Ellora and Ajanta

On friday we flew from Mumbai to Aurangabad (Or-Un-Ga-Bad) to visit the Caves at Ajanta and Ellora. As i mentioned before, I have nothing but Praise for Jet Airways. The service is truly impeccable, and even on a 35minute flight like the one to Aurangabad you get a tasty vegetarian sandwhich (Chutney and cheese), and drinks. The attendants are always smiling and knowledgable (which is a far cry from Air Canada), and will bend over backwards to help you out. The best part about them? Impeccable english. Really a great airline.

But back to my post... Aurangabad was officially founded in the 16th Century (AD) by Emporer Aurangzeb. Prior to that however, it was also a large trade hub, and was chosen by the Emporer, for its strong strategic position for Mughal military campaigns and its strongly defensible location against northern invaders. Today it is primarly an Industrial town, with large factories from Johnson and Johnson, Skoda, and General Electric. The city is significantly less picturesque than Mumbai, but once you leave the city gates (of which there are 12), you pass through fields filled with Corn and cotton. At this time of year, the countryside is green and lush due to the recent passing of the Indian monsoon, and as you pass into the more elevated regions, you become surrounded by banyan and cherimoya (custard apple) trees, as well as grove upon grove of the leafy fig trees. It truly is a sight to see. You can stop at any roadside stall and buy wild Cherimoya, guava and lady finger bananas. Honestly, those were some of the most delightful fruits ive ever eaten. Nothing in Canada compares.

So after dropping off our bags at the Vivanta Taj hotel (freaking gorgeous!), we met our guide Pankaj and headed over to Ellora. Ellora is a temple carving complex over 1200  years old, consisting of a series of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu monolithic temples within the side of a Basaltic rock mass (Part of the Deccan Traps, flood basalts). The carvings of the Jain portions of the complex largely depict the life of Mahavira and various other Jain saints. The Buddhist section of the caves depict the life of Gautama Buddha, and various other boddhisattvas. They are so intricately carved, that the details give the structures an appearance of wood. The majority of the caves display the Buddha in various stages of his life and journey towards nirvana. The Hindu complex was the most elaborate of the 3, with carved depictions of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva throughout. Elaborate tales of each of the three primary Hindu gods are depicted onto the panels of each temple and passageway, and the intricay of carving leaves you absolutely astounded at the magnitude of skill that would have been required to construct these complexes. Also, because the caves themselves were hewn directly into the side of a basaltic mountain, the engineering behind the actual construction rivals that seen in various mines (including McArthur) today. In one section of Kailash (the most famous of the structures), there is a 30 foot overhang of solid basalt that is supported by a series of columns and arches. It was completely unsupported by any external factors but was instead so well constructed that it has stood the test of over 1000 years of geolgic forcing. My dad was completely amazed at the aparent precision of construction and engineering required to create such a structure.We toured around the region for a few hours, and then headed back to the Vivata hotel.

The next day we headed to Ajanta, which is a series of Buddhist Monuments dating back to the 2nd Century BC.This complex includes a series of man-made caves cut into the side of a basaltic U shaped gorge. It was first discovered in 1819, by a British officer named John Smith who, while hunting tiger and leapord in the Jungle, spied an elaborate arch on the otherside of the gorge. He was so surprised, that he immediatly went to investigate. He eventally discovered a set of structures that were nearly perfectly preserved, but that appeared to have been abandoned half completed.  The caves are said to host some of the greatest pieces of Indian Art painted against the walls of the temple themselves, and depict a sophistication of style not seen anywhere else on earth until a few centuries later. Eventually, this, along with Ellora would become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The stories depicted within the cave describe the lives of a variety of bodhisattvas as well as various parables and teachings charachteristic of the Buddhist Tradition. Unfortunately, they wouldnt allow any flash photography within the complex itself, but i can tell you it was amazing!

We flew back to Mumbai this afternoon and will be catching a Rajdhani Train to Delhi. Aparently it's the epitomy of luxury. Im glad we got to spend the day with my fam again in Mumbai, as it's the end of Navratri, and today is Dusshera...so there are loads of celebrations taking place! I'll write all about that later though...my cousins are watching How to train your dragon, and i love that movie, so ill send another update soon!

Stay Tuned!

- k