In total, there are 29 caves in Ajanta in which the uneven walls of the hill were first made even before drawing anything on them. Cowdung, sand, rice brawn were fermented in large pits for this purpose. Then the walls were plastered with this material. The plaster was kept one inch in thickness. It was then treated with a solution of white lime, the thickness of which was kept equal to an eggshell.
Sketching was done with red colour and then the picture was coloured with different colours. After colouring the picture and making boundaries with black colour, it was beaten with ‘karni’ (trowel), so that the colour was absorbed by the wall. Thereafter, the entire picture was treated with the solution made from finely- ground smooth stone. This was called the art of’Fresco’.
