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"There are gods, gods everywhere.
"神靈遍地
And nowhere left to put my feet."
多得讓我無法下腳"
Those are the words of a 12th century Indian poet,
這句話出自十二世紀的一位印度詩人
as he cast his eyes on the mass of religious images
在他周圍環繞著眾多宗教意象
that surrounded him.
令他目不暇接
Several centuries on, you can still see what he meant.
數個世紀過去 你仍能對此感同身受
Coming to a place I'm not so familiar with, like India,
來到一個我不熟悉的地方 像是印度
helps to open my eyes
通常能讓我更加意識到
to the fact that religious art gets everywhere.
宗教藝術隨處可見
You don't only find it in churches, temples and galleries.
它們不僅僅存在于教堂 寺廟或畫廊中
Religion has always brought out the artfulness in people,
宗教總能激發人們的藝術細胞
on the body, in the home, and on the street.
這體現在人的身體上 家里甚至是街上
And it can seem quite simple,
有時看起來非常簡單
whether it's a matter of religious awe,
不論是以對宗教的崇敬為目的
or a way of satisfying our curiosity
還是為了滿足我們的好奇心
by peeking into the hidden world of the divine.
讓我們得以一窺隱秘圣域
But if we go a bit deeper
但如果我們再深入一點
and try to explore
想要去探尋
how these religious images actually work...
這些宗教畫作到底有何深意
It turns out to be a little harder than you might think.
就會發現這比想象的要困難一些
It was 1906 when the artist-explorer
1906年 藝術探險家
Christiana Herringham
克里斯蒂安娜.赫林厄姆
was trekking through this remote part of central India.
跋山涉水來到印度中部這片偏遠地區
She had been intrigued by stories of an ancient religious site
她被一個故事中藏于崇山峻嶺中的宗教圣地
long hidden in the hills.
深深地吸引了
And, after weeks of very rough travel,
經過幾周的艱難跋涉
she was astounded by what she saw.
她被所見的景象所震撼了
Spanning an entire rock face
覆蓋這整個巖壁的
were the Ajanta Caves.
就是阿旃陀石窟
This network of Buddhist prayer holes and monasteries
這成片的佛殿與僧房
was begun around 200 BC
始建于公元前二世紀
and added to over the centuries.
并在之后幾百年間不斷擴建
