2nd century BC Buddhist art cave discovered-Rest of World-World-The Times of India

2nd century BC Buddhist art cave discovered-Rest of World-World-The Times of India: "2nd century BC Buddhist art cave discovered"

2nd century BC Buddhist art cave discoveredSudeshna Sarkar[3 May, 2007 l 0034 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
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KATHMANDU: As the world celebrated the 2,551st birth anniversary of the Buddha on Wednesday, Nepal – his birthplace – had an additional reason to rejoice: The discovery of an ancient cave, an older Ajanta with exquisite wall paintings, in its northernmost tip jutting into Tibet. A team of scholars and climbers stumbled upon the treasure trove last month during a search for historic caves said to be abounding in the virtually uninhabited tract of frozen land, preserved by the icy temperatures and untouched for millennia. Funded by adventure gear maker North Face and a US-based production house, the expedition discovered a partly collapsed enclave containing a mural of 55 panels depicting the life of the Buddha. The paintings are highly evocative of Ajanta, says art conservator Luigi Fieni, referring to the first known Buddhist cave art dating to 1st and 2nd centuries BC. Fieni has been camping in Mustang, the remote mountainous district that was once a rich and powerful Tibetan kingdom, dominating the trans-Himalayan trade between India and Tibet. The art, he says, is executed in a style not seen in Mustang.