April 7: Aurangabad - Caves of Ellora Plus

I depart Varanasi at 2:30 PM on April 5 and fly through Delhi to Aurangabad arriving at 7:50 PM. I have a  few days available before heading home and remembered seeing a program about the "The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta" and the "Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Caves of Ellora". The caves are located near the city of Aurangabad which is 240 miles northeast of Mumbai.

I will be staying in Aurangadbad and taking a tour each day to one of the cave complexes. I have booked a room at the VIT hotel which is rated 4*. The hotel is located near the railroad station...I will be catching another "midnight sleeper train"  to Mumbai at minight on April 7 which is the final destination on my 40 day odyssey through India. (My Plans)
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With only one day to do two days of activities, I had to forgo the Caves of Ajanta....Ellora is a World Heritage site and is supposed to be spectacular. My driver picked me up at 7 AM so that we could beat the crowds and heat....we did well on both accounts. The Caves are amazing...to think that human beings would take centuries to create these temples to honor their spiritual god(s) and goddess(es). There are 12 Buddhist Caves, 17 Brahmanical Caves (Hindu) and 5 Jain Caves.The Buddhist started building their temple/monastery Caves in the the 5th and 6th centuries AD...the Brahmanical in the 7th and 8th centuries and the Jains about the same time as the Brahmanica. Words cannot describe the awe that one feels to see what wonder man has created. These temple/caves are created out of solid rock.....carved by hammer and chisel....the Hindu Cave 16 took 10+ generations to construct... that's over 200 years. The Caves' complex extends over a distance of approximately 2 miles...enjoy the pictures...

Buddhist Caves

Brahmarical Caves

Jain Caves

After visiting the caves, my guide and I stopped at the tomb of the founder of Aurangabad...the last Islamic Mughal died in the mid-1700s. You can tell that Aurangabad was found by a Mughal because the city's name ends in "abad"..."pur" is often used when a Hindu Rajah" founded the city...."mer" means city was built on a hill. Below are pictures of the tomb site and associated Islamic mosque.

Our last stop was the Daulatabad Fort...a formidable structure which overlooks the country-side. I foolishly climb to the top...a long walk...cross the moat's steel bridge....navigate absolutely dark tunnels....climb too many steep steps....going down was more challenging than climbing the stairs. The Fort is home to the beautiful Chand Minar which was the center for Islam when the Fort was being occupied.

I'm resting and updating this portion of the BLOG before I head to the hotel to clean-up, have dinner and catch my over-night train to Mumbai. Only 2 more days until I board my plane heading home. Tomorrow in Mumbai, I have an 8 hour "Mumbai Highlights" tour scheduled to begin at 9 AM followed by "Mumbai at Night", a  3 hour tour of the city that begins at 7 PM. Monday, I hope to have lunch at the Taj Mahal hotel before heading for the airport. My plane departs at 12;40 AM on Tuesday, April 10...scheduled to arrive Washington Dulles on Tuesday, April 10 at 3:30 PM.

I must admit that I am exhausted and ready for some home-cooking, Ann Marie's TLC and rest.....hopefully I will  post my last BLOG entry on Monday before I depart India.