Awesome Ajanta - Ellora (Part I)

Ajanta – Ellora was in our (Barrel & mine) tour itinerary for about a year or so. But some reason or the other kept us from going there. So, on 18th when Barrel suddenly sprung the idea we decided immediately that we were going there next Saturday. So, we started researching on the trip. Aradhana helped a lot in this and on her suggestion we got the 500Rs, ‘Like where you travel’, pass. This pass enables one to travel all around Maharashtra for 4 days without the need of any ticket!!!
We left Pune on 24th night at about 10:30 PM for Aurangabad. This was my first overnight ride in a state transport bus and surprisingly it was comfortable. We reached Aurangabad at about 3:30 in the morning. We waited for about an hour and a half and took our lodgings at Sai Palace. It was quite a costly place for the level of accommodation it provided. We left by 7 for Ellora. We were to take the bus to Kannad which goes via Ellora. The first bus was full even before it reached the allotted platform. It seemed next to impossible to board the next bus either as it was the only platform which was flooding with people. We were lucky to board the next bus and then we came to know about the reason for the crowd, a puja in Bhadra-Maruti temple near Ellora.
By 8:30, we were at the magnificent Ellora Caves (Verul Leni to the locals). The very view of Kailasha which is the first one to come in your view as you enter, takes the breath out of you. The magnanimity just awes you. We took an auto-rickshaw to see the caves from cave 17 to cave 34. These caves are spread over an area of 4 Kms and are difficult to cover by foot. We started with cave 29 (Sita Ki Nahani). When we entered the cave, we were spellbound and speechless for almost 5 minutes. These sculptures done in medieval India is just unbelievable and unexplainable. You can only feel if you stand in front of one. Even a photograph doesn’t give you the correct picture. A 2-D picture is just unable to hold these 3-D magnum opuses in them. I would try to give an insight but it is advisable to go there and visit in person.
The rocks are cut to perfection and figures of enormous sizes have been carved out of them. Even time and negligence has not been able to erase the beauty out of them. You stand there and lo you are beheld by the beauty. We are not connoisseurs but it was difficult for us to move from one sculpture to the other. It seemed that these rock-cut figures were pulling through an unseen strong force which made us glued to them.
The Jain caves are only two in number with 32 and 33 being the important ones. Incidentally both are double storey caves. Even though the numbers are less but the work done is no doubt as magnificent in the 18 Hindu and the 12 Buddhist caves. The caves are all dedicated to Mahavira. Traces of colour painting are also present in the caves. Among all caves these are newer and were built in around 11th century AD. Elephant is the most common animal in all the 34 caves. But the one in front of cave 32 (Indra Sabha) is enormous. It’s almost 15-16 feet in height (maybe even taller) and is the best preserved of all. After these caves, we went to the remaining Hindu caves and saw them quite quickly as most of them were empty.
And then we entered the largest monolithic excavation the world, KAILASHA. It’s hard to believe that the entire structure was built out of one single rock. If you come to Ellora and just see Kailasha, it’s as if you have seen the whole Ellora. Massive structures have been built around the whole temple complex dedicated to Lord Shiva. There are small caves and one of them has stairs leading to it which have never seen light ever in their lives. Various episodes from Mahabharata, Ramayana and Krishna’s life adorn the walls in the caves as well as the temple. To see it properly one needs to have around 2-3 hours in hand. We tried to absorb the beauty as much as we could. After about 2 hours we came out tired but exhilarated and mystified by the stupendous and magnificent beauty.
We were tired and took almost half an hour to recover. We again set into pursuit towards the Buddhist caves. They comprise of monasteries and chaityagrihas. Almost every cave had a shrine for Buddha. The worth mentioning are cave 5 (Maharvada) which is an enormously big monastery and cave 12 (Teen Tal). Teen Tal is a three storey cave full of carvings from Buddha’s life and has him in different mudras. We certainly couldn’t enjoy them in the same manner as before because of our extreme tiredness. This is one regret, I will carry from the tour.
After Ellora, we had lunch and I went to Ghushmeshwar, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. I went to pay my homage there. When I asked the purohit to do the puja, to my utmost shock, he instructed me to get rid of my shirt and vest before entering the garbhagriha. I obeyed him and the puja was done in matter of seconds. After it we went to Shahenshah Aurangzeb’s Tomb in Khultabad, some 3 Kms from Ellora. I was amazed to find that the dictator had a sense of evil and had instructed to make his tomb only from money earned from honest means. The only honest job he had done was writing the Holy Quran. Money from this proceeding was used in making his tomb. The tomb is a simple earth tomb which even doesn’t have a roof. What an ironical man Alamgir was!!!
From here we went to the Daulatabad fort also known as Devgiri. Three layers of walls guard the actual fort which is on the hill. The fort has Bhool-Bhulaiyas and dark dungeons and is said to be one of the most invincible fort of its time. Unfortunately, we were too tired to go up the hill and just had a look around in the foot of the hill only.
We reached back Aurangabad, had a light snack and hit the sack. Barrel dozed of immediately. I for that matter watched TV up to 10 and slept like something. It was going to be a peaceful sweet sleep initiated by the day’s tiredness but laced with the enticing things that I had seen the whole day. We were to leave for Ajanta in the morning and hence we had to get up early.
It’s time now to stop this tour report now.
About Ajanta ???
Well in the next post !!!!