Daulatabad and Ellora

Teg- Mmmm our day in Aurangabad. Beautiful. So this day was another early riser for us,for the better, as we would soon find out. There was too much to see and too little time. We knew the night would have to be early yet again, but with good reason this time since we had a 6am train departing the next morning back to Mumbai.

So anyways, this morning in Aurangabad, in an attempt to get a bus out to Ellora – the 3km site of 34 amazing temple-like caves – we found an amazingly friendly man who was willing to drive us both to Ellora and back in his tiny rick-shaw for 450 Rps (~$10), it was hard to refuse. So there we were, cruising in this tiny ride for the next 30km towards Ellora, with no windows preventing the wind or seatbelts preventing the...hahaha! Roughly 10km into the trip the driver pointed out the fort of Daulatabad, offering to wait 2 hours for us while we go check it out. Done. So for the next 2hours or so we climbed up roughly 650 steps (yes I counted lol), to reach the summit of this amazing fort, stopping many times along the way to check out the sites.

Once back down to the main road we instantly found our driver-friend who welcomed us with a huge smile. Loved him. And then off we were again on our way to Ellora!

Finally we arrived at the gates, where our ride was extremely belittled by the oh so many buses and SUV type rides that were all trying to find parking themselves. Our friend drives us to the entrance of the first 12 caves – all of which are Buddhist – and tells us he will wait for us for the next few hours until we want a ride to the next group of caves a few kms down the way. The whole experience at Ellora was wonderful, I found myself perplexed the whole time trying to understand how such a human feat could actually take place. Seriously, how do you just start cutting into a stone wall on the side of a hill and build such elaborate temples??? Anyways, I’ll let Mike attempt to describe the caves, I’m finding myself wordless on the experience.

At the end of it all, we found our friend sitting and waiting exactly where we had left him, and then we all made our journey back to Aurangabad. He took us straight to our hotel and we gave him a generous tip, totalling 900 Rps for the day. Okay I know I’m still raving about this man, but he was sooo nice to us. He not only drove us to Ellora and back, but ran up to the hotel to hand Mike his camera that he had accidentally left on the back seat! Later that night he met us to drive us to the old Bazaar of the city (refusing money at the end!!). And finally, he woke up the next morning to pick us up at 5:30am to drive us to the train. Loved him.

Mike – Daulatabad was the last standing fortress of the Mughal Empire, and it’s hard to see how it could’ve ever been conquered. First of, it was built on a hill in the Deccan Plateau spanning over 60 hectares of land. The main temples and structures were surrounded by four large concentric walls. Thirdly, in the event that any army penetrated these walls, the most sacred temples could only be reached through pitch-dark passages, which unbeknownst to the invaders, were overlooked by teams of soldiers possessing large tubs of hot oil and hot water waiting to be dumped on the unsuspecting horde.

I was suprised by how preserved the fortress was; in some places, the paint and ceramics were still intact. You could really picture how colourful the facade would have been while still operational.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mproud3/Daulatabad#

Daulatabad was very interesting and a great chance to get the blood moving, but Ellora was the real reason why we travelled to Aurangabad. A UNESCO World Heritage Sight and a resounding example of religious tolerance; we couldn’t wait to check out these caves.

There were 34 caves in total, consisting of Buddhist, Jainist, and Hindu temples (each cave was considered a temple). Although it was swarming with tourists, it was surprisingly very peaceful. I can really see how they would have been an oasis of calm back in the day.

Of all the caves, there were two that really deserve mentioning. Cave 10, probably the best preserved and most elaborate of the Buddhist temples, was a long hall that was striking in it’s design. In an effort to keep the post at a minimum, I’ll save the description and just show you a few pictures below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mproud3/ElloraCaves#

You all know me not to be a religious person, but when you place your hand on the Buddha at the end of this hall you feel certain amount of electricity. I know next to nothing about Buddhism and it’s principles, but you can’t help to feel humility at the foot of such an amazingly carved and calming figure.

Cave 16, a Hindu cave, was the pinnacle of Ellora’s grandiose. Again, pictures speak a lot louder than words, so I’ll let you have-atter.

You may remark that this doesn’t look like a cave, due to it being open-aired. It’s kind of hard to explain, but the entrance goes through the cliff face, and you enter the open aired section where the building on the left is located. Surrounding that building are three levels of galleries with meditation rooms cut into the rock on their opposing sides. To really put this in perspective, you have to consider the fact that, at one time, Ellora was a sheer cliff face. Pretty amazing stuff; for all you engineers out there, try figuring that one out… ;)

It’s worth noting that Ellora wasn’t re-discovered until the late 1800’s… I don’t know what events transpired for something so grand to become so forgotten, but wow, talk about discovering the mother load.

On a final note, the main thing I’m leaving with from our experience at Ellora was the fact that three religions, albeit quite similar, can occupy the same space in peace for centuries. The fact that none of the caves have been disturbed or plundered is a testament to the religious tolerance of the ancient Indian religions. You look at the many disputed religious territories today, some having been fought over for many a millenia, and you start to wonder what makes Ellora so different?