<P> The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 250 feet wall of rock . The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha , pictorial tales from Aryasura 's Jatakamala , as well as rock - cut sculptures of Buddhist deities in vogue between the 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE . Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks , as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India . While vivid colours and mural wall painting were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records , Caves 16 , 17 , 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall - painting . </P>
the paintings on the walls and ceilings in the ajanta cave depict mainly
the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha pictorial tales from Aryasura 's Jatakamala