Jun 15, 2005 01:02 AM
12963 Views
(Updated Jun 15, 2005 01:05 AM)
As most of Mouthshut.com know that I love cars and driving, I love to travel too...yeah, drive down to those places. This is my first, all alone travel, thus the most exciting yet boring...I CAME HERE AT THE WRONG TIME. BEST TIME WOULD BE OCTOBER TO DECEMBER.
Places in and around Aurangabad ::
Aurangabad is the tourist's center when visiting the famous Ajanta and Ellora Caves. Ellora is left (28kms) from the road where you enter into Aurangabad Cantonment Area. There are ample boards giving you the directions. Ajanta is another 100kms away from Aurangabad.
Other places that I had been to are ::
Bibi-ka-maqwara - Its known as Taj Mahal of the South. But, dont expect something close to the Taj Mahal. It is not so well maintained and thus not much to see !! But still, its worth a visit.
Daulatabad Fort - Its Aurangzeb's fort. I did'nt find a guide and was already exhausted to find out all about the fort.
OK....Lets get back to caves now......
Ajanta Caves
Cave timings :: 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM
The roads are easy and guidance have been placed nicely MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corp.). The route itself is beautiful and you have a nice road on the Ghat sections. I stopped my car to enjoy its heavenly beauty. If you stop on the way, You will find the nicely made complex of Archaeological Survey of India surrounded on all side by hills. And its that complex where you would reach if you follow the road. Once you reach the complex, you have to park your car (no car can enter) and one can only take MTDC buses. The buses (Air Conditioned btw) would take you to the Caves (Fare - Rs.10). Take a guide along with you. There are lots of interesting informations that he can give you. He would charge Rs. 200.
When you leave the bus, you have to climb up to the caves. Buy a ticket right after getting out of the bus and arrange the guide. The climb is stressful. Palkis are provision for the elderly people. You have to open your shoes for entering the caves. Photography is prohibited inside the caves.
The Ajanta Caves date back to 2nd Century BC when it was started and 7th Century AD was when it was stopped. Then, only in the 19th Century that the british discovered it. The caves have been dug inside hills and all the sculpture and structures that you would find are shapes given to the rocks of the mountains. These caves are famous for painting, though they hold quiet a bit of sculpture too. The special feature is that all the sculpture has been done from a single piece of rock !! They were made by Buddhist and thus you would find a Buddha monument inside each cave. In most caves, the paintings have worn out due to time and weather. The ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) are trying their best to preserve them now. The paintings, whichever are there are exquisite works and tells us a lot. As I said earlier, take a guide.
Ellora Caves
They tie to the same history as Ajanta. Ajanta is famous for the paintings inside the caves, whereas, Ellora is famous for sculpture. It was hard for me to believe that all this was possible !! They had designed these with so much skill - so many decades back !! There is a thing called Kailasa. It is a temple and this has been dug the same way i.e. dug inside hills and all the scuplture and structures that you would find are shapes given to the rocks of the mountains !! You need a ticket to enter.
Here, you can take your car right upto the caves. But I would advice to take the Autorikshaws available over there. The Autowallas act as your guides and tell you history about it too !! (is it improvement ??!!). He would charge Rs. 100 for all the caves. But, if you enter Kailasa (which requires tickets too), you should take an approved guide.
How to reach Aurangabad ?
So, if you plan to be there, here is how to ::
There are nice Air Conditioned VOLVO Buses that take roughly 7-8 hours (dont know exactly) to reach Aurangabad.
To those who plan to drive down :
The brackets contain the distance from the two cities mentioned before and the time taken approximately. I had Toyota Corolla and hence the time taken may differ from driver to driver and car to car.
The route is Mumbai to Pune (180 Km,2). The expressay is nice enough for good speed but the problem is you need to cross a lot of Pune traffic to get into the highway of Ahmednagar. From Pune to Ahmednagar (120 km,2). The first 75kms of the road is with divider and thus makes it a lot easy. But afterwards there are no dividers till Aurangabad. The roads enter into the Ghat sections where you need to be cautious. You also enter into small townships where there is nothing called TRAFFIC SENSE. Be slow over there. There are lots of slow moving vehicles - Trucks, Autos and the Taxis...be careful
- Train - Sorry no info wid me !!
Wrote in a hurry, promise :: I will update. please rate and comment !!
