What is that feeling, when you see those
sculptures you have read about, is in front of you. What is that feeling when
you watched the song “Ajanta Ellora belura shileyalli”, you wanted to visit
this place and today that dream has come true. My dream for the travel is more focused. I don’t want to visit places for the sake of travel.
I want to learn about culture, sculptures and history. I want to taste the different
varieties of vegetarian foods. ( I am vegetarian by choice.) I want to meet
people from different places and want to learn from them. I consider travel as a part of my life rather than life itself. But it has motivated me in many ways. It has made me to calm down a bit and think life in a different direction.
Ajanta is my first exploration visit to UNESCO heritage centre. I have visited Red fort, Qutub Minar, Mahabalipuram ,Old goa church with no notes. Pattadakal visit changed everything. I started reading about sculptures. It was not boring as I thought before. Ajanta made me to think that even if we move forward in technology, we cannot even reach 1% of what our ancestors have reached in art. We can’t even think about these kind of architectures surviving thousands of years. The reason might be creativity comes from the experience and meeting different kinds of people. Their observation skills, their life style is the reason they were very much creative. Today we are very much obsessed with technology and don’t want to experience even the smallest of things. We depend on technology to do it.
Ajanta is my first exploration visit to UNESCO heritage centre. I have visited Red fort, Qutub Minar, Mahabalipuram ,Old goa church with no notes. Pattadakal visit changed everything. I started reading about sculptures. It was not boring as I thought before. Ajanta made me to think that even if we move forward in technology, we cannot even reach 1% of what our ancestors have reached in art. We can’t even think about these kind of architectures surviving thousands of years. The reason might be creativity comes from the experience and meeting different kinds of people. Their observation skills, their life style is the reason they were very much creative. Today we are very much obsessed with technology and don’t want to experience even the smallest of things. We depend on technology to do it.
Ajanta, the beauty in its own way !!!
Wow !!! That is the feel you get when you visit Ajanta . I have not seen Taj Mahal. But I am blessed to have seen Ajanta. These excavated caves in semicircular scarp serve as sanctuaries for Buddhist monks. These caves were discovered in 1819 by band of British officers while hunting tiger. That is what I heard from my guide. The beauty of Ajanta is in its paintings which has decorated the interior of the caves. But unfortunately most of the paintings are fading away. Archaeological survey of India is doing its best to save those things. And there are more beautiful sculptures and the architecture in which it is carved.
How to reach Ajanta ?
We took train Pune - LJN express to Jalgaon from Pune at Tuesday 10 PM. Morning around 6 AM we reached Jalgaon. Arjun called the youth hostel Ajanta i.e. KP Park, Fardapur. Fardapur is 55 km away from Jalgaon. The information given by KP Park hotel staff misguided us and we took two buses and reached Fardapur by 9 AM. Check in and check out timing for KP Park is 9:30 AM.
You can also take Aurangabad train from Pune and take a bus to Fardapur.
Where to stay ?
KP Park is cheaper for youth hostel members. We paid 700 for double bed room. There is MTDC Holiday resort and guest house at Fardapur.
Ajanta : beginning
We took taxi from KP Hotel to T Junction. We can get buses and auto till T Junction. From T Junction we have to get entrance ticket for entering Ajanta. From junction we took bus to cave entrance where again we paid 10 Rs as entrance fee.
Once you enter the T junction, shop keepers will come behind you for selling their artistic stones. Even one person gave one stone as a gift to attract us. Do not entertain any such things. We took guide for 300 Rs. Generally official guide might cost around 1000 Rs but this guy has no certificate from government. But we took more time and he was not in hurry. Hence we gave him 500 Rs.
Except Monday, caves are open on all days from 9 AM to 5:30 PM.
Ajanta has two view points : one from the highest point and another near falls. You can directly take your vehicle to upper view point. Suppose you want to go to higher point from cave entrance, you have to climb more steps.
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| Upper view point |
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| Lower view point |
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| small water fall |
There are 30 caves in total. 5 of them are prayer halls and remaining are monasteries. Not all caves are important, but few can mesmerise you. If you have limited time you can visit Caves 1, 2, 9, 10, 16, 17, 19 and 26. Here I mentioned my experience of some of the caves in the order of visit.
Cave no 9
This 1st century BC cave might look very simple. But look at the faded paintings. They depict the life style of that generation.
Make sure that, you do not take pics with flash. It might damage the paintings.
This is the larger version of the cave no 9 and the earliest cave excavated. The fact that these caves are buried for 1600 years is the reason behind these faded paintings.
If you watch closely , the paintings are some what different. The colours are made up of coloured stone, quartz, rice, teak wood, vanaspathis. Even today the Italians, Japanese are fixing the painting for the caves. But we Indians rarely appreciate this art.
Cave no 11
Have a close look at the paintings. Have you seen these paintings any where ? May be you have seen the similar designs in saris. Many vendors have copied the art of Ajanta in their sari design. Not only saris, many other day to day designs are inspired by Ajanta paintings.
Cave no 12
If you see some of the damaged rocks, they are fixed with glass. Suppose if there is any possibility of collapse , the glass will break down first. So we get to know it is breaking down.
Look at stones it is made up of. The white stone is quartz rock. The greenish colour you find is copper rock. Coral rock is red in colour.
Cave no 13 was closed. Cave no 14 is similar kind of cave.
Cave no 15
Look at the above painting. The left one is original and right is corrected image based on the original painting.
Cave no 16
Since we didn't use flash, we were not able to click proper image. But looking at the pictures, you can imagine the glory of Ajanta. Most of the paintings were related to Buddha's teachings, life style of people and even you get to see 3 d images here. It looks like the image is looking at you, even if you change the position.
Cave no 19
This is one cave where you find both Hinayana and Mahayana style of architecture. This might be the most beautiful of all prayer halls in Ajanta. It belongs to 4th century AD.
You might even see the Buddha's image as paintings on the walls.
Cave no 20
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| 3d image |
Cave no 21
If you look at these carvings, you find similar styles in some pillars of houses. Even you find similar kind of things in Halebidu, Belur and Ikkeri
Cave no 26
Cave no 26 has one of the marvellous sculptures. The bigger sleeping Buddha is the most beautiful one in Ajanta. This cave is full of beautiful carvings.
Cave no 2
Cave no 2 has beautiful paintings on roof.
Cave no 1
I have just started reading about these stuffs. More we dig into these paintings, more we can understand history. So it is our responsibility to preserve this for future generation. Finally we have learnt more from our ancestors ; from ornaments to architecture, from fashion to dance, from spirituality to ambition. History also tells us not to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.
Ajanta is not only about architecture, sculptures and history, it is our responsibility. So please make sure that you behave responsibly.
Notes :
- For brief info about Buddhist architecture refer my post buddhist caves hinayana and mahayana
- Ajanta you can complete in half day , if you visit only important caves. But it is worth exploring for a day.
- If you are fit, try to climb steps to reach upper view point from cave entrance.
- Try to understand paintings, you will understand the beauty of Ajanta.
- There are musical pillars which make SaReGaMa sound. Try to enjoy the marvellous architecture.
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