The Artistic Caves of Ajanta and Illora in the State of Maharashtra in India

There are many artistic ancient places in India, which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world. The foreigners are particularly interested in such places as they are more interested in such artistic places. The caves of Ajanta and Illora in the State of Maharashtra in India are such ancient and artistic specimens pertaining to Buddhism and Jainism. Lot of tourists keeps on visiting these caves to enjoy the pictures of the ancient times in these caves.

One can easily reach these caves by getting down at Aurangabad railway station via Manmad on Tapti Valley railway line from Surat to Bhusaval. These caves can also be reached easily by the hired car or taxi from Mumbai or Poona. Such taxis charge around Rs.2000 ($50) for the round trip to these caves from Poona. Illora caves are around 18 miles away from Aurangabad station. Lots of taxis are available from Aurangabad at the rate of Rs.300 for the round trip. The caves of Illora are based on three religions, namely Buddha, Jains, and the Brahmins. There are in all 34 caves at Illora. The caves from 1 to 12 are of Buddha religion, caves from 13 to 29 of Brahmin religion, and the last five caves from 30 to 34 are pertaining to Jain religion. All these caves are full of the life stories of the Lord Buddha and the various tirthankars of Jain religion. These caves of Illora are said to be made before around 1200 years. In spite of these many years, the colors of all the pictures have remained intact. The present day artists are really surprised on this count and are still not able to find out the exact constituents of the colors used to make these pictures. It takes around one full day to view all the caves in details. You certainly shall need to hire a guide services to see all these caves. The guide charges are Rs.100 ($2.5) per day of around eight hours. These guides are approved by the Government and have been issued with the specific badges.

The caves of Ajanta are located around 90 miles away from Aurangabad city. There are lots of transportation means available like taxis and buses from Aurangabad and usually takes around 3 hours to reach these caves from Aurangabad. These caves of Ajanta are built before 1000 years. There are in all 27 caves here at Ajanta. Out of these the pictures in the caves number 1, 2, 16, and 18 are still protected nicely. However, the pictures in the remaining caves have been destroyed and cannot be seen. All the caves at Ajanta are having pictures pertaining to Lord Buddha only. The complete life history of Lord Buddha has been painted on the walls of these caves. It starts from his birth and ends at the Nirvana of Lord Buddha. All these events are so nicely presented that you start thinking that perhaps they are real and Lord Buddha shall emerge from those pictures to bless you. The outer terraces of the caves are also painted with the pictures of various social customs of that time. The English speaking guide services may also be availed while watching these caves as the guide would give you the complete historical and ancient details of each picture. It can take around one full day to view all the pictures of these caves.

There is one Government guest house available at around 3 miles away from Illora caves. Some of the tourists who want to stay near the caves prefer to stay here. However, it is absolutely essential to book the accommodation in this guest house at least one month in advance. The standard South Indian and the Maharashtrian style meals are available here. There are couples of good hotels at Aurangabad having two star facilities. These hotels remain full almost all the time due to the heavy traffic of tourists. Hence, ensure the early reservation in these hotels.

I have visited these gorgeous caves more than once and have enjoyed my visits each time in spite of my very limited knowledge on arts. That is the reason I would strongly recommend all my AC friends to visit these fantastic caves at least once during their visit to India.