A Restorative Plan

Prasad Pawar has spent years digitally restoring the cave paintings of Ajanta.

- Sameer Jha

2000 YEARS IS A LONG TIME for paintings to survive, and one can only wonder about the scientific acumen of painters from that age, who knew what colours to use and identified the ideal surfaces to paint them on. Survival, however, does not always mean ‘pristine’, and the amazing Ajanta cave paintings are very much the worse for wear. Various restoration efforts have been made, and a rather unique one has been attempted by photographer Prasad Pawar, who decided to undertake the responsibility of painstakingly photographing the series of paintings, and then ‘digitally’ restoring them. As is apparent from the photographs you see here, his work is of an extremely high standard, which is why it was showcased in an exhibition by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). He spoke to us to explain how he managed to do this.