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Published: March 23rd 2006
With Ellora being only 45 minutes away from Aurangabad by bus, I decided to brave the public bus system again and was rewarded with a comfortable seat and a pleasant journey.
The caves at Ellora, which are apparently the most visited site in the state of Maharashtra, are all in a row along a 2km ridge. With the exception of the Kailash Temple, the caves are temples or living quarters carved out of the solid rock. They contain statues and friezes executed with great skill, and the earliest date from the 5th century AD. The first few are Buddhist, then (arguably the most impressive) Hindu, and finally Jain - though the Jain ones are somewhat further afield, and by the time I had reached the point where visiting them would be the next logical thing to do, I was completely out of energy and had to give them a miss.
By far the most impressive cave is the Kailash Temple, which really isn't a cave at all - it's more like the freestanding structures in Mamallapuram but to the nth degree. Though from the front the lack of perspective prevents you from seeing the depth of it, once you
have gone inside you can fully appreciate the enormous amount of workmanship that went into it. Apparently the best viewpoint is from above, but I didn't have the strength to clamber up the path that overlooks the temple. The structure represents Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, the abode of Shiva and his consort Parvati, and originally had a coat of white lime plaster to give the appearance of a snowy mountain.
I was hoping to prepare for a visit to the Jain caves with an energizing lunch in the air-conditioned comfort of a restaurant near the site entrance, but unfortunately a power cut put paid to that plan. It was so hot that I resorted to laying my (face) cheeks on the cold marble of the table in an attempt to cool down. I didn't fancy facing a bus ride home so I took an auto instead, which was blissfully cold with the breeze blasting in from all sides.
The rest of the day passed in a mad whirl of siesta, Internet, and mutton shish kebab.
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