Ajanta Caves (18MAR)

We departed Aurangabad and headed for Ajanta caves in route to Jalgaon. The caves were built by/for Buddhists between the 2nd century BC and 5th century AD and some were never completed allowing you to see what they would have looked like as the sculptors chipped away at the cliff-face. The completed caves were painted with incredible artwork depicting events in Buddha's life, his past incarnations and day to day life of the time. Many of these painting have been preserved through the centuries, most likely because the caves were 'lost,' until British soldiers re-discovered the caves in 1819 while hunting a tiger or on maneuvers (depending on the version of the story you wish to believe). There are 30 caves cut into the cliff face, which is the outside of a bend in the river valley that was dry during my visit, but is filled with waterfalls and a river during monsoon season.

The first cave has some of the best and most well preserved paintings and Maxie, one of the members of the tour, had a book of 1000 paintings to see before you die and one of the paintings is found in this cave. The caves are both monasteries for monks to live in, and temples with stupas for worship. Although some of the paintings have crumbled due to age and weathering, others were vandalized by early visitors, which is quite sad to see.

Due to the scenic location and impressive state of preservation, I think these caves were even more impressive than the caves at Ellora. The only reason I would discourage people from visiting would be due to the city of aggressive vendors that has sprung up in front of the parking lot. However, these can be avoided by visiting the site via the view point on the opposite bank of the river, which has a trail that leads you down to a series of bridges you can cross to the ticket office and entrance to the caves. And the view of the full valley is quite amazing from the viewpoint and hike down as well, and would make the trip worth it even if the vendors were not discouraging the use of the regular parking lot.

In high season the caves are reportedly packed with Indian tourist. We were fortunate to visit off season and on a week day so the crowds were minimal, however that made us even more of a target for vendors. Despite emptying my wallet of all money except for ticket fees and enough for a bottle of water, I still ended up with postcards, geodes, and small carved stones... I couldn't believe it myself.