Ajanta and Ellora Caves
Flew Jet Air to Aurangabad and checked into the Taj Residency. The caves at Ajanta are only a one-hour drive from Aurangabad.
These caves, dedicated solely to Buddhism, date from 200BC to 650AD and are cut from volcanic lava on a hillside. The Ajanta Caves are thought to have housed over 200 monks as well as numerous craftsmen and laborers. The caves are remarkable for the quality of their murals relating the life of Buddha. Some showing Buddha's previous births, and others, ordinary family life, the royal court and street scenes. ...View image... There are 30 caves in all but caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 are considered the most important. We visited those and others just as beautiful.
more Ajanta caves
The caves were spread out in horseshoe fashion, with lots of steps leading up and down between the caves. You can hire porters to carry you on a sedan chair between the caves, and a few porters followed us for ages, refusing to believe that "ex-Marine" had the ability to climb steps on his own.
Ajanta porters
The next morning, we visited the Buddhist, Jain and Hindu caves at Ellora. Dating between 600 and 1100AD, they are considered to be some of the finest in India. The caves lie along an ancient trading route and are thought to be the work of priests and pilgrims who traveled this way. Again, these caves were abandoned and forgotten for many years.
There are a total of 34 caves in Ellora: 12 Buddhist, created 600-800AD; 17 Hindu, 600-900AD; and five Jain, 800-1100AD.
The masterpiece is considered the Kailasnatha Temple, completely open to the elements, and the only building that was begun from the top. The design and execution of the full temple was an extraordinary achievement considering it was carved out of 85,000 cubic meters of rock! (My conversion chart shows over 3,000,000 cubic feet, if that's possible.)
Both sets of caves are definitely worth flying to see...
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