Ajanta Caves were painted for over 900 years by some of the greatest unknown artists of mankind. They are not only a UNESCO World Heritage site, but also probably the greatest art in the world. But these paintings have seen deterioration over the last 2000 years.
Now, if they can be restored to their original glory and then preserved for eternity, its a service not only to the culture of India, but to human species and its greatness. On the 21st of October, preservation of the art of the Ajanta Caves was initiated at the Arctic World Archives, in an indestructible format, till eternity. Event happened at Svalbard, a remote island in Norway. And, the ceremony was attended by representatives from The National Museum of Norway, UNICEF Norway, the Norwegian Defense Museum, and the Mjøndalen Sports Association. Due to travel restrictions in the wake of COVID-19 situation around the world, representatives from Olga Tokarczuk Foundation and Literary Publishing, CIASC and Sapio Analytics were not able to be physically present there.
Armed with their chosen data, the grouped marched 300 metres into the decommissioned coal mine to the Arctic World Archive (AWA), a treasure trove of world memory.
Sapio Analytics deposited high resolution images of the Ajanta Caves in India, the first AWA deposit of a UNESCO world heritage site. Supported by Indian Ministry of Culture, the capture of such a large and significant UNESCO heritage site is a major undertaking and will take years to complete. Sapio Analytics is a prominent government advisory firm based out of India and with offices in UK and USA. Heritage restoration division of Sapio Analytics, headquartered in the USA partnered with Rishihood University and the Ministry of Culture to conduct a hackathon to restore the paintings of Ajanta Caves.
The caves are situated in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state and constitute ancient monasteries and worship halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre wall of rock.
Considered some of the most significant ancient art in the world, these paintings and carvings hold immense importance for people in many nations. The paintings cannot be photographed with flash or lights, so a special low-light photographic technique has been used to capture the art in high resolution. Deep learning AI is also applied combined with knowledge from historians to restore any broken images.
This deposit includes a photograph of Ajanta Caves by Benoy Behl, showing a king renouncing all worldly pleasures, the paper Revelation of Ajanta Caves, support from Indian business leaders about the project, alongside initial high-resolution restored capture of the caves. On this occasion messages from Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament and India’s current representative to G-20 and G-7 countries, and Benoy Behl were also read. Benoy K. Behl is an Indian documentary filmmaker, art historian and photographer known for his work in documenting the art heritage of India and Asia. He has taken more than 50,000 photographs of Asian monuments and has produced more than 140 documentaries which are regularly screened at major cultural institutions worldwide.
Located at Svalbard, Arctic World Archives is considered to be a safe repository for world memory. It has been designed to withstand natural and man-made disasters, at the safest location on earth, data stored here will last for centuries.
Although, much of world’s heritage is stored digitally and, despite best efforts to protect it for the future, it can be exposed to risks, either from the online environment or just from the limits of modern storage technology. But, the combination of resilient long-term storage technology and the remote, safe and cold conditions found on Svalbard, enables data to live on into the distant future.
Established in 2017, the Arctic World Archive (AWA) holds an impressive collection of valuable digital artefacts and irreplaceable information from around the world, with over 15 contributing nations. AWA is set deep inside an arctic mountain on the Svalbard archipelago. Svalbard is a declared demilitarised zone by 42 nations. The safety, security and remoteness made it a perfect choice for an archive of such valuable information. Further, the cool dry permafrost conditions increase the longevity of the stored data.
We would also like to remind you that Svalbard is also home to the Global Seed Vault. Deep inside a mountain on a remote island in the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, lies this Global Seed Vault. It is a long-term seed storage facility, built to stand the test of time — and the challenge of natural or man-made disasters. The Seed Vault represents the world’s largest collection of crop diversity. The purpose of the Vault is to store duplicates (backups) of seed samples from the world’s crop collections. As of now, 1,057,151 varieties have been conserved in the Seed Vault.
What a beautiful coverage
Thanks a lot