Aurangabad (Adjanta and Ellora Caves)

A brief two-day side trip from Mumbai, I arrive in Aurangabad, named for the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb (the son of Shah Jahan). My main reason for this detour is to see the World Heritage Sites of the Adjanta and Ellora caves.

Adjanta consist entirely of Buddhist caves, carved out of the sides of hills, circa 2nd Century B.C. to 6th Century A.D. The caves are not only entirely monolithic, being carved out of solid rock from front-to-back/top-to-bottom, but are painted with expert precision and depth using only six colors. These interior paintings, at least the ones that have survived the years as a testament to vivid storytelling, are breathtaking. What dimension in the images! What expression captured in the faces! What detail and thought in the clothing, jewelry, and positioning of the subjects! The foresight in planning and skill in creating these caves and paintings is phenomenal. The last cave holds within a some twenty-foot sleeping/reclining Buddha (very rare position for Buddha sculptures), a piece attempting to capture the moment he is attaining Nirvana. My breath is taken away in amazement of the detail and serenity of the piece. I actually gasp. Guidebooks recommend if you only have one day to see Ellora, but as a painter, I disagree.

Ellora consists of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves also carved out of the sides of hills, dated slightly after the Adjanta caves. These caves, unfortunately, do not have a legacy of cave paintings as most have been destroyed with centuries of cave usage, but Ellora does exhibit a more detailed (even busy) exhibition of monolithic artistry. The most impressive of the caves are a Jain temple, in which lotus flowers are carved from the ceiling and individual strands of hair can be seen in the statues, and a Shiva temple, carved as though a temple was placed in a cavity on the side of the mountain. This Shiva temple, in face, looks as though one has stumbled across a proper temple. It is as ornate on the outside as any temple constructed from other materials, and is fully functional inside. It is completely monolithic, save the Shiva Linga on the inside. Another testament to the thought put into these caves, the Shiva temple has scenes from religious stories on exterior walls that face the direction of regions in which the stories took place.

At the caves, I am one of three foreign tourists brave enough to head out in the heat. It's pretty hot in Aurangabad and I'm certain the Sun is gunning for my demise. The majority of the visitors to the caves are Indian families on vacation. The day I head to Ellora, I am moderately mobbed by several vacationing families who want to take photos with me. At first, a little girl asks me if I am in the movies. ("Really?" I ask myself.) Silly me, I open my mouth with my clear American accent and the little girl and her family, along with a few other families who have caught on to my identity, corner me into a photograph. Apparently, to some Indians, it's a "cool" thing to have a photo with a foreigner you happened to stumble across on your summer family vacation. The same crowd also grabs a bewildered Spanish couple for the same purpose. In my future travels when without family, I will wear only saris and pretend to be mute to avoid such a scene. (Note, this is not the normal behavior for all Indians, but definitely provides for an amusing story.)