. From the top down they sculpted the ankles, heels, each toe and nail of the Buddha's blessed feet from which arose rapturous scents, celestial tones, reverberating ecstatic throughout every chamber, beyond all time, all place. ––Irma Sheppard