India- Ajanta and Aurangabad

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On Thursday April 2nd, we headed out to Ajanta to see the Buddhist cave complex which dates from the 1st and 2nd centuries B.C.E. to about 650 C.E.
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It was incredibly hot, and the sun was brutal, thus my attempt to cover my dark hair. This is in front of cave 1.
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The interior of cave1, which dates to about the 6th-7th centuries. The paintings in this cave were the most spectacular.
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Paintings inside of cave 1.
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I believe the above and below photos are cave 2.
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The exterior of cave 9.
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One of the chaitya halls at Ajanta.
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Paintings on the ceiling of the chaitya hall.
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Me inside the hall.
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The painted porch to one of the caves (either 16 or 17).
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Again, either 16 or 17... I was really pleased to see that the caves were lit at a low light level with L.E.D. lights, keeping the heat levels down in the caves. Also, the guides were really aware of conservation techniques, and helped the security guards to keep visitors from touching the walls or using a flash.
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More of the wall paintings....
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And some more of the spectacular Ajanta paintings....
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The exterior of cave 19.
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The interior of cave 19, another chaitya hall.
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Looking back at the caves that we had already visited. In early April the surrounding forest was completely dry, and the Waghore River that flows beneath the caves consisted of only a few isolated pools of water. In looking at other photos of Ajanta it is hard for me to believe that for many months of the year the forest is lush and green.
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Outside of cave 26 we ran into a group of art students. We chatted with some of them for a while, they were quite sweet.
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The interior of cave 26.
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Sculpture inside of cave 26.
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More inside of cave 26.
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I think that 26 was my favorite of the chaitya halls.
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Taking a break infront of 26, before heading back the way we came.
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This is an unfinished cave, but it gives you an idea of how they carved the temples out of the cliffside.
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A highly detailed carving on the porch of one of the caves.
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More cave interiors....
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...and some more cave interiors....
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....and some more.
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I like the combination of paintings and sculpture in this cave. By this point in the day we had each drank our 1 liter bottles of water, and were ready to head to a cooler location. While the cave interiors were tolerable, even to be outisde in the shade was incredibly hot, easily over 40 degrees C (104 F).
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On our way out we passed a tree full of long-tailed monkeys.
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Driving back to Aurangabad. Throughout India I loved that even the simplest everyday items were covered in surface decoration, like this truck. While the front is a mild example, the backs and sides were often full of floral decoration or images of Hindu deities.
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Scooters were a really common mode of transport, sometimes we would see families of 4 or 5 riding on just one scooter.
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A bangle shop in the Aurangabad market.
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Spice shop.
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Fruit stand.
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Back at our hotel, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool before having dinner and relaxing with some English language CNN.
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