Blogs from Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India, Asia
IMAG0261
My visit to Ajanta Caves came about after having picked up an old had-it Lonely Planet from a hostel in Varanasi. Having come to realise that I wouldn't be able to wing it around India by myself, or better put that I would have a lot better time If I did some planning, I had succumbed to getting a hold of a Lonely Planet on India. With a 11 week time limit and a realisation that I probably wouldn't be back in India again, I decided I needed to orientate myself and get some idea of what India had to offer, in order to best use my time. It was a good decision, as India is one place that I have been where I really needed the aid of a guide book. So yeah, it basically ... read more
Ajanta caves
There are no words to describe the last week of my life. I have never been in such an exciting, beautiful, enthralling place. Soul crushing poverty, dirt, smells, tastes, miles of slums interspersed with high rise apartment buildings, toothless rickshaw drivers sharing the road with sports cars, naked children defecating in front of a well lit modern bank, and everywhere the sights and sounds and smells of a city and people that are simultaneously undergoing rejuvenation and decline. Everwhere are women dressed in the darkest purples and blues and reds, with babies propped on small round hips. Open spaces are covered with people dressed in rags and blankets among a zoo of dogs, rats, sheep, cows, and of course, people. Sometimes I feel like I have awoken to the post-apocalypse. The poverty is staggering, and as ... read more
Entrance to Ajanta Caves
First, a few observations: 1) In India there is no coffee, at least not what we in America would consider coffee. You can order black coffee, but it comes in a dixie cup, and a small one at that - if you order a pot of coffee it comes in what might be considered a normal size coffee cup in America. This has posed a problem. 2) So we drink Chai tea, which also comes in a dixie cup unfortunately, but it is sold nearly everywhere and it is very cheap. This isn't American Chai - I'm not sure what it is, but holy smokes is it delicious. 3) One of the more interesting and hardest things in India to become used to is the hand holding of men: in other words, it is very, very ... read more
Cave temple dug into the rock
Buddhist Caves - Awesome Just when i thought we'd seen it all, along come the Ajanta Caves............. Set along side a horseshoe bend in the river (dry when we were there), they we were similar in style and age to Ellora, except they lay undiscovered for several hundred years, and were adorned with the most beautiful paintings you could imagine. It was only rediscovered in 1812 by a British hunting party. We climbed to a lookout point high on the opposite bank, which gave wonderful panoramic views of the whole site. Once inside we were met with enormous temples, designed with columns, walls, ceilings and massive statues of Buddha all decorated with intricate, stylish paintings and colorful religious scenes. Deer, and trees, and gods 'picnicking' were common themes, as well as cartoon gargoyles and geometric patterns. ... read more
Sitting around 7 hours fro mumbai are the Ajanta and Ellora caves, two world heritage sites known for their outstanding beauty. Having met a new travelling companion, Henning, in hampi, then gokarna, then mumbai we decided to head to them together stopping in Aurangabad along the way. Henning has travelled all over asia in the past year, and is being paid to do it on a sabbatical from work (lucky, lucky man!). He's given me a few tips ads south korea, japan and taiwan are definately now on my agenda if possible! Ellora caves came first. For this trip we were joined by Steven, a cheery american, who we met in the cheap and cheerful youth hostel in Aurangabad. The caves at Ellora are rock carved caves into the Deccan hillsides and are more recent then ... read more
cave 2, ajanta caves
i knew i had crossed into the southern* half of india when my body struggled to acclimatise itself back to the all-too-familiar-but-much-dreaded tropical heat and woes betide all curly-haired people, when hair products are a must-have to combat the southern humidity. * for simplicity's sake, i am going to assume that maharashtra is part of south india, even though i am well aware that it is a debatable point, which in my opinion, is an exercise in futility. anyway, geographically speaking, it is in the south, and based on brief impressions, maharashtra is a whole different world from north india. if one considers it part of north india, that is. but the good news is, it is spick-and-span in maharashtra. imagine my surprise when i stepped off the train at jalgaon. there were no litter, no ... read more
1.Debu and I getting ready for the amazing caves of Ajunta.
Ajunta Caves, Khuldabad, Daultabad fort and Ellora caves. Trains, trains and more trains. When I travel alone I always play it safe and travel what we would call first class, but Pete and Debu like to go native! Interesting for me. The hawkers that come on at each stop are amazing. You can buy all sorts of food and drinks, books and magazines, newspapers, cigarettes, chains and locks for your suitcase, children’s toys, handkerchiefs, shoes, key rings and more. Then there are the maimed beggars who crawl on and beg and little boys who scurry around the floor sweeping a patch of floor with their shirts for a few coins. It was a real eye opener and something I didn’t see in first class. I guess they are not allowed into those carriages. I shall give ... read more
Ajanta
Ajanta Rindi arrived on 4th October and we left on 5th October to Aurangabad, Maharastra. This was the first stop on our trip. We were delayed (about 80% of all flights on our trip were delayed) and we missed our connection to Aurangabad. We had to spend one night in Mumbai at Hotel Airport International. I ordered American Chop Suey here which was the worst decision I made regarding food during the entire trip. Rindi made the comment that I should not order anything in the future that is twice removed from it's origin. She is wise! Even though we were in the airport for a short duration, we saw some Bollywood stars (no big names though). We got on an early flight from Mumbai to Aurangabad and headed to Ajanta caves soon after. Our guide, ... read more
Buda y pinturas
Antes de llegar a Pune pase por las cuevas de Ajanta (siglo II AC a XI DC, religion budista) y Ellora (siglos V a X, religiones budista, hindu y jain). Los templos son impresionantes y algunas partes tienen pinturas muy bien conservadas. Me gusto mas Ajanta porque esta en un entorno mas choro (como medio escondido) y porque cuando fui habia menos gente. Tambien influye mucho q fueron las primeras q visite, entonces todo era mas impresionante. En todo caso, las fotos hablan por si solas...... read more
Ajanta caves
Getting to the world heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora caves involved a number of bus and train journeys but Tracy and I were mildly surprised at how well it all came together. Great planing by me! Ajanta caves were carved from a horse-shoe shaped gorge around 200 BC to 650 AD and are covered in beautiful paintings depicted tales of gods and kings. Whist the area was busy everytime we entered a cave a large tour group left and we were able enjoy the atmospheric lighting in peace. The next day we went to Ellora caves which did not have the wall paints associated with Ajanta but were much more sculpturally impressive. Huge multi-storied temples had been dug out of the solid rock cliff-face, all covered in intricately carved tableaus. Both sites were truly impressive. ... read more
