Ellora , Ajanta , Elephanta  and Daulatabad 


Ajanta and Ellora have been haunting from childhood on wards ; especially the cave paintings of Ajanta and the story that the whole Kailasa Temple including the courtyard was carved out of a single rock.

Ellora

Not just this, some narratives were skeptical that ordinary mortals could not have accomplished such a mammoth feat and that the involvement of extra-terrestrial beings was considered a possibility !!
There were descriptions of the presence of ducts carved out of solid rock some 1000 years back through which an ordinary human being can not pass through !
Well, then .. who could have made this ?
A visit became a must.
Nothing of the sort was detected anywhere in the temple and this writer and his Canadian friend used torches to investigate every nook and corner.
As for the structure and its immensity.. well, mind blowing indeed!
Thousands of tons of solid rock have been removed from the premises to make way for a courtyard of such a proportion and a lot of elephant idols in a row are shouldering the entire temple.
At least that is how it appears !
Amusing is the fact that if it took them close to some 150 years or so to complete the task started by  previous generations , converting a huge hillock of solid granite into a temple complete with a towering pole and a compound.
Its to be seen to be believed !

               Another view




Ajanta
Had there been no accidental finding of the caves by an English hunter in the early 19th century,
these caves would still have been hidden from our view for another good length of time, perhaps !
But what a treasure the gentleman found out in the ravines replete with forest cover.

                                                      View from the other side of river

Another possibility would have been a rampant mutilation of such a monumental work like what happened at Badami Caves in Karnataka.


                       A bird's eye view

The paintings and their finesse are to be viewed from close to be believed.

Some 1200 years back (and some few tells me its more than 2000 years) these craftsmen had perfected a methodology to make any granite surface into a canvas.
white plaster is seen to have been added everywhere to make the granite surface suitable for painting using natural colour made out from what all herbs, rocks and charcoal , God only knows , and is still standing tall , testimony to the craftsmanship of yore.
The men on duty at different caves caution people not to use flash lights lest the old paintings lost its clarity any further.
The small river gives the ravine a pristine look and there are plenty of people selling fruits along side the river from whence one can have a distant view of the entire caves.
Cleaning of the area is done well by those on duty and the whole area is home to a large number of monkeys.
Good past time.


                        Living Quarters

Inside the Living Chamber of a monk

The Eiffel Tower would eventually fall , so would the Petronas in Malaysia and Burj Khalifa .. but the Ajanta Caves and its paintings would still be there to entertain the coming generations for a long long time .

The living quarters of monks are small miniature chambers where one could barely stand up.

A raised platform for one person to sleep was all the luxury inside.

Elephanta Caves
The very journey by boat for about an hour from Gateway of India in itself is a welcome relief from the city of Mumbai.
The escorting sea gulls which circle around the boat for corn flakes or other food items by the passengers is another interesting sight.
Once at the island , one could either walk on the sea bridge some 200 mtrs or take the waiting toy train.

Next is a climb amidst stalls on either side exhibiting wares which include a lot of hand-crafted items.
The narrow passage intermixed with stairs takes one to a level area where one is welcomed by the one and only important structure - that of Trimurti , which is a Shiva statue with three faces depicting that of creator, preserver and destroyer.
On one side we find the idol of Ardhanarishwara (half male - half female) and on the left it is Shiva Parvati.
Of course there are few other caves either half done on abandoned .. but the first one catches all attention.
The island was extensively used for a long time for defensive purposes by the Portuguese and the abandoned canons stand testimony to this.
The beautifully crafted elephant at the Historical Museum compound , Mumbai was once part of the treasures in the island.
A futile attempt to ship the statue to England had to be abandoned once it broke , because of its mammoth size and weight and the re-assembled elephant stays put at the zoo and garden compound Mumbai.







Daulatabad Fort

Daulatabad Fort has got nothing much to do with art and craft , but still the legend says its fame as an unconquerable fort for long attracted the invaders.

                                                     Imposing fortification at the bottom

The Mughals conquered it allegedly by deceit and even shifted India's capital to this place, which is some 1000 kms away, for about 17 years !

                                                                  At the apex

It is a difficult climb with some 700 odd steps - some very disproportionate in the dark corridors to deceive the invading attackers.

                                                 Visitors at the canon spot

Lot of false doorways which open in to nowhere and some steps to the terrace which is a ploy..
in fact the path which leads up is a climb down sometimes !

View from the top

Canons , narrow bridges ,trap doors and what not.
Buzzing school children were seen enjoying all the fun