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Other entries in Aurangābad

Ellora Caves & other historical sites

Aurangabad is a fantastic base for touring to World Heritage sites Ellora Caves and Ajanta Caves.  Unfortunately you can't do both of them on one day, as Ajanta is 100km out of Aurangabad and Ellora a good 30km, plus you need about 3 - 4 hrs at each.  So, being disorganised I only have 1 day with a train to catch at 6am tomorrow.  Lonely Planet recommended the Ellora Caves trip, which also takes in some other local sites plus has three religious sects represented (Hindu, Buddism and Jain).  Ajanta, although more spectacular as cut out of a steep cliff-face vs Ellora based on a gentle escarpment, only has the more modest Buddha caves.

 Either way it was a great day, setting off in the morning with 4 other people, a couple from Mumbai and another couple from Espangne (Roberto & Helena)! 

 We first stopped off at the Daulatabad Fortress between Aurangabad and Ellora.  Ruined, but truly magnificent, it sure was a steep, long and hot climb to the top... but worth it for the views (apparently 200m high?)... bring on those Himalayan mountains!  The hill was originally known as Devagari, the Hill of the Gods, but some crazy ass sultan renamed it in the 14th Century to 'the city of fortune' and basically tried to move the entire population of Delhi 1100km south to live there... I take it the population was smaller than nowadays.  There is a Chand Minar (Tower of the Moon) which you pass, as well as a 'Dark Passage' which was pitch black, extremely scary and stank and sounded with the numerous bats flitting by.  When we got to the top I started a conversation with a lovely Indian lady and soon it turned into a total photo fest!  (as soon as the technology allows, will get the photos uploaded!)

Next stop was the Ellora Caves Temples (a World Heritage site), of which there are 34 temples carved out of the escarpment over 5 centuries by generations of monks within the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain religions.  The biggest and most impressive is the Hindu Kailasa temple which looks almost like a stand-alone temple - BUT is actually rock-cut from top to bottom to represent Mt Kailasa (Kailash) which is Shiva's home in the Himalayas.  Three huge trenches were apparently cut into the mountain and then the temple 'released'.  An absolutely magnificent thing to see in the flesh, with numerous carvings (plenty of elephants - Hooray) and dramatic carved panels depicting the story of Ramayana.  Climbed up to the top for an awesome view.  We also took in the other Hindu temples, all varying in sculptural depictions.  The Jain temple was a 'rip-off' of the main Kailasa temple, also featuring a monolithic elephant and monolithic pillar as an exact replica of those found in the main Kailasa.  Also took in several other caves, some of the Buddha caves having several buddha carvings and some spectacular wall carvings in cave 29 (Hindu Dumar Lena).

Our final stop was the Bibi-Qa-Maqbara (or 'poor mans Taj').  Apparently this is an exact replica of the Taj Mahal but on a much smaller scale, plus different carvings.  Built in 1679 as a mausoleum for Aurangzeb's wife, it's a slightly ironic comparison considering it was Aurangzeb's father who built the original well-known Taj Mahal shortly before being overthrown and imprisoned by his son on account of his extravagance!  Some great photos and chipmunks (yes, I am officially obsessed) and the end of the day some young boys were extra keen on getting their pics taken, so some great fun was had with them....

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