Today was a very strenuous day as it included three major sites. We woke up fully refreshed after a good night’s sleep in a very comfortable bed, and while Llew showered and got dressed, I put together the notes we would need for our day of vigorous sightseeing. Llew stuck to toast and tea while I treated myself to the hotel’s breakfast buffet. I ordered a mushroom and cheese omlette, but while it was being prepared, I had a small bowl of birschersmuesli which is my regular breakfast at home. With my omlette, I ate a chicken sausage and baked beans to make it a half (if not a full) English breakfast. I washed it all down with glasses of watermelon juice. I also took two bananas for Llew to eat as his tummy still needed binding. With our breakfast done, we called for Raju, our driver, and set off at 8.30 am for our first port of call, Daulatabad Fort.
TExploring Daulatabad Fort:
TDaulatabad is the town and the name of the fort that sits perched high on a conical hill that is 200 meters high. It is a vast complex and would once have constituted an entire township in itself. It was built in the 11th century by the Yadava dynasty of the Deogiri hills—in fact, the entire area was once known as Deogiri. The vast complex comprises elements of military engineering, amazing town planning, a unique water management system and Hindu and Islamic architectural marvels. Constructed entirely of black basalt, you will be struck by the fact that such feats were possible in the 11th century.
TFounded by the Yadavas, in the 11th century, it was annexed by the Khilji Dynasty in the 12th century and came under the control of Muhamad-bin Tughlak. He renamed Deogiri Daulatabad (Abode of Wealth) and moved his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in 1328. Hence, during his reign, it was a thriving township with vigorous trade and an enviable lifestyle. It changed hands several times as power struggles in the North continued until finally, by the 1600s, it came under the control of Akbar and Shah Jehan until the Marathas wrested control of it before it was purchased by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Daulatabad was also once an important center of religion as Sufism spread from this point.
TThe defence system consists of two moats that encircle the property—a wet one that was filled with crocodiles intended to kill enemies, and a dry one. Inside, there are a series of gateways, entrances and exits that are completely confusing and were designed to puzzle and expose enemies. Very few invaders had any chance of taking control of the fortress—so strategically had it been constructed and so well did it function.
T Once we bought tickets and entered the gates, we were quite impressed by how well the main sites of interest were sign posted. In fact, overall, the place is very well-maintained and is preserved by the Archeological Survey of India. There are lovely little carvings on the walls and ramparts of the Fort and you need to ensure you do not miss the tiny architectural and decorative details. Following signs, we arrived at the Saraswati Stepped Well which is quite the most unusual structure and one we have not seen anywhere else. It traps water at the base but to get there, there are superbly hewn steps on all four sides—almost like the ghats seen on river banks of the Ganges.
TNext, we walked along the broad and long walkway that, in medieval times, would no doubt, have been lined with shops as traders hawked their wares. The central avenue reminded me very much of the main thoroughfare in the excavated city of Pompeii in Italy. One of the places that was signposted along this route was the Bharat Mata Temple and we are so glad we took a detour to climb the stairs of a small gateway to enter the complex. Inside, the complex was huge—a Jama Masjid of sorts that, apart from the large, open space, combined a vast number of distinctly Hindu features such as pillared columns as seen in Hindu temples as well as minarets and domes as seen in Islamic mosques. There is a Hindu shrine today at the very end, but it was very evident to us that at various times, this has served as both a Hindu and Muslim place of worship.
TAs we walked along that wide pathway, we came upon the Chand Minar (Moon Tower) that readily resembles the Qutb-Minar in Delhi. I was not mistaken. It is one of the best specimens of Persian architecture in India. Built by Sultan Al-ud-din Bahamani (Ahmed Shah I), it was constructed in memory of his victory over Gujarat in 1445. He was a great admirer of the Qutb Minar that had been built in Delhi by his predecessor, Qutb-din-Aibak, and he wished to have a similar structure made in this fortress. The Minar or Tower has four floors and each has a viewing gallery encircling it. It is constructed in stone but was then faced with decorative tiles in lapiz lazuli and ochre—some remnants of which can still be seen on the outside. Unfortunately, a recent suicide has closed entry into the tower to visitors. We walked around it and found the place mobbed by a large family of black-faced grey monkeys who were congregating around the only expanded bit of shade available as the sun was already quite hot and comfortable.
TWe left the Minar and Llew walked towards the Cannon Courtyard which was on the opposite side. I enjoyed the shade and a cool drink of water. Llew took many pictures of the courtyard which was encircled by cannons in various sizes that had all seen duty during various phases of the wars fought in the centuries when the fortress was an active bastion of defence.
TWalking further up the pathway, we arrived at the actual Gates of the Fort. There is a small museum at this point but we did not stop to look at it as we had other places to see before it turned too hot. The shrine to the Sufi Saint is way at the summit of the hill and we soon realized that we would not be able to hike all the way to the top (although hiking is very much one of our joys). We climbed just a few steps to actually get into the fort before we sat for a while to get a drink of water and then begin the long walk down and back to the entrance.
TIt took us over an hour to explore this fort, even though we did not actually climb to the top. However, the architectural elements we noted, the vastness of the space, the sheer antiquity of it all, was so striking that we are so thrilled we made the time to see it. It is these treasure that make our travels in India now so completely fulfilling and exciting.
T Stop—Grishneshwar Temple:
TThe Grishneshwar Temple is very important to Hindus and was the reason why we attempted to visit it. In point of fact, it has one of the strictest security systems we have seen anywhere in the world with CCTV cameras everywhere. Footwear is to be left outside and no mobile phones or cameras are allowed inside—not even if you promise not to take any pictures.
T is a long driveway leading up from the parking lot to the temple. Along the way, there are little shops galore selling everything from temple offerings (flowers, garlands, fruits, vegetables, etc.) to toy shops to keep the kiddies amused. We followed all the required protocol and entered the temple only to find ourselves in one of those winding mazes that you see at the airport when you are heading to the airline counter to check in. It was ridiculous to have to follow those curves and bends as there was hardly any crowd at all. Still, once we found out that the line was not moving, we inquired what had happened and discovered that we have arrived exactly at the hour when everyone goes for a lunch break. It was hot and we lacked the spiritual zeal to keep standing in that line for a whole hour. We, therefore, bowed out and asked a security man to let us out—which he did by asking us to squeeze through an opening in the barrier. Luckily, both Llew and I are relatively slim and we managed to do so quite easily! The guard was very kind and allowed us to go ahead of everyone else (although we asked for no such privileges and would gladly have left the temple right away). As things stood, we did get a chance to go into what looked like a very ancient temple with a medium-high gopuram (or tower) and in the sanctum sanctorum, we saw the priests performing the aarti. A few minutes later, we left the temple and got back into the car and, after having a cold beverage from one of the make-shift stalls outside, we got into our car and drove just five minutes to the entrance of the Ellora Caves which was the piece de resistance of our day.
TExploring the Astonishing Ellora Caves: The Ellora Caves were the highlight of our day. They are truly remarkable—both for their antiquity and the artistry and
Tcraftsmanship that resides in them. They are filled with sculpture (some of which might have been painted originally). There are no paintings as such here—these can be seen at the Ajanta Caves.
TWhat’s most interesting about the Ellora Caves is that there are three distinct groups to them and each group represents a different religion—the majority are Hindu, a lesser number are Buddhist and just about five of them (found a good mile away from the main caves) are Jain. This proximity of caves representing three major Indian religions is great evidence of the religious harmony that existed in India in the ancient era. There are guides available to take you on a walking tour of the caves and there are several vendors selling beautiful souvenir brochures and books filled with pictures of the carvings, if you would like to buy one. We had our printed notes with us (obtained from the internet) and armed with those, we explored the caves.
TEllora is all about carvings. They were done over a period of two centuries and are created in rock-cut cave temples. This means that each cave was carefully hand cut (probably using the most rudimentary of tools) to create a hollow. Once the hollow as large enough, the decorative carving detail was begun. Needless to say, since these caves are representative of religious zeal, they feature a large number of gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. However, the largest of them and the highlight of this complex is the Kailasa Temple.
TEncircling the Kailasa Temple:
TThe Kailasa Temple is a massive complex that consists of prayer halls, individual prayer cells (all richly carved), twin towers (in two different, but twinned sections of the temple), etc. The wonder of it all is that the carving of the temple was begun from the top (of a rocky hill). Carvers then made their way down to the floor of the temple. All along the sides are corridors (or cloisters) with multiple niches. In each of these niches, there is a carved deity from the Hindu pantheon, sometimes alone but often accompanied by a bevy of other sacred characters. Many of the carvings are in poor shape or have been deliberately defaced—we see this on faces and chests of female deities. I could not get over the lovely carvings of elephants in various poses interspersed occasionally by a rather stylized lion carved with conch-like shells for a mane. If you walk besides the temple, you are dwarfed by its size. But aside from the large carvings, my eye was repeatedly caught by the smaller carved details of elephants or deer or apsaras (beautiful angel-like women) that were nondescript and would not have caught many visitors’ fancy. There was a couple of life-sized elephants but their trunks have suffered damage, unfortunately. Lots of people were milling around taking pictures of the various sculptures and the temples and, of course, we joined in too, unable to stop ourselves from taking pictures of everything so that our cameras could hold on to what our memories would soon lose.
TBy the time we finished with the Kailasa Temple, it was already more than an hour. We still had the rest of the Buddhist Caves and the Jain ones to cover—so we hastened towards them.
TInside the Buddhist Caves:
TThe Buddhist Caves at Ellora adjoin the Hindu ones. They are completely different from the Hindu caves as they were a sort of living complex of the ancient world. They were essentially monasteries that served as places of worship as well as living quarters for Buddhist priests as well as ones in training. As such, the Cave complex known as Teen Taal is a three-storeyed structure carved entirely out of a single massive rock. It has three floors each reached through an internal flight of stairs. Inside the complex, as you move from floor to floor, you are completely struck by the size, quantity and beauty of the works that represent scenes from the life of the Buddha as well as the Buddha seen in a variety of his avatars. You will find the Buddha enshrined in niches at the far end of each cave, often flanked by guardian deities, as we had seen all over Japan’s Buddhist temples.
TOther parts of the Buddhist cave complex consist of stupas or prayer halls with wonderful stone beamed ceilings (all carved out of large single stones) together with galleries from which one could receive a view of the proceedings down below. There are ornate carvings on the exterior walls and the little chapels along the side that sport the same elaborate design and decoration. It really is very very impressive, even breathtaking, and you will be continually struck by these masterpieces of great works staring you in the face at every turn. Incidentally, there are 35 caves in all, but there are a few that should not be missed. If you stick with just those, you will find the excursion very manageable, and you will not have missed anything significant either.
TBy this point, the sun was very hot and we could not face the thought of walking for over a mile to see the Jain caves. Luckily, we saw an E-vehicle stop from where we could hop into a buggy that would take us to the next venue. For a fee of Rs. 30 per passenger, we could board it (it looks like a large golf buggy) and off we went. It was indeed a very long ride to the Jain Caves, but we were there in about 10 minutes.
TExploring the Jain Caves:
TThere are only five Jain Caves at Ellora, but they are all equally noteworthy. Jainism’s founder, Mahavira, is the person depicted in stone here together with the teachers or Tithankaras that accompanied him in his mission. He was contemporaneous with the Buddha and shows a lot of the characteristics that we call the ‘lakshanas’ or signs of the Buddha such as the elongated ear-lobes, the ‘ush nisha’ (bump in the head), etc. There is one cave that is particularly note-worthy in this cluster of caves—it is known as Chotta Kailash (or Little Kailash). It is just as wonderful as the Hindu one, if on a much smaller scale. It too has a life-sized elephant as well as life-sized depiction of a contemporary male in the style and fashion of the era, in an exterior corner on the second floor. In the main shrine, Mahavir is depicted flanked by guardians. You can climb up to the upper floor here too so that you can admire the intricacy of the sculpture without craning your neck.
TFinally, Cave 29:
We re-entered the buggy and this time, we were driven another five minutes away to Cave 29, which actually turned out to be the most magnificent of this Jain Group of caves. It is huge, as might be expected, and was filled with massive tableau-like sculpture that seemed to depict whole scenes from Hindu mythology. In addition, there is a shrine in this cave that holds the shiv-ling. It is open on all four sides and each of the four sides is flanked by huge sculpture in the form of guardians. A large number of uniformly-placed pillars or columns support the entire structure and give it the sense of a huge prayer hall. This was the only cave we saw that was full of bats and it was eerie as they kept hissing and whistling and made me want to get out—really creepy!TBy the time we were ready to leave this cave, the buggy was waiting outside for us. We hopped into it and in five minutes, we were back at the main spot from where all exploration of the three sets of caves begins. It was not long before we called our driver and told him to pick us up from the entrance, but not before I spied some really gorgeous crystal stones being sold there for very reasonable prices. I picked up an amethyst beauty that weighed a ton as well as a much smaller one that was equally lovely. I had seen these crystal stones in Morocco, but had regretted not to have picked them up there. This was really inexpensive and I was really happy to have it.
TDrive Back to Aurangabad and a Very Relaxing Evening:
TThe drive back to Aurangabad took about half an hour. It left us with enough time to take a quick nap in our rooms before we freshened up and decided to go out to some place for dinner rather than staying put in the hotel itself. Before leaving for dinner, we had drinks in our hotel as we had carried wine and nibbles with us. A quick consultation on Lonely Planet led us to a pure vegetarian restaurant called Bhoj that served Rajasthani-Gujarati thalis. We called Raju and told him to meet us at the porch of the hotel and we were off. Bhoj was about a fifteen minute drive from our hotel, but we found it easily enough.
TDinner at Bhoj for Rajasthani-Gujarati Thalis:
TWhen we entered Bhoj, we did not find it crowded at all and were immediately seated by the very attentive staff who welcomed us warmly. Before we could even straighten up in our seats, a whole assembly line of servers materialized at our table and began piling food into our thali! There were at least seven of them who filled each little bowl with a variety of curries and dry vegetable dishes that we found really amazing. Plus, there were three types of rotis (Bajri rotis, plain rotis and puris)—all of which were fresh and piping hot. Rice was also served—again, two types: khichdi (with daal added to it) and plain rice with hot melted ghee poured on it. There was also aamras—which is squeezed fresh mango pulp! It is usually eaten with puris. So we had our first taste of the famous mangoes of India and we were thrilled. As is the case with Gujarati food, sweet and savory dishes are served at the same time and on the same platter—the idea being that every one of your taste buds is activated at the same time! We were hungry enough that we demolished our meal really quickly and relished every bit of it. As the evening progressed, large groups of people entered the place and were all swiftly seated. The wait staff told us frequently that everything was “unlimited” and that we could get more of everything! But, for one thing, we are small eaters and for another, there was just so much to eat that we did not ask for anything more than what was initially provided—and that too was too much for us! Overall, a really great meal. I should add that cumin water (called Jal Jeera) was provided to accompany the meal as was a very simple dessert—made with semolina, it is called sheera.
TReplete with our meal, we got back into our car and drove straight to our hotel where we had a really relaxing evening before calling it a night.
TUntil tomorrow…
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