West
India Travel Guide
Ajanta Allora Tourism
Ajanta
TourismAjanta Caves, Way back in1819, a party of British army officers
on a tiger hunt in the forest of western Deccan, suddenly spotted their prey,
on the far side of a loop in the Waghora river. High up on the horseshoe- shaped
cliff, the hunting party saw the tiger, silhouetted against the carved façade
of a cave.
Ajanta : Places to See: Finished
CavesThis is one of the finest monasteries at Ajanta. Graciously posed
Bodhisattvas with elaborate headdresses flank the antechamber doorway. On its
either side are two of the best-known murals Bodhisattva Padmapani and Bodhisattva
Vajrapani holding a thunderbolt (right) accompanied by attendants, divine musicians
and flying figures.
Ajanta Caves Tour: About 107 kms. from the city
of Aurangabad, the rock-cut caves of Ajanta nestle in a panoramic gorge, in the
form of a gigantic horse shoe. Among the finest examples of some of the earliest
Buddhist architecture, caves-paintings and sculptures, these caves comprise Chaitya
Halls, or shrines, dedicated to Lord Buddha and Viharas, or monasteries, used
by Buddhist monks for meditation and the study of Buddhist teachings.
Ajanta
Excursions: Elephanta Caves:
The history of elephanta is the hoary
mists of time. Crowning the island's easteem hill, and commanding a panoramic
view of wood-land, marsh and sea, are the Buddhist stupas' or burial mounds and
cisterns. Their antiquity has been traced back to the third century or even earlier.
Ellora
Tourism Ellora Caves, Nestled in the crook of the Charanadari
hill in Deccan is a series of ancient temples and monasteries hewn out of the
moutainside. Situated on the ancient north- south trade route or the dakshinapatha,
the tiny mountain village of Verul - mutated today to Ellora -was a well- known
stopover for traders, priests and pilgrims who plied the route to the western
ports.
Beginning sometime in the 7th century, when the Chalukyas (AD 553
- 753) ruled the Deccan, these wayfarers decided to make their presence permanent.
And excavation started on a number of Buddhist chaityas and viharas. The place
found favour with missionaries of other faiths as well, and over the next five
centuries, Hindus and Jains also built their temples in the rocks there.
Ellora
: Places to See: Unlike the caves at Ajanta, the Ellora caves were
never 'lost'. Largely because it lay on a more frequented route, Ellora remained
in the public eye. In fact, Kailasa Temple remained a practising shrine until
the 19th century. Several travellers to India including the 10th century Arab
geographer Al Masudi and Niccolao. Manucci in early 17th century mention the caves
in their accounts
Kailasa Temple Ellora:
The other Buddhist caves as well as the first few Hindu caves are fairly unremarkable
and do not prepare you for the magnificence of Kailasa Temple or Cave 16. Believed
to have been started by the Rashtrakuta king, Krishna I, Its excavation must rank
as an architectural wonder.
Ellora Caves Tour:The
cave temples and monasteries at Ellora, excavated out of the vertical face of
an escarpment, are 26 kms. north of Aurangabad. Extending in a linear arrangement,
the 34 caves contain Buddhist Chaityas, or halls of worship, and Viharas, or monasteries,
Hindu and Jian temples.
