Incredible India : The Magnificent and Ancient Ajanta Caves

According to archaeologists, construction of the Ajanta caves in Maharashtra, India, began about 2200 years ago. Over hundreds of years of work and  more than 30 monuments were laboriously cut into the rock face of the mountains. According to speculation, the use of the caves stopped around 1000AD for unknown reasons, letting a thick jungle canopy grow around them, hiding them away for many generations.

No human eye saw the caves again until centuries later, when, in 1819, an Englishman by the name of John Smith was hunting a tiger when he discovered a hidden doorway to one of the temples. We know this because he unfortunately left his name on the wall of the temple - and a date, which can still be seen today.