Leaving Aurangabad today (the day I write this), I can confidently say this trip to a random outpost to see two cave sites is absolutely worth the trek into the middle part of Maharashtra. Granted, a "random outpost" in India terms is still a city of 1.2mm people, but I didn't do much in the actual city of Aurangabad other than go with my hired driver out of the city to visit the caves, or go to a restaurant in the city (twice!). Some of that is the pleasantness of the hotel however.
I stayed at the Welcomhotel by ITC, a high-end Indian chain. The Welcomhotel brand however is their more far afield brand name so while it was perfectly fancy enough, it didn't come with the super luxury (and price tag) of a proper ITC hotels (e.g. the ITC Gardenia in Bangalore). It did however have a nice buffet restaurant that hit the spot arriving at 9:30pm on Sunday night, including a really lovely biryani. It also had a bar that closed at midnight, where I could sip scotch with working wifi and not worry about things like stag entry fees and the like. Anyway, the hotel, including its large king size bed, hit the spot perfectly.
Anyway, let's get to the damn caves. I planned to do the further afield Ajanta caves on Monday (they sit about 110 km away from Aurangabad), and the closer Ellora caves (30 km) on Tuesday, as Tuesday afternoon (4:30pm) I fly out to Lucknow. Of course, I missed one crucial factor, that the Ajanta caves are closed each week on Monday's, and the Ellora caves are closed on Tuesdays. I do a lot of planning for these trips. Granted, less on this trip than others, but I'm disappointed in myself for not picking up on this.
So, both were still doable, but then it made for what won't take a full day for when I have a full day (we compromised by starting at 9:30am), and rushing Ajanta by starting at 7am (the earliest possible, really, since the caves only open at 9am). In the end there was no issue with this, and I enjoyed the relaxed pace of Monday anyway.
I think also this was the right order to see them. Ajanta is a journey - about two hours to get there - but probably the greater marvel, the more enthralling site. I generally like to save the best for last, so in that sense this last minute switcheroo of order, of which I only leanred when my driver explained all this to me when picking me up from the airport, worked out fairly well.
The first site I actually saw was the Mini Taj, which was quite serene, a bit elevated into green lush surrounding Aurangabad. That said, it was very much mini. Not sure if it is the way it was built or just general upkeep deficiencies, but it was nowhere near as glistening white as my mental image of the Taj from my trip in 2001 compares. The place is quite ornate still however, and worth a stop on the way to Ellora, specifically since it isn't really out of the way.
Ellora itself are called caves but the reason we all go there is the giant Kailash Temple which isn't a cave, in the sense there is no roof. However it was a mountain. Both caves are monolithic temples in that they were basically chiseled and then carved out of mountainface. This is almost impossible to comprehend when it comes to the Kailash temple in Ellora. The temple looks like it could sit in any city in teh country and be an attraction by itself - so graet is the carving, the sculptures, the intricacy. We have things like a wall on the outside of the main part of the temple showing all images from the great books of Hinduism. There are four or five different buildings that make up the Kailash Temple, and again all of these were about 1600 years ago part of a mountain. It si truly incomprehensible how they did this.
There are technically about 20 other caves within the Ellora complex, half hindu, half buddhist. The rest are more like what we think to be caves in that they are actually within the remaining mountainface, with roofs and whatnot, the best of which being a buddhist cave that would really serve as an amouse bouche for what was to come the next day in Ajanta (a fully buddhist monument). Ellora really is the Kailash Temple, but that in itself is probably worth it for how astounding it is.
Ajanta is quite different. First off, they are all caves. Second off, they are all buddhist. Third off, they are either quite a bit older (7th Century for Ellora, vs either 5th and 6th Century or 300-200 BC for Ajanta), and fourth they are way more uncovered. The story goes that a British soldier was tracking a tiger thruogh the jungles of Maharashtra when the tiger took a hideout in one of the caves that were at teh time unmanned for 1200 years, full of growth and muk and whatnot, and this Briton "discovered" them. Of course, the locals were well aware of these thought to be decrepit old relics of a bygone time, but it was still a great discovery, seemingly for the world.
Ajanta has 26 caves, about half of which are important and stable enough to enter. About a third of them are from the first incarnation of Buddhism, from around 200 BC. These are more solemn caves, with vaulted ceilings, and with large Stupas in the middle (basically giant urns). The rest are more "modern" in that they're from 450-600 AD, and have more intricate paintings with all the caves having a buddha in the center. The whole thing is a bit overwhelming.
I've often talked about Machu Picchu, and the weird take my family (mostly my Mom) has that it is super unimpressive given it was built largely in the 1400-1500s or so. She often went straight to the temples in India that are way older and more intricate as an example of why. Well, Ajanta is her greatest asset in that fight. This is also in the hills, the mountains, the jungles. Maybe not 8,000 feet up like Macchu Pichu, but they are deep in the jungle. And they required amazing amount of ingenuity for their day.
The caves have intricate painting work, quite good sculpture work (for their time) and incredible lasting ability - at least assuming the guide wasn't lying about how little of it was restored over the years. It is just an incredible place with such amazing history. It is hot as hell - humidity was about 95% - to the point that I saw Indians sweat (which is rare), but so well worth the drive, the heat, the trek, all of it. Ajanta is truly a special place.
Aurangabad is really as well because it is the entry point for Ajanta and Ellora. It isn't a major city (though has an airport - the one requirement for all the stops on my trip). It had some interesting road, was friendly enough, and the Great Sagar Restaurant had some nice curries and kebabs (honestly, a very nice spot). I hope more people come there, and it returns to the level of tourism it had in the pre-COVID days (the biggest issue is it got a lot of buddhist pilgrims - people who are from countries who have been slowest to open themselves back up). IN the end, I really thank my Mom for pushing Ajanta and Ellora endlessly on me - it worked, and it was worth it.
