Buddhist Caves
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2009
1
6
Trip End
May 06, 2010
Ajanta, Mahārāshtra, India
Monday, March 1, 2010
We took a train, 10 hours, to Aurangabad and stayed at this beautiful hotel called the Lemon Tree, complete with pool and waterfall. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to find a swimming pool. The hotel had cute shirt phrases all over the building about relationships, money, and everyday funnies. For example one said "When women get bored they go shopping. When men get bored, they invade other countries." OMG and the breakfast buffet was so amazing. I do believe I like people catering to me now, this is India's fault! Seriously the waiters were so nice, and gave you whatever you needed or wanted!
The ride into Ajanta was 2.5 hours of bumpy car ride annoyingness. But the destination was well worth it. The caves were carved out of the mountain side in a crescent like shape. The Ajanta caves, excavated from 200B.C to 650AD were built as a retreat for Buddhist monks. As Buddhism began to decline, the caves were abandoned and forgotten. But in 1819, a British soldier accidentally discovered the caves when he spotted one of the larger caves from across the mountain side. Enough of the history lecture! The caves were so beautiful, most included a giant Buddha at the end of every cave. They included stone beds and shelves for the monks to sleep on. What was left of the murals was extremely enchanting. Flash photography was not allowed in those particular caves (to prevent fading of the colors) however I was still able to get a few pictures of them. I think my favorite part of the caves was the carvings on the pillars and how symmetric everything was. If these caves were built so long ago I wonder how they were able to get everything to look soo perfect. Smart architects!!
Ellora's caves although similar featured sculptures from Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain religions. Ellora features an ancient temple as the focal point of its attractions. Although the temple was raided and defaced by Muslim radicals, its beauty still survives. Gods that are commonly seen are Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. The sculptures are very nicely carved. Other caves have different godly figures. Some are between a small lake, with lush plant life everywhere. Unfortunately the waterfalls weren't running because it is the dry season, but I thought everything was still great. Its amazing that they used "positive space" and actually carved all of this out of the mountain side! Why don't we have anything cool like this in America? And no Mount Rushmore does NOT count, lol.
Other than it being extremely hot and the lovely train ride (all part of the experience) I had an amazing time. OHH I forgot we went to this one restaurant where as soon as we sat down they started serving us. Total Indian style. The food just kept coming! And it was ooh so good. I wish I could of recorded it, it was so hilarious, there was this confused face on us the whole time, haha.
We made it just in time for the festival Holi, which has to be another entry, But I must say, best holiday ever!
