India- Ellora

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After a 15 hour 3rd class overnight train ride, we arrived in Aurangabad in the early afternoon and took a taxi to our hotel. The train consisted of 3-tier bunks on opposite sides of a small aisle, and 2-tier bunks across the main aisle of the train car. Each of these small 8-person sections were open to the rest of the train car, with about 10 per car. People were generally quiet through the night, and didn't start talking until about 7 or 8 a.m. In one of the many moments of public spirituatlity we witnessed in India, the man sitting next to us performed his full morning meditation ritual on his bunk, mixing colorful mineral powders, and quietly completing his prayers. There was plenty of food available, as vendors boarded the train at each stop, making their rounds before the train departed again. Also, the chai-wallah came through every so often with his deep voice advertising for the beverage.

After arrival at our hotel we had a late lunch and cleaned up a bit in our room before heading out to Ellora, taking the opportunity to relax after spending two nights on the train.

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As we rode out to Ellora we passed the ruins of the 14th century fort at Daulatabad, seen above.

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Ellora! We began at the Jain caves at the far west end of the complex.

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The caves are carved into the face of the cliffs, and were created between 600 and 1000 C.E.

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Above I am standing on the second floor of one of the caves, with a central temple structure behind me in the courtyard.

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The multi-story structures of the caves were amazing, as were the intricate carvings that covered nearly every surface.

After exploring the Jain caves, above were photos of caves 32 and 33, we moved to the Dumar Lena, cave 29. The photos below are of this Hindu cave, which had an enormous interior space.

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In the above photo Joe is in the middle of cave 29, behind him is a small sanctuary, and the interior of the cave continued behind the sanctuary area so one could walk all the way around it without going inside. This was about as far into the cave as we dared to venture though, as there were hundreds (maybe thousands) of bats in the darker interiors of the cave. Their cries echoed off the walls, and we could see the interior ceilings were completely covered with the tiny creatures.

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Hindu carvings near the entrance to cave 29.

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We continued by heading to cave 16, the Kailasa Temple, the largest and most impressive structure at Ellora. Construction on the Siva temple began in the mid-7th century and took nearly 200 years, in which over 200,000 tons of rock were removed from the cliff.

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Joe near the entrance to the Kailasa Temple.


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It was difficult to get a good photo of the temple, but this shows the side of the central temple structure with the natural rock wall in the background (this was from the front looking to the rear wall). At the bottom of the rock wall a hallway ran around the three interior sides, it is visible in the pillars at the bottom left corner of the photo.














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Standing on the left side of the temple looking at the central temple structure to the multi-floor caverns on the oppositte side.
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In the hallway that ran around the exterior there were carvings covering every surface...















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Near the back of the temple. To get an idea of the scale, Joe is standing near the pillars in the bottom right corner of the photo.











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The intricately carved central structure.










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The inner sanctum of the temple where a Shiva linga sits atop the central altar.










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Paintings on the side of the temple, possibly from the 9th-11th centuries.













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We continued our exploration of Ellora at cave 15.











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Cave 15. There are four bats hanging from the ceiling, we didn't dare go in any further, as a bat flew at my head just after taking this photo.










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Making our way east along the cliff we came to the Buddhist caves. The chaitya hall (cave 10) was one of my favorites. The ribs carved into the roof imitate wooden architecture, and the stone mound at the far end of the hall imitates the shape of the stupa.













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More inside cave 10.













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More of the Buddhist caves at Ellora. Unfortunately we were not able to see caves 1-6 because the complex closed at 5 p.m., which meant that the workers locked up and left their posts at about quarter to five.













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Driving back to Aurangabad....










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Roadside fruit vendors.