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Published: February 12th 2010
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Ajanta Caves
Overview of the Ajanta site Hey guys, I’m getting better at my frequency of blogging, two in two weeks, not bad.... So this week we went to Aurangabad to see the Ajanta and Ellora Caves, according to our Lonely Planet those are part of the highlights in Maharashtra, definitely not to miss, so we went to Aurangabad to see as archaeological treasures.
In Aurangabad we stayed at the MTDC hotel (5 minutes walking from the train station), you will find those hotel all across India since they are government owned. This one is particularly basic, don’t even count on a soap bar.... However the price is very interesting and since most of tourist are there only for a day or two, the time to see the caves, so who cares about the hotel? One huge advantage of this place is that this is the location of the main office to book tours for all the caves and places to see in the area, we got our tour for both, Ajanta and Ellora with a couple of extra sites on our way to Ellora for 580 Rupees each, including a guide and AC in the bus. Notes that each sites has extra charges, for example each caves
requires a 250 Rupees charge for foreigners and those fees are not includes in the package.
Let’s start with Ajanta, those caves are 100% buddhist and have been built in about 200 BC to AD 650. They were abandoned and completely forgotten to be discovered in 1819 by an English haunting party that were looking for tigers. Ajanta contains a total of 30 different caves with beautiful painting that represent mostly the lifestyle of the era when they have been conceived. Some of them are very well preserved due to the fact that they were inexistent to the rest of the world for almost 1000 years. I personally recommend the caves: 17, 19 and 26. In one of those you can see really awesome statue of sumo fighters that seems to support the entire roof (sumo fighters in 200BC?? Looks like it). One thing that you need to know is that picture with flash are strictly prohibited in the cave in order to protect the painting, which is perfectly understandable. So good pictures are hard to take, your camera quality becomes important.
After your visit of the caves you can go to the view point for a great panorama, get
The hills
They surrounds the entire site. ready if you choose that option, you will have to climb a lot of steps...
Now let’s go with the Ellora tour. That was the real deal as it did include many other sites that are definitely not to miss, we are talking about the Daulabat Fort, the Ghrishneshwar Temple, the Bibi-ka-Maqbara and finally Panchakki. Get ready for a big day and bring proper pair of shoes or good sandals.
The Daulabat fort is awesome, the best one I have seen so far in India. High of 200 meters and surrounded by 5 km of stone wall to ensure his protection, it provides you with a fantastic panorama of the area and contains a mosque that adds some value to your photos. Again be ready you have 750 steps to climb or you can go by the dark passage which is smoother for knees. Be careful for the many monkeys that come from nowhere when you don’t expect them...monkeys...
Now the big piece, Ellora, if you have to choose between Ellora and Ajanta, you must choose the Ellora ones. You will see the biggest monolithic temple in the world and it allows you see some Buddhist, Hindu and Jain architecture.
The cave number 16 is my favourite of them all, called Kalasa Temple, as I said before the biggest Temple made out of one single rock. Very impressive and very massive, the two elephants that seem to come out from the ground are really spectacular. I recommend the caves number 6, 10, 16 and 30 to 34.
The Ghrishneshwar Temple is very interesting; it is about an eternal source of water that will clean you from your sins... So you can go and do some fresh new sins... Pictures are not allowed inside the temple and the boys will need to remove their shirt/t-shirt to access the eternal water point. The experience is apparently worth the effort (I did not went to eternal water source, I watched from the door).
Bibi-ka-Maqbara or also called the mini Taj Mahal, is the exact replica of the real Taj Mahal in Agra but about half the size, if you have already seen the big one, this one is less impressive, but contains more carving in the wall and the interior is apparently better... I’m saying this since I haven’t seen the original one yet, I’m providing you those information based on a nice
Daulaba Fort
View from the top. British couple that had seen it at the beginning of their trip.
Finally the Panchakki, compare to the rest of the sights, this one is really disappointing. Consider like a super engineering revolution from when it has been built, you really need to appreciate water mills to be impressed by this one and since it is the last stop after a very busy sightseeing day, it’s kind of worthless.
For the end, the stop in Aurangabad is a must if you are in the Maharashtra region, only one night train away from Mumbai, do not miss the opportunity. My next stop will be Goa, so get ready for some action and some dream tropical beaches.
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Gilbert et Danielle
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WOW!
Très beau blog.Super avec les photos.T'es-tu inspiré des sites internet que je t'avais envoyé?? Papa a dit que tu as plus écrit dans ce blog que dans tout ton secondaire!!!Hi!!Hi!! Comme quoi que l'école de la vie ouvre bien des choses... Tiens,ça serait un projet pour une autre vie(je parle pour moi) de fonder une école nomade. On apprendrait le français en France,l'histoire en Grèce,la cuisine en Italie !!! Amuses toi bien et soyez prudent!!!