Aurangabad - In & Around

This is a continuation to my visit to Aurangabad. I saw Ajanata & Ellora Caves on Day 1 & 2.

Third day, we started our day with the local breakfast of missal pav. Everyone wanted to get their hands on authentic Maharastrian missal. There were three stage of spiciness – no spice, medium spice and most spicy missal. Post the breakfast, we headed to Panchakki (watermill). Water flows through pipes from a distance of 11 kms.  This generates energy and in turn automatically rotates the large grinding stone, thus working as a flour mill. This flour was used to provide food for 180-200 poor people every day.

I could spot a dargah, mosque and a small museum inside the Panchakki. Below one of the water pools, an accommodation had been made for travelers (which is today non functional) to rest in the cool environment.

Panchakki (Watermill), Aurangabad

Next on today’s agenda was Bibi Ka Maqbara, a replica of Taj Mahal, Agra. Shahjahan build Taj Mahal for his love – his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. This monument now symbolizes love to anyone. His son, Aurangzeb disliked his father’s love for luxury and opted for simple lifestyle. Aurangzeb son made a simple replica of his grandfather’s build monument Taj Mahal, in memory of his mother.

Bibi Ka Maqbara

Bibi Ka Maqbara - Taj Mahal look alike

Today, Bibi ka Maqbara is a simple replica of Taj Mahal and is known as the Taj of the Deccan. One can enjoy Bibi ka Maqbara only if it is not compared with the Taj Mahal. If compared, then you will find that it is a very poor replica of the former. The difference lies in details, richness and lavishness. One of the reasons being Bibi Ka Maqbara was constructed at a meager amount of Rs 7 lacs (of 17^th century) whereas Taj Mahal was constructed at Rs 320 Lakhs approx.

Then we headed for an hour drive to a nearby place around 50 kms away from Aurangabad called – Paithan. Piathan is known for the famous Paithani Sarees and we again stopped over at a weaving centre to see the machine weaving of Himroo weaves. Here the weaving center was fully operational and we were mesmerized by the detailing which goes into making a simple bed-sheet.

Paithani Weaves

Paithani - Colourful Threads

Then we went to the Jayakwadi Dam which is on the river Godavari. It has a large reservoir (Nathsagar) and we were able to spot a number of birds.

Jayakwadi Dam, Paithan

Bird Watching at Jayakwadi Dam, Paithan

Another place of attraction is Dnyaneshwar Watika in Paithan. It is a beautiful garden on the lines of Vrindavan garden in Mysore. In the evening the garden boasts about musical fountains.

We ended our day chewing paan from Tara Paan Bhandar, a famous stop for paan lovers in Aurangabad city.

Tara Paan Bhandar - The ultimate place for Paan Lovers 

On our last day we went to Daulatabad Fort which was earlier known as Deogiri Fort. As soon as we entered the Fort a ‘Minar’ catches the eye. I have been to a couple of Forts in Maharashtra, but I have never seen a tower in any of them and that too an orangish tower. Another thing that comes to my mind when I enter this fort is that unlike other forts which are normally on a hill this fort starts from the ground level itself and then ends as a hill fort.

The main gate of the fort has huge iron nails on it. They were put to hurt the elephants of the enemy if they try to barge in. We were greeted by cannons as soon as we enter the main gate of the fort. The fort had cannons which were mounted on wheels which would have been used in wars. Some cannons were beautifully crafted. Watching the cannons, I wondered how many wars the cannons have seen, how much blood have these cannons witnessed.

Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad

The walls of the fort were damaged but it was nice to see that there was no graffiti on the walls. We headed to the Chand Minar. We could spot this minar from the road itself. The minar is painted dark orange and entry inside the minar is not allowed. We then moved to see the Bharatmata Temple. The temple has a huge ground infront of it with pillars in the side. Each of the pillars had intricate carvings.

It had become very hot now and most of us decided to head back. Two people amongst us decided to ascend up.  As they climbed up they smelt a damp and peculiar smell which they later came to know was because of the bats hanging on the dark corners of the fort. They decided to descend due to the unbearable damp smell of the bats.

Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad

After seeing the Daulatabad Fort, we still had time and decided to visit a small hill spot closeby, known as Mhaismal. We had our lunch at Mhaismal and pleased with the content of natural beauty. Post our lunch we headed to Uttam Mithai Bhandaar at Machli Khadak to enjoy its very famous and delicious imartis.

After the finger licking imartis we still had time for our train and therefore went to a Garden Zoo which was situated at the heart of the city. This small zoo was a good source of entertainment for the youngsters. The zoo has animals like rabbit, jackal, deer, monkey, bear, emu, alligator, tiger, white tiger, leopard, elephant, birds etc. It has a separate park for snakes and houses python, rat snake, Russell viper etc. There is a small aquarium in the garden too.

Aurangabad Zoo, - Elephants, Leopard, Tiger, White Tiger

We then headed back to our hotel, picked up our luggage and went to the station. We had all confirmed tickets in Nandigram Express. The train was late by an hour. We had packed our dinner (burger, sandwich, fried rice and thumps up) and had it on the stairs of the station. Once we boarded the train, we all were dead tired and slept off in no time.

Accommodation:

We were in Aurangabad for four days and three nights and stayed at Hotel Raviraj which is around 1.5 kms from the railway station. The hotel follows anytime check in which is a boon as our train reached Aurangabad at 4:00 am.

The rooms of the hotel were spacious and comfortable. The room had amenities like hot water kettle, tea, coffee, hair dryer, TATA Sky cable connection other than the usual TV and AC.

The hotel also offered play area for children and adults.

The food of the hotel is nice, though the service of the restaurant is very slow. It is advisable to order via room service as the food is served faster in the room than in the restaurant.

Also, during check in the receptionist asked for an ID proof which has an address on it. So pan card is not accepted. Please carry your adhaar card or driving license if staying in this hotel.

I had booked this hotel one month in advance and they had confirmed my booking without taking any advance.

Points to remember:

• Ajanta Caves is located around 100 kms from Aurangabad. Ajanta Caves are closed on Monday and the timing of the caves are 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. Entry ticket for Indians is Rs. 10 each and foreigners is Rs. 250 each.
• Ellora Caves is located around 60 kms from Aurangabad. The Caves are closed on Tuesday and the timing of the caves is 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. Entry ticket for Indians is Rs. 10 each and foreigner’s is Rs. 250 each.
• Ajanta and Ellora both caves remain open on all National Holidays.
• If you are short of time then you can visit the main caves – Cave no 16, Kailash (It’s a must. Don’t miss it at all), Cave No. 32 (Jain Cave), Cave No. 10 (Buddhist Cave).
• If you get a chance then climb up the hills near Cave No 16 (Kailash) and take in the aerial view of Kailash. It’s definitely worth the climb. However, the route has been officially cordoned off by the authorities as somewhat ‘unsafe’.
• It is recommended to visit Ellora caves and Grishneshwar Temple together as they are just 1 kms apart from each other.
• Keep one day each for Ajanta caves and Ellora caves as the caves can take a lot of time. It also involves a lot of walking and climbing stairs. You can get exhausted after a visit to the caves.

Btw, this is our group pic:

Standing - Kiran, Satish, Nikhil, Pramod. Sitting - Nupur, Suni, Nikki, Mani & Shree

Ajanta & Ellora - Caves Expedition

It was in the middle of November 2015 that I realized that there is a long weekend coming up in January 2016 (Saturday – Sunday – Monday take leave – Tuesday, 26 Jan, Republic Day). The next step was to think of a place to go. I whatsapped my friends and asked their idea for a four day weekend trip to Aurangabad, and OMG everyone said yes!!!

I just couldn’t believe this so before anyone gives it a second thought I had booked the train tickets. We decided to go by Devagiri Express which starts from CST at 21:10 and reaches Aurangabad the next morning at 04:10. It was waitlisted 7 onwards. All of us assumed that there is still lot of time for the journey date and the ticket will get confirmed.

Our return journey was booked on Nandigram Express which starts from Nagpur, reaches Aurangabad at 21:35 and reaches CST the next morning at 5:30 am.

We had to leave for Aurangabad on 22 January night but by 21^st January our train tickets were still waitlisted. So we divided our group into two – 3 people (Satish, Suneela, Shree (3 year old kid) and Nikhil) booked an AC sleeper Bus boarding at Dadar at 22:00 and reaching Aurangabad at 7:00 am the next morning. The bus is a good option as it is comfortable and there are lot more choices available among bus operators.

Rest of us (Kiran, Mani, Pramod, Nikita and me) were supposed to travel by train, hoping and praying for our train tickets to get confirmed. Out of the five berths four got confirmed around 10:30 am on the journey date and the fifth got confirmed in the evening when the chart got confirmed. Wheee!!! What a relief.

We all took our modes of transportation and headed for Aurangabad on 22 Jan late evening. Nikita had packed sandwiches and parathas for us which we had in the train while the bus group had their dinner at Pritam Dhaba in Dadar east.

Aurangabad Station at 04:32 am

Our train was on time, and we reached Aurangabad around 4:00 in the morning. It was cold and a little foggy. We had booked a cab for our four day travel in and around Aurangabad and our cab driver, Atul had come to the station to pick us up and drop us at our hotel. We had already booked Hotel Raviraj for our stay in Aurangabad, the best part of the hotel being 24 hours check in.

Our hotel was around 1.5 kms away from the station and in no time we had checked in. Once in the room we didn’t sleep; rather we all had a warm cup of tea and were busy watching TV and chit chatting. We all started getting ready for the day and by 8:00 am the bus gang had also joined us. Now all of us were excited to take a tour of Ajanta Caves. After a very lengthy breakfast (2 hours), we headed for Ajanta Caves.

Paintings at Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad

Aurangabad, is largely known for Ajanta and Ellora caves. Both the caves are outside the Aurangabad city – Ajanta being around 2.5 hours drive and Ellora – an hour drive from the city.

Once dropped at the entrance of Ajanta, you have to walk through the small souvenirs shops (kinda like a flea market) to catch a bus which will take you to Ajanta Caves. The bus ride is of 4 kms and it drops us at the main ticket counter. A walk of about 10 mins and we were in front of Cave No. 1.

There are only a handful of caves worth seeing in Ajanta – Caves 1 & 2 have remnants of beautiful paintings done on the walls & ceiling. The paintings are in poor shape and the caves are faintly lit. It is recommended to carry a torch with you in order to appreciate the intricate paintings and sculptures. Also, flash photography is prohibited.

Ajanta Caves

The best of all is Cave no. 26 which showcases the Buddha in a sleeping posture (depicting the posture in which he left the world). Ajanta caves largely reflect glimpses of Buddhism. The caves majorly revolve around the life of Buddha – his birth, his enlightenment and his nirvana.

Sleeping Buddha - Cave 26, Ajanta Caves

Sculptures at Ajanta Caves

If you do not have the time or the energy to see all the caves then you can see Cave no 1, 2, 10, 16, 17, 19 and 26 and ignore the rest.

While I was walking back, I wondered what made the Buddhist monks abandon Ajanta. Some caves were half finished, some barely started. What happened at that time that they just disappeared? Was there a war? Were they forced out?

The next day we decided to start our day with Shiva’s blessing – Grishneshwar Temple. Grishneshwar Temple is the last jyotilinga – 12 holy and sacred abode of Lord Shiva and is about one km away from Ellora Caves. The road from the parking lot leading to the temple is lined with small shops selling pooja articles etc.

Mobile phones and cameras are not allowed inside the temple premises so I cannot show you pictures of the temple other than the top structure of the temple which we took from far. There was a queue to enter the temple which was moving at a good pace. The temple has a big complex which is clean and well maintained. Since Nikita had a plaster in her foot, she got an immediate entry in the temple (I escorted her inside ;)), while the rest of us followed the queue.

Grishneshwar Temple - 12th Jyotilinga

One strange thing about the temple is that men have to take off all clothes from their upper torso (that is their shirt/t-shirt and innerwear) before entering the temple. No idea why.

Once out of the temple, there will be loads of small kids begging for money saying that they have to buy notebook. Please be very careful, because if you give money to one kid, the other kids will hound you and will drive you mad.

Our next stop of the day was the much talked about - Ellora Caves. Ellora Caves is a UNESCO World Heritage site and consists of 34 caves – Buddhist, Hindu and Jain.

The first cave that we saw in Ellora was Cave no 16, known as Kailash Temple (the home of Lord Shiva). I was thunderstruck with this cave, completely unprepared for its magnitude, intricacy of its carvings and its architecture. This was the most beautiful structure I have seen till now.

I am at a loss of words to describe the magnificence of Kailash. This cave was carved out of a rock and took around 200 years (10 generations) to be made. The vision of the sculptors was such that they carved the cave starting from the roof and worked their way downwards. There are sculptures depicting stories from the great Hindu epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. There is a huge Shivling on the first storey of Kailash Cave.

Kailash, Cave 16, Ellora Caves

After this, we took a bus and went to the Cave no 32, 33 and 34 which are the Jain Caves. Cave 32 is a double storey cave and has some beautiful carvings of Lord Mahavira. It is tough to appreciate any carvings after seeing the Kailash though. There is a large size elephant standing on the right side of the entrance of the cave. The first storey of this cave is like an assembly hall and has some really detailed and exquisite carvings.

We tried chanting “OM” in these caves and what we heard and what we felt gave us goose bums. The chants had an echoing sound within the stone walls. I could only imagine the spiritual experience the people chanting in these caves would have felt.

Cave 32 - Ellora Caves

Jain Caves - Cave 32 at Ellora Caves

Our last stop at Ellora was Cave no 10, which had a magnanimous Buddha statue (sitting cross legged posture). The watchman of the cave told us that the ribbed ceiling represents the rib cage of the human body and the stupa represents the mind. In olden times, travelers & monks used to come to this cave to rest & meditate. The first storey of the cave had a provision for seating musicians who would play relaxing & soothing music in the background.

Cave 10, Ellora Caves

The next thing that I wanted to do was climb the hill near the Kailash cave and have a look at Kailash from the top. The way to the top of the hill is barricaded but I still went through and found myself spell bound when I saw the view from the top. The aerial view of Kailash is as beautiful as the cave itself.

Aerial View of Kailash, Cave 16, Ellora Caves

It may take a full day to see all the caves and the sun can be quite harsh. But you can feel the cool as soon you enter any cave. The caves are beautiful and leave you speechless. No words can do justice to them. They are beyond the limits of words and imagination. If the caves at Ajanta were all about paintings and murals, the caves at Ellora were all about sculptures.

These caves makes you think how people in that era can make just beautiful sculptures with just chisel and hammer at their disposal, when there was no electricity, when there was no mode of transportation. It made me wonder how they managed to carve so much out of such hard rock with almost nothing at their disposal. Clearly, they were much advanced then what we are now.     

Next, we stopped over a temple called Bhadra Maruti Temple, Khuldabad. As the name suggests it is a Hanuman Temple (the most ardent devotee of Lord Rama) where the Lord is in sleeping position. It was not crowded at all and therefore we had a very good darshan with no one pushing from behind.

Bhadra Maruti Temple, Khuldabad

Our last stop for the day was at a Paithani Saree shop where we first went to the weaving area. As it was Sunday and way past 6:00 pm, the weaving section was closed for the day. We could just see the machinery used to make the very famous Paithani Sarees and Himroo weaves. One of the members of the shop was kind enough to show us the weaving center and explain the process. We then went to the shop for some shopping but came out empty handed (as we didn’t like anything much). The price for Paithani Sarees starts from Rs. 6,000 and can go upto Rs. 3 Lacs. Himroo Sarees in this shop started from Rs. 1,750.

Paithani - Hand Weaving

I will write about my Day 3 & 4 in my next blog where I saw Daulatabad Fort and a Hill station called Mhaismal