OUR TRIP TO AURANGABAD AND AJANTA-ELLORA: 'WHERE ART COMES TO LIFE'

Since I was a small child, I had always wanted to see Ajanta Ellora caves after I had read about it in my school books. So, on the month of May, 2017, my family and I decided to visit the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. 

After landing on Mumbai through a flight with Jetairways, we had to wait for our next flight to Aurangabad, for a few hours. Seeing, we had some time to spare, we decided to tour around the Mumbai airport, as it was huge and my little sister got really fascinated seeing the moving walkway for the first time. Besides those, we also saw a lot of beautiful sculptures and decorations all around the airport. After waiting for around 2-3 hours, we finally boarded our plane and reached Aurangabad airport in the Evening, and the first thing to do was to make arrangements for a vehicle to transport us from the Airport to our hotel in Aurangabad. Luckily, we had already booked a car before coming here through makemytrip.com and didn't have to wait or go through any complications to reach our hotel quickly.

WHERE WE STAYED

We had already booked us a hotel through OYO and so, it was easy for us to reach our hotel with the luggage and settle in as soon as possible. It was in Mill Corner Rd, Khadkeshwar and was in the town center. Also, our hotel had a private restaurant and, even though there was a lot of restaurants and dining places available all around us, we didn't have to go out of our hotel for any meals. 

The best thing about the hotel was the Maharashtrian Thali that had around 10 - 12 items all decorated around a huge plate. We had to share two thalis among the four of us as all of us are light eaters and it was very tasty. At the end, we could hardly finish the whole meal and had to sit there for 10 mins due to our overfilled stomach.

 VISITING AJANTA-ELLORA: 'WHERE ART COMES TO LIFE'

The Ajanta Caves and the Ellora Caves are situated on two different routes and it took us two separate days for us to visit both of them separately.

AJANTA

On the first day, we decided to visit Ajanta Caves and after travelling for 1 hour and 15 mins, we reached the entry gate of the Ajanta Caves. The first thing we had to do was buy the entry ticket for the four of us.  My father also bought two tickets for his digital and video camera. As for my little sister, her entry was free as she was below 15 years of age. We also arranged for a guide so that we could better understand the vast history of the Ajanta caves. 

The Ajanta caves had a total of 30 caves but we could see only about 10 - 12 caves as a majority of those caves were destroyed and are kept shut by the UNESCO. When we first saw the caves from distance, it was a beautiful sight, a string of caves, lined against each other on the walls of a single hill stretching along. The view was wonderful.

We went to the main caves numbered 1, 2, 16 and 17 and a few less significant ones along the way. The caves were filled with paintings and murals depicting ancient history, culture, wars and lifestyle of the kings and queens and of Lord Buddha, his previous births and his teachings and philosophies. Some of the pictures drawn were worn out and unreadable and some were partially viewable but the most famous among all these were two paintings, the Bodhisattva Padmapani (The painting of Lord Buddha's previous life as Bodhisattva holding a lotus in his hands), the painting of the King Janaka talking to his wife about leaving behind all the pleasures in his life and live a life of solitude and lead to salvation. Each of those paintings spoke a thousand words, like a movie in front of my eyes. I also remember seeing a painting of a buffalo whose eyes would follow you wherever you go and my travel guide said it was the first 3D picture drawn in those times. 

After somewhat finishing the Ajanta tour, we had a little snack break consisting Kitkat, some potato chips and some Pineapples that were being sold in front of the caves (my mom still says that they were the best pineapples she has had till now) and I unfortunately, had my packet of chips snatched away by a group of naughty, little monkeys. At least, they were cute!

ELLORA

The next day, it took us around 45 mins to reach Ellora Caves from our hotel. As with the Ajantas, we bought our entry tickets and camera tickets, and arranged for our guide. While, Ajanta Caves were filled with Paintings and Murals, the Elloras were filled with Sculptures of three different religion: Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. 

All the sculptures were Monolithic, i.e, cut from a single rock and had very elaborate and minute designs. We visited the Hindu Caves first, followed by the Jain and Buddhist Caves, where my little sister decided to take a nap on one of the rock beds. 

Each sculpture, just like the Ajantas depicted scenes from royal courts, local lifestyle and also had scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. They also had sculptures of different gods and goddesses and various tales regarding them. We also came across many Monasteries where Monks were offering prayers to Lord Buddha.

OTHER IMPORTANT PLACES

On the last day, after finishing the tour of Ajanta Ellora, we visited the Doulatabad Fort also known as the Devagiri Fort (the fort which no one could capture due to its impeccable defense system) and the Taj of the Deccan (duplicate of the famous Taj Mahal) and also went shopping at Gulmandi Bazaar where my mom bought a beautiful Paithani and a gorgeous Himru saree for herself and I bought a silk scarf. All the buildings in the bazaar were ancient and had a fascinating architecture.

 Ajanta-Ellora was one of the most unique experiences I ever had and even though we had toured almost all of Aurangabad, I feel it to be not enough and maybe in the future I would again come back to relive the past three days.

SOME TIPS FROM ME TO YOU

AFTER ARRIVING AT THE AIRPORT

After arriving at Aurangabad airport, the first thing to do is prepare for a means to reach the hotel. We saw a lot of taxis standing outside the airport, but if you want to cover a large distance in a cheaper fare, then the best option is booking online Rental car from Makemytrip or Goibibo. You can also use the same  for your whole touring in Aurangabad.

BOOKING HOTELS ONLINE IS BETTER THAN AFTER REACHING THE PLACE

Before internet was even available, we had to choose hotels to stay after we already reach the destination, making it very stressful as most of them would be full during peak time. Online bookings have made choosing hotels, very easy and cheaper. Also check out various online sites and compare the prices and facilities before booking. 

GOOD TIME TO VISIT IS NOT ALWAYS THE PEAK SEASON

The peak season generally starts from October and goes till March but we always avoid the peak season due to its crowds and increase in prices. We visited Aurangabad at May and though it was summer, we didn't feel much heat and also less crowd helped us get good shots.

ALL THE FEES

The Entry fee for both the caves Ajanta and Ellora are same. For the Indian tourists it's INR 40. For foreign tourists, the fee is INR 600. And for kids under the age of 15, the ticket is free. There was another fee for Digital Camera and Video Camera being INR 25 per camera.

HAVING A GUIDE WAS THE BEST DECISION WE MADE

Guides were available at the entrance gate of both the caves separately. For the four of us, it took around INR 700-800. There were also guide books being sold in many places for a much cheaper rate but taking a guide was the best decision we made as they provided us with more thorough knowledge about every little detail in the caves and as we wanted to know the full history of Ajanta-Ellora, we benefited a lot. So guides are a necessity if you want to know the history of the caves extensively. 

CAVE TIMINGS

The Ajanta caves are open everyday from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. except Mondays.

And Ellora Caves are open everyday from 8 in the morning to 5:30 in the evening except Tuesdays.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, DON'T FORGET TO ENJOY YOURSELVES!

HOW WAS YOUR TOUR OF THE AJANTA-ELLORA LIKE? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

by Swarnaa.