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Little did I realize what gems the city of Aurangabad – named after the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, would present before me on a quick weekend getaway. Ajanta and Ellora were embedded in my mind as typical school trip destinations, ones which usually fail to leave a mark on the child, due largely to more interest in friends, frolic and the burden of history. Also, caves in India are marred with visuals of graffiti and serve as love abodes, rather than serving their historically significance. But, for all those who have not visited Aurangabad – please do so with a sense of urgency. A year from now, replicas of the main caves in Ajanta will be open to visitors while the original treasures made accessible only to historians and scholars – so before this happens, do go and savor some of Maharashtra’s grandest sights.

Ajanta – curtains open to a dramatic setting. Amidst a deep ravine, 250 feet above the ground and across an inverted C-shaped rock cut out, lie 29 Buddhist caves. Built in two phases, the former dating all the way back to 2nd century BCE, these caves lay hidden amongst thick forests only to be discovered in the early 19th century by a British officer during his hunting adventures. Imagine these caves, bespeckled with paintings, frescoes and larger than life statues of Buddha.

Their carvings, so intricate, go to show how far ahead we were from our foreign competitors two hundred years before Christ. Secular themes, depictions from the Jataka tales, geometric patterns, floral and ornamental motifs, celestial beings and many more wonderful imagery lay splashed across. Unfortunately, the humid weather aggravated by unheeded flash photography have contributed to ruining some of these marvels, the penalty of which all of us will pay a year from now.

100 kilometers away lie the 34 caves of Ellora – where remarkable memorials of three great faiths – Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are spread over 2 kilometers. 12 of the caves are Buddhist (600 AD to 800 AD), 17 Hindu (600 AD – 900 AD) and the rest Jain (800 AD – 1000 AD). Beginning with the Jain section, the monolithic rock cut temple had a certain heaviness about it but the delicate and detailed ornamentation on the pillars rendered grace to the setting. In contrast, Kailashnath, the unrivaled centerpiece of Ellora, was heavily laden with sculptures depicting scenes from Hinduism, Mahabharata and Ramayana. Built over 150 years, an early visitor to this particular cave has been quoted to say “It is a wonder to see so great a mass in the air which seems so slenderly under-dropped that one could hardly forbear to shudder on first entering it”. I felt exactly the same.

 

Lastly, the southern section is lined with Buddhist caves, some of which house the Buddha’s towering statues (Mahayana period) and others, house relics which are symbolic of Buddhism but do not align with a form of Buddha (Hinayana period). A combination of Chaityas (chapels) and Viharas (monastries), these caves are peaceful and yet, present a heavily sublime sense of grandness.

 

Finally, the originality of the above monuments is  complemented by a close attempt at modeling the great Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal. ‘Bibi-Ka-Maqbara’, commissioned by Aurangzeb’s son, Azam Shah, in memory of his mother Rabia-ul-Durrani, pales in comparison to Mumtaz’s Mahal but is most definately worth a visit. 

All in all, Aurangabad, in the winter months especially, is not worth missing and it would be a shame to let go of a wonderful weekend right here in Maharashtra.