The Ellora Caves and Other Sites Near Aurangabad

Ben and I, having chanced to meet on our trip to the Ajanta Caves, decided to have a go at the rest of the places of interest in Aurangabad the next day. It would be cheaper to go it together and there is always that safety in numbers aspect as well. So we decided to meet at the bus station at 9.

After a good night's sleep, I got up and headed to the bus station once again. I got there a bit early and so I set up camp to wait for Ben to arrive. While I was standing there waiting, one of the touts came up to me and asked me where I was going. I told him nowhere at the moment. He then asked if I was going to want to check out Ellora and the other points of interest. He pulled out a little tour card and then quoted his price for the day of doing a four point tour that included the Ellora Caves. I was actually somewhat surprised that there were so many things to see around Aurangabad. I had never heard of any of it. I also thought that his price of 600 rupees was quite reasonable, particularly if there were two of us and it was going to cut down on the hassle of having to get to spots by bus on our own. But I didn't want to speak for Ben, so I told him that I was waiting for my friend and I couldn't make these plans before that. If he had persisted and pushed at that time, I might have just told him to buzz off and forget it, but he said that was fine and he moved off. I was already impressed by the guy, just for that.

About ten minutes later Ben showed up and we met and started to discuss what we were going to do. Then the guide (and for the life of me, I cannot remember his name, sorry sir) came up to us and reiterated his offer. Ben and I needed to discuss the matter without any prying eyes and ears, so we asked him to wait a moment for us to do so. And he politely moved off a short distance to allow us to do that. Point two for the man.

Ben and I discussed it and agreed that 300 rupees apiece for all the hassle saved and getting to see all these things was more than reasonable. We called the man back and agreed to his price and then added another spot that we wanted to see. We expected him to add to the price, but when I asked what the price would be for extra little bit to see, he seemed surprised and said it was going to be the same. The guy was racking up points like mad in my book!

We went out to his motor-trike and headed off.

The first stop was at a fort, Daulatabad. This was a fort that was built a thousand years ago by the Mughals, during their empire. It looked remarkably similar to other forts I have seen over the years, but it was still quite interesting, all the more so for being done so much earlier than others I have seen. One major difference was the very Muslim-looking tower in the lower grounds.

The rest was made of grayish stone.

It was really quite large, viewed from above. There were walls around the hill where the fort was located that enclosed a large area. Apparently there was a plan to move the capital of India at one time, but the plan was abandoned and the capital was returned to Delhi.

Our driver parked us at the little village and warned us not to buy anything from any of the touts that were about. He told us they were thieves and were only trying to rip us off. We were slightly suspicious that he would take us to shops that were connected to him later. But in the meantime, we were mightily impressed that he was looking out for us like that. Point four in his favour.

Our driver told us that we should be able to spend an hour or so at the site. Initially, Ben and I thought it would be and easy place to explore. We didn't realize how big it was! So we began looking around and decided to climb all the way to the top. This ended up taking us almost two hours, but the fort was quite interesting, influenced as it was by various cultures that had control over it and used it throughout its existence.

As we climbed, we found a middle level where the top seemed to be. Then we found a tunnel that had either existed and was modified, or had been dug specifically to get up above the cliffs to the next part of the fort. The cliffs were sheer and there was a moat at the base that also helped with protection of the fort against attack. If there ever was an enemy force that approached, the tunnel need only have been collapsed and the enemy would have been left with trying to scale the cliff with the defenders lobbing stones or boiling oil or other deterrents down on their heads. Not an enviable thing to try. Of course, now the only threats that exist for the fort are the tourists tramping around and the bats living in the tunnels.

At the very top of the fort there was a lookout out tower and a large cannon. The view out over the area was amazing. It actually reminds one a lot of Arizona or New Mexico.

We began to realize that this might be a long day if everything was going to take us this long to experience. We hurried down and our driver was waiting.

Next it was off to a tomb, the tomb of Aurangzeb. A Muslim ruler had died in the area and we went and had a look at the burial area. It was very simple, with no adornments or fancy building to tower over everything around. This was in keeping with the Muslim faith where such displays are forbidden. We received a bit of explanation from a guy standing watch over the tomb. He was blind, but quite informative.

Then we went deeper into the mosque and to another set of burial plots where we were given another explanation about who was there. Frankly, tombs and their denizens are seldom that interesting to me, and I haven't the foggiest notion any longer of who they were or why they were important. This spot only had us for about 10 or 15 minutes. Then we were on our way again, this time to the Ellora Caves, the other spot I had known about before arriving in Aurangabad.

Along the way, we passed a silk weaving shop. Our driver tried to convince us that we should stop and go in. We thought this might be one of the places he would want us to go and see as part of our service. But we told him we weren't all that interested. He said, “Maybe later,” and left it at that.

Then we arrived at the Ellora Caves. We bought our tickets and he took us in. Vehicles are allowed around this set of caves, so there were lots of drivers and other vehicles lounging about in front of the main caves. Our driver stopped to one side and said that we were in front of the first set of 16 caves. He told us to head off towards cave number 1 and finish at cave 16, after which he would drive us to the other caves, 17 through 34, which were located some few kilometers distant. We didn't realize at the time why he was so specific about telling us to head to cave 1 first. We did find that out later.

We walked along to the end. The first set of caves, about the first 12 or so were early Buddhist. In many ways they resembled the caves at Ajanta in structure. But there were two main differences. One was the absence of cave paintings. If there ever had been any paintings, and I can only suppose there had to have been, they became too degraded over the years, or more susceptible to damage.

The other big difference was that the Ellora Caves had far more elaborate exterior decorations. The cave entrances had big sculptures and amazing work on the exteriors. This meant there was much more that could be easily photographed than the Ajanta Caves had available.

There was even a cave that had a stream that fell in a waterfall off a fairly elaborately planned spot in the front.

Otherwise the caves had the same elements of a central area with an enclave at the back for the sculpture of Buddha. Often there were small niches on the sides where monks perhaps sat in contemplation or meditation. And many had sculptures and other decorations on the inside as well.

Gradually the caves seemed to start being taken over by Hindu elements. There were often elements that didn't seem to fit with what I know of Buddhism, which I have always thought to be quite sparse in its idolatry.

There was one cave that had an added touch of extravagance, however. This was cave 10. It was a monastery cave and had a large carving at the end of it. If you look closely at the photo, you will see that the Buddha sculpture seems to glow. This was due to a special effect of sorts. Standing outside, in the hot sun, holding a large piece of metal to reflect the sun, a man was directing sunlight through the cave door and onto the Buddha sculpture, giving it that golden glow. I can't imagine a much more thankless job than that. So Ben and I both gave him a tip for his trouble. I don't know how much he would earn for doing a job like that, but I doubt it's very much.

We reached the next set of caves from around cave 12or 13 through cave 16 which were Hindu in origin and style. These became even more elaborate with amazing carvings adorning the outsides of the caves.

Inside there were detailed carvings of the various gods and goddesses of Hinduism.

There were two and three level caves as well, both in the Buddhist section and in the Hindu section.

And it was the top level that held the surprises in each case. The bottom levels of the multi-story caves had the same mix of sculptures and such that were in other caves. However, upon reaching the third floor, these were basically art galleries. And the art in there was incredible. The Buddhist third floor had a series of Buddhas carved in a row around the side and back walls.

The Hindu cave had all sorts of different gods carved in succession around the walls of the cave. They were all large and quite detailed and amazingly well preserved. It was stunning. At the first of those caves, a Buddhist one, I read the panel which told that the third level was an art gallery of sorts. It was the only reason I ventured up there as it didn't look like it would be interesting. I'm so glad I did read the descriptions though, or I would have missed the spectacle. Ben hadn't read the description and asked me if I thought it was worth going up. I told him what I had read and said it was at least worth a climb to see. When I asked him later if he was glad, he said yes. Emphatically.

At length we came along the row to cave 16. We didn't really look around the corner because there was a little temple up the hill with a path leading up. We followed it first and came upon one of the more amazing sights I have ever seen.

This temple is carved in one piece. It is carved out of the mountainside itself. This photo does not do it justice, but the sight of this towering down into the dug out section is stunning. There really are not enough words to give it adequate impact. But we were very glad that we had been directed to start at cave 1 and finish at cave 16. Had we started at cave 16, the impact of the first caves would have been sadly diminished. In addition, I was doubly glad that, due to the timing of closed days at the two sets of caves, I had ended up seeing the Ajanta Caves first. Had I seen the Ellora Caves first, I believe the impact of the Ajanta Caves would been diminished as well.

Suitably impressed we headed out to find our driver and he took us to a few more caves in the second half of the set. We saw caves 30 through 34. These caves belonged to the Jain period of Buddhism. Again, I really haven't much clue about the differences in the various forms of Buddhism. I think this period was more austere with even less emphasis on Buddha's look, so the sculptures were simpler, more austere. If I had to guess, that is. And to be honest, after cave 16, I was getting exhausted of caves, getting caved out if you prefer. Our driver told us that we could spend 20 or 25 minutes at these caves, and we had done that. The first 16 had taken well over 2 hours.

When we got back to the rickshaw, I asked him if there were any other caves that were really interesting, not so much because I wanted to see them, but more because I didn't want to miss anything really spectacular. But the driver mistook my question as wanting to see more. So he took us to one more. It was nice. This was cave 21 and it reminded me quite a bit of the cave I had seen on Elephanta Island. But while it was nice, I was definitely done with caves for the moment, so when we got back to the rickshaw and the driver asked us if we were done there, we both said yes, somewhat fervently.

I particularly liked the carving showing the randy side of Vishnu. Notice his left hand...

So it was on the road to the next spot. We passed the silk weaving spot again and he again asked us if we wanted to go and see it. I have seen silk factories before, so I didn't want to. Ben wasn't keen either. And despite seeming a bit disturbed that we didn't want to see one of the local specialties of silk-making, he didn't push us on it and we kept on to our next stop, Bibi-Ka-Maqbara. It is also known as the baby or small Taj Mahal. It resembles the Taj Mahal in design and structure, but it is constructed of plaster rather than marble and it is much smaller. It is still quite impressive.

It is makes a more impressive showing from the back where there is no scaffolding.

From there, we thought we were going to be done. There had been one more thing on the list that we had asked about. There was a waterfall or something that was supposed to have some historical significance. But it was getting late and we were getting tired and really didn't think it was necessary.

However, we had asked about it and our driver had remembered. In addition it was just around the corner from the baby Taj, so he took us there anyway. It was called Panchakki and it's a brilliant piece of old engineering. The people who built it pipe in water through earthen pipes from the mountains 8 kilometers distant. Then they get the water to go up to the top of a tower where it spills in a manmade waterfall into a pool. It is quite an achievement.

This was the last stop for us. After we came out of the Panchakki site, our driver asked us if we were finished. We agreed, again emphatically. He drove us back to town and the bus station where we paid him his money. We each decided to give him a 100 extra. His taking us around had allowed us to see all of those things. We had taken so much time at a couple of spots, so it was a long day for him, but he never complained. He never tried to take us anywhere to have us buy things or anything like that. And of course, he had made so many points with me in the morning with how he had handled being asked to wait until I met Ben, I wanted to encourage to keep operating like that. When we gave him the money and he realized that we had given him extra, he was so happy and his eyes lit up. That made my day complete. I hope he keeps doing things the way he did that day.