July 31, 2009
The best trips happen with either little or extensive planning. This time around, with a visiting friend at home, I got a sudden urge to convert the idea of eventually visiting the world famous Ajanta and Ellora caves into reality. Within a few hours, I had my regular taxi, a few printouts from the web and two friends ready to head out for a roadtrip.
A work-related conference call forced us to leave home around 9.30 in the night, delaying our start by almost two hours. We screamed through NH9 hoping to reach Sholapur area at a decent time to steal a shut-eye on a bed. Google had plotted some stars on the map near Osmanabad; and we were planning to take the shortcut about 45km before Sholapur. The one hotel that looked decent gave us the creeps; it was like walking through a bhooth-bungalow. We had a decision to make at 2am; sleep in some random place or continue. A loaded choice, of course. And, we continued on with one of my friends taking the wheels giving the driver some much needed rest.
We arrived at Aurangabad a little before 8am and checked in at Hotel Athithi; the back side rooms by the pool were pretty decent for the price. As an aside, Lemon Tree Hotel, down on the same road seems like a much better place probably at a higher price. By the way, wikitravels has excellent information. Anyway, after a quick shower and a mini-breakfast at one of those sheltered pune-style road-side eateries at Nirala Bazaar, and a brief stop to admire the Daulatabad fort, around 11am we reached the nearby Ellora which hosts 34 caves carved between 350 A.D and 700 A.D.
Armed with an English-speaking guide, which I think is a must, we spent the first part of the morning at Kailash, Cave 16. Unbelievable architectural feat. The carved miniature Ramayana, Mahabharata and the little Ravana lifting Kailash in my opinion are the best. We checked out the two-storey temple from the sides, the insides and also did the complete hike on the hill around the temple. Gorgeous views of this gigantic structure from every angle. And silent mutilated sculptures everywhere to make you pause and reflect on the human race.
The MSTC Canteen was pretty decent. We relished the piping hot food and headed over to the other caves. Every one of them has interesting stories, documenting the mythology of three religions in elegant ways. We managed to see most of the caves that housed the sculptures with the help of our knowledgeable guide.
At the end of the day we made a visit to the nearby Ghrishneshwar temple (a Jyotirlinga), one stop outside the Daulatabad fort to catch another glimpse of the impressive fort, a leisurely walk through Bibi Ka Maqbara (Taj Mahal look-alike), grabbed dineer at nice veg place on Jalna road and settled for the night.
Next morning we headed to Ajanta about 100km away. Very beautiful unspoiled country along the way. The road is not bad either. An hour later we boarded the bus for a short drive to the Ajanta caves. Forgotten for the last thousand years, the caves hold 2200 year old paintings destroyed equally by nature and man. The tourism department is doing a commendable job of restoring and preserving this place, although some of their rules seem bizarre - like not allowing tripods! How is one supposed to get long exposures in semi-darkness? I heard someone say that soon (couple of years?) the tourism department will restrict access to the Ajanta caves and redirect traffic to a replica site they are building. If you want to see the real deal, plan soon.
Honestly, I could not enjoy Ajanta as much as Ellora. The paintings are exquisite, the place is serene, the temple structures are fantastic - but I was overwhelmed by the destruction by man. Also, the guide was annoying; pure businessman trying to finish the tour in less than an hour at his pace. May be that contributed to my frustration as well. After learning how to steady my body to take 0.5 to 1.5 second exposures at funky angles (some of which were ok), I spent most of my time in cave number 1 housing the Jataka tales.
At 2pm, we were ready to head home because we could not figure out a way to explore Daulatabad fort in the remaining daylight hours. We thought we will take a short cut by skipping the NH; bad idea. Eventually after losing an hour we got back onto NH 212 just before Beed. Our driver was possessed suddenly; he wanted us to visit the powerful Tulja Bhavani, the goddess who blessed Shivaji with his sword. At 9.35pm we arrived at the temple, and ran downhill to the temple and got to see the last pooja just as the temple was closing.
We reached home around 1am after a few tea breaks and braving the Indian night road with the help of an experienced driver. I am glad I was able to see these exotic places, which were off my priority list. Probably would not have happened but for the inspiration from someone who recently visited these. And some good luck on the timing. Hope you get to see them as well.
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