Ajanta and Ellora are located outside Aurangabad. Ellora cave is located 30 kms away where as Ajanta is 110 km away from Aurangabad city. Ellora consists of 34 caves. They are indicated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.These caves are built between 5th-10th centuries.
This site heritage is on every bucketlist of the traveller. Ajanta cave consists of 30-rock cave monument of Buddhists. Every year all around the world many tourists witness this beautiful place.
How to Reach Ajanta and Ellora?
By air : – Ajanta is 100 kms away from main Auragabad airport. You can take flight from the airport and connect via road by car pooling or cabs that are available.
By Road:- You can easily reach by road from nearby cities like Mumbai, Pune.
By Railways:- From Jalna or Jalgaon railway station you can reach to your destination.
So Journey Begins..
Ellora Caves
If you think that Ajanta and Ellora are same caves,so that’s wrong both are different and have their own uniqueness. So we headed towards Ellora caves.Ellora is also called as “Verul Leni”. There are total 29 Buddhist caves in Ellora with many sculptures.These caves were arranged from east to west. Avoid visiting these place on Monday as it is closed at that time.
Every cave has its own unique paintings and sculptures designed. There are adorable paintings on the ceiling and designed with proper detailing. These paintings depict myths of hindus and the life scenes of that time.
From June to March is the best time to take a visit at Ajanta and Ellora. My advice is to visit this place in rainy season as there are rain showers and this place looks mesmerizing. March to May is summer time so at day time the temperature is high and you won’t enjoy this beautiful place.
Caves divided into 3 parts
- Hindu caves
- Buddhist caves
- Jain caves
If you want to explore the whole Ellora caves you should have ample amount of time to have a nice photography. You should carry good amount of cash with you as there will be no online transactions. You should visit cave1,cave 16 and cave 10 as it is known for its speciality.
Cave 16 :- It is most important cave as it is also known as Kailash temple which isthe piligrimage for many Lord shiva bhakt(followers). It is the best attraction spot.
cave 1:- Cave 1 is important for its authentic carvings and sculptures. There are different buddha sculptures designed.
While exlporing Ellora you can see on the right side the Daulatabad fort which is built 200 m high on canonical hill. It is considered as one from the 7 wonders. Mainly it is known as Chand Minar. It is said as Sultan Amhed shah has constructed this tower.
Best time to Visit Ajanta and Ellora
Entry fee at Ellora:- Rs 40 for adults and 600 Rs for foreign tourists. For camera and other instruments Rs 25.
Timings to visit Ellora:- From morning 7 till sunset.
Entry at Ajanta:- Rs 40 for locals and 600 Rs for foreigner. They will charge you extra if you carry any instruments like camera or tripod like Rs 25.
Timings to visit Ajanta:- From 9.00 am to 9.30 pm excluding Monday.
Bibi ka Maqbara
Our next destination was Bibi ka Maqbera which is also known as Mini Taj Mahal. It is one of the popular monument within Aurangabad. It is called as Dakhani Taj or also known as Taj of the Deccan. This is a tomb of Aurangzeb’s wife and it was built by Azam khan. He was the son of Aurangzeb and he wanted to construct this with marble. However, his father was not ready for spending a lot of money.
Bibi ka Maqbera was built between 1668 and 1669. However it is constructed with white marble. He wanted to make this similar like Taj mahal but because of Aurangzeb severe budget issue it resulted into a poor copy.
Entry fee for Bibi ka Maqbera :- 200 INR for foreign tourists and INR 15 for locals.
It has it’s own uniqueness and it’s own charm and importance. The structure is constructed in hexagon form. Also the ground level mausoleum was consturcted in octagonal form. At that time they were using properties of polygon with their intellectual and architecture skills.
Ajanta Caves
Ajanta caves were built in 200-680 BCE. This consists of 30 caves inside which are meant to be beautiful and every cave has its importance.Every paintings or carvings on the ceilings depicts the tales of Jataka. There are different stupas of Buddhas and murals of Buddha.
Cave 1:- It is one of the popular cave as all the Boddhisattva murals were carved on the doors of the Ajanta caves.
Cave 2:- There are different designs on the cilings that intricate fruits,flowers,birds which looks attractive
All the paints were made of natural materials. They describe all the life scenes of the buddhist and the people of that time. However, there are no lights inside the cave and also there are no different colors painted, but they managed to have their own unique beauty and importance.
Hope you have enjoyed reading my post of Ajanta and Ellora caves. Do subscribe by entering your name and email. To get regular updates regarding the posts stay tuned.