Tomb of woman who loved British army officer to be repaired

Noted Marathi poet N D Mahanor has said he will undertake repair work of the tomb of Paro, the woman who aided British army officer Major Robert Gill in the rediscovery of the world-famous Ajanta caves in the district. Major Gill (1804-1879) was a painter and photographer best known for his paintings copying the frescoes of the Ajanta caves, located 110 km from Aurangabad. After his rediscovery of the caves in 1844, he made extensive copies of the Buddhist cave paintings.

The first Buddhist cave monuments at Ajanta date from the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. During the Gupta period (5th and 6th centuries AD), many more richly decorated caves were added to the original group. The paintings and sculptures of Ajanta, considered masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, have had a considerable artistic influence.

"It pains me to notice that the tomb has been defaced in the last five-six years," Mahanor said in a facebook post, expressing his anger and pain over some words carved on the marble plaque at her tomb at Ajanta village, around 10 km from the caves.

"Ajanta caves symbolise the thoughts and path to peace shown by Gautam Buddha. The caves were in the dark for around 2000 years before being rediscovered by Major Gill. Paro was his shadow when he was working in the dense forest of Ajanta for 12 years," Mahanor wrote.

The poet said Gill could complete his work only due to the help and companionship rendered by Paro, a local tribal girl from Lenapur settlement near the caves.The officer built a small memorial for her at Ajanta but the marble plaque which underlined Paro's role was damaged by miscreants. Mahanor, a Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi awardee, said he will install a new marble plaque at the spot and also undertake the renovation of the tomb, which is next to a police station. Major Gill, who died at 74, was buried at Bhusawal in adjoining Jalgaon district. Ajintha, a Marathi movie depicting the love story of Paro and the British army officer was released in 2012 and met with a lukewarm response at the box office.