Editing Ajanta Caves (section)

== Cave 9 ==
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| image2 = Entrance façade of Ajanta Cave 9, Maharashtra India, 1878 sketch 2.jpg
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| footer = Entrance to the Cave 9 worship hall. Right: An 1878 sketch.
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Caves 9 and 10 are the two ''chaitya'' or worship halls from the 2nd to 1st century BCE – the first period of construction, though both were reworked upon the end of the second period of construction in the 5th century CE.

Cave 9 (18.24 m × 8.04 m)<ref name=asicave1to29/> is smaller than Cave 10 (30.5 m × 12.2 m),<ref name=asicave1to29/> but more complex.{{sfn|Spink|2007|pp=131–132}} This has led Spink to the view that Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period. These were commissioned by individuals.{{sfn|Spink|2007|pp=9, 140–141}} Cave 9 arch has remnant profile that suggests that it likely had wooden fittings.{{sfn|Spink|2007|pp=131–132}}

The cave has a distinct apsidal shape, nave, aisle and an apse with an icon, architecture, and plan that reminds one of the cathedrals built in Europe many centuries later. The aisle has a row of 23 pillars. The ceiling is vaulted. The stupa is at the center of the apse, with a circumambulation path around it. The stupa sits on a high cylindrical base. On the left wall of the cave are votaries approaching the stupa, which suggests a devotional tradition.{{sfn|Upadhya|1994|pp=12–13}}{{sfn|Spink|2007|pp=131–135}}

According to Spink, the paintings in this cave, including the intrusive standing Buddhas on the pillars, were added in the 5th century.{{sfn|Spink|2009|pp=xii, 1–3}} Above the pillars and also behind the stupa are colorful paintings of the Buddha with Padmapani and Vajrapani next to him, they wear jewels and necklaces, while yogis, citizens and Buddhist ''bhikshu'' are shown approaching the Buddha with garlands and offerings, with men wearing ''dhoti'' and turbans wrapped around their heads.{{sfn|Gupte|Mahajan|1962|pp=77–78}} On the walls are friezes of Jataka tales, but likely from the Hinayana phase of early construction. Some of the panels and reliefs inside as well as outside Cave 10 do not make narrative sense, but are related to Buddhist legends. This lack of narrative flow may be because these were added by different monks and official donors in the 5th century wherever empty space was available.{{sfn|Spink|2007|pp=131–135}} This devotionalism and the worship hall character of this cave is the likely reason why four additional shrinelets 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D were added between Cave 9 and 10.{{sfn|Spink|2007|pp=131–135}}
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<gallery widths="125px" heights="125px">
File:098 Cave 9, Buddha with Ananda (34239733306).jpg|Buddha statue on the porch of Cave 9
File:Ajanta caves aurangabad 12.JPG|The apsidal hall with plain hemispherical stupa at apse's center{{sfn|Gupte|Mahajan|1962|pp=77–78}}
File:Ajanta Caves 57.jpg|Pillar paintings
File:Cave 9, Paintings on and over pillars right side of the cave.jpg|Cave 9: fresco with Buddhas in orange robes and protected by [[Chatra (umbrella)|chatra]] umbrellas
</gallery>