British Army Officer John Smith discovered Ajanta Caves in 1819 during a hunting expedition. Ajanta is about 100 km from Aurangabad. Aurangabad is head quarter of Marathawada district of Maharashtra State in India. We have visited this place in the 1st week of August-03. Due to better monsoon in this year there was steady water flow in Vaghora River and a Waterfall was still flowing at that time. In a hot sunny day on that rocky hillock, mists from the waterfall are really very refreshing.
These Caves were dugout on the rock for the Buddhist monks, out on a mission to preach Buddhism. There are twenty-nine caves, stretched like a horseshoe on the hillock covering about half a kilometer. Five caves No 9, 10, 19, 26 and 29 are Chaitya (Prayer Hall) having a Stupa. Paintings on the walls, illustrate the events in the life of Gautam Buddha and Jakata stories about his previous incarnation. The rest are basic “Viharas” (Guest House) with about five feet long stone made beds. In ancient times, monks used to go out to lecture & spread the gospels of Lord Buddha. These monks used to stay at these Viharas.
Plan a Trip to Ajanta:
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Cave Timings: 9.00 AM to 5.30 PM. Caves is closed on Monday (confirm before the visit). They should keep the caves open on holidays for the benefit of tourists but it is other way round.
Aurangabad is well connected by Rail from Mumbai, Air from Delhi and Mumbai and by Road one can go there from Nasik or Ahmednagar / Pune. If you are coming by train from north or east then get down at Jalgaon, a railway junction. It is about an hour by road from Jalgaon. From Aurangabad one can go to starting point for Ajanta by MTDC / ITDC or any conducted tours or by your own vehicle. From that point one has to go by those special buses of state transport (AC, Non-AC) mean for tourists – takes about 15 minutes to take you near the entrance of the gate. You have to buy tickets for the adults.
Try to reach there early. At that starting point there is huge parking lot and several small shops and a small open-air restaurant. One can take heavy breakfast there because it takes about 4 to 5 hours to see the caves. Do not forget to carry sufficient drinking water with you – you need it in that rocky hillock. There is a reasonably good restaurant at the entrance of the cave. This is a good place for lunch when comeback tired after exploring the caves. (I was desperate for a KF but had to skip because of an elderly relative in the group of five.)
Exploring the caves – Initial steps, may be 50 meters, are very steep and may be difficult to climb by some people especially the elderly persons. Palkis are available however some people are afraid to use it. Anyway, keep this in mind if there is a sick or elderly person in the group. I have seen some people going back. Do not forget to buy the tickets otherwise you have to comeback and climb those steps. After that Ticket checking point walking around the caves should not be a problem. From first to the last caves are in a line in a horseshoe pattern so need not search for the one. For photography, you need a powerful camera and powerful torch because flashlight is not allowed inside the caves.
Not an easy task still restoration work, by ASI, of this World Heritage Monument is in progress so you may miss some the caves. This work should have started long back. You will be shocked to see how tourists have damaged some of the paintings. Decaying due to aging is difficult to stop but intentional damaging is a crime that should not have taken place in a civilized country. Please follow the rules. In some caves you have to enter without shoes.
There are ample place where you can seat and relax – I liked that thin waterfall.
It took about 400 years to build these caves during Vakataka Dynasty and abandoned after 700 years. Do not want to write the history with my limited knowledge so will suggest using the link given at the end of the review.
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Ellora
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Ellora is about 25 km from Aurangabad. Ellora is also declared as World Heritage Monuments. Unlike Ajanta, Ellora represents three main religions of India - Buddhist, Hindu and Jain. The Ellora caves are in Chamadari hill stretched over more than a kilometer. Ellora was not discovered like Ajanta because people visited these places regularly.
Ellora, for the most part, was the work of Chalukya - Rashtrakuta rulers from 7th to 10th century A.D. Buddhist Caves, from 1 to 12, seems to be the oldest one, from 600 AD to 900 AD. Hindu caves are from 650-1000 AD - up to 21. Jainism influenced caves are there from 800 to 1200 AD. Well, once again there are too many “Viharas” for the monks.
Most significant cave is 16, where you need a ticket to enter - name of the cave is Kailasa. Ceiling of Hindus, Jains and Buddhist cave were covered with the wall painting like that of Ajanta – let us not make issue of it because I do not see any significant different between Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh religions – in-fact all religions depends on some superpower.
Landscape of Ellora is different than that of Ajanta. May be that is the reason for frequent visit of travelers and there was commercial importance. Ellora is short of the scenic beauty than that of Ajanta however that should not be the reason for not visiting Ellora. Please keep in mind our heritage and be grateful for the good work of our ancestors. It took about two hours to visit most of the caves. Like Ajanta, Ellora too worth a visit.
Plan a Trip to Ellora
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Cave timings: 9.00 AM to 5.30 PM. It is less than an hour journey from Aurangabad and takes about 2 hours to explore so you may start late. Plan should be like that of Ajanta. It is near to Aurangabad and not on a difficult terrain. Be prepared to walk a lot.
Crossed all limits and let me stop here however you may still continue to make a plan to visit these places.
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You may use the link to know more about Ajanta & Ellora – https://ajantaandellora.com/homepage.html
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