My flight to Aurangabad from Delhi was ridiculously early in the morning. I was a bit nervous as the previous day about 350 flights had been disrupted thanks to the fog. So, as soon as I got up at the unearthly hour, I peered out of my window to check the fog situation. Reasonably clear. So I would make it to Aurangabad.
But the moment I sat in my taxi and we drove towards the airport, the fog suddenly thickened and the visibility went below five metres (I’m not joking!) and we progressed at a slower-than-snail’s-pace. Seeing the density of the fog I was quite convinced that I would not make it to Aurangabad.
But when I got the airport, I realised that most of the flights were taking off on time. So I would make it to Aurangabad after all.
At security check the official at the X-ray machine said that there seemed to be spoon in my bag. Spoon? I have a back pack which I carry on all my travels (and which I never empty out after a trip, but I mentally know what all is there in it). I was quite sure that there wasn’t a spoon in my bag and I told him so. He then asked me to empty out its contents (which, embarrassingly, took a rather long time). I was carrying all sorts of electronic gadgets – laptop, camera, lens, kindle, iPod but no spoon. He then ran the bag through the X-ray machine again (sans these aforesaid items) and surprise surprise the ‘spoon’ showed up again. So we went through the entire process of checking each and every pocket of the bag. Then we emptied the bag out totally and he X-rayed it for the third time. The bloody spoon showed up again. So I would not be getting to Aurangabad after all!
Then we checked the bag meticulously for the third time and thankfully found the offending spoon. We both had a good laugh and he asked me as to why I was carrying a spoon. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was travelling to South India recently and took it along, just in case! He then let me go (with my spoon!). So I would be getting to Aurangabad after all!
At Aurangabad, I was joined by my friend Sukesh and we set about exploring Aurangabad and its environs. The city, which lies to North-East of Bombay, is a convenient base from where to visit the caves at Ajanta and Ellora. Besides, there is a fair bit to see in Aurangabad itself. A bit of history – In 1653, Aurangzeb made a town called Fatehnagar his capital and renamed it Aurangabad (how's that for megalomania?). After Aurangzeb’s death, the ‘Nizam’ of Hyderabad took over control of the Deccan empire (see my last post) and moved his capital to Hyderabad.
The most famous monument of the town is Bibi Ka Makbara, the tomb of Rabia Durrani (wife of Aurangzeb). This tomb, completed in the 1670s, was built by their son Azam Shah, is a replica of the Taj Mahal but nearly not half as lavish (and not as big either). Hence it is often disparagingly known as the "poor man's Taj". We went late in the evening and the almost-setting Sun cast a beautiful glow on the monument. I might even venture to say that, in some respects, this monument is better than the Taj. Perhaps because the Taj is over-exposed and one’s expectations are sky high. Bibi Ka Makbara sadly doesn’t get the attention it deserves so it is a revelation.
On the outskirts of Aurangabad is the town of Khuldabad – it is famous as Aurangzeb's final resting place. Aurangzeb gets a lot of bad press but he cannot be faulted for being an austere man - he wanted his grave to be a very simple affair (in contrast with Bibi-Ka-Makbara, that of his wife). He stipulated that only money that he had earned sewing cloth caps could be used for building his grave. So it is a (pleasant) surprise to see a really non-flamboyant grave for someone who ruled the Mughal Empire for almost 50 years. Aurangzeb’s son and spiritual teacher are also buried there in this complex and there is also a robe worn by Prophet Mohammed (we couldn’t see it as it is only put on display once a year on the occasion of Eid).
There are a few famous temples close to Aurangabad, one of them Ghrishneswar Temple which supposedly houses one of the 12 jyotirlingas found in India. The queue was too long and we were in no mood to take off our shoes so we gave the temple a pass. Another tourist draw is Panchakki, a water wheel built in 1624. It draws water from a source six kilometers away and the falling water moves a machine that was used to grind grain.
Close to Aurangabad is the hill-top fortress of Daulatabad. It was first built in the 12th century by local rulers (it was then called Devagiri). It was conquered by Allaudin Khilji in 1296. However, it gained importance, and increased in size, when Mohammed Tughlaq decided to move his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad. Apparently, he moved lock, stock, and barrel – so all the inhabitants of Delhi were also made to move. And 17 years later he moved the capital (and it inhabitants yet again) back to Delhi. Imagine how pissed off they would have been with him. I’m sure his Facebook status update (‘Moving capital back to Delhi’) must have been met with comments like ‘wtf?’ and ‘again? you must be kidding!’
The fort has an intricate set of doorways, walls, fortifications, moats, and tunnels that were meant to confound and halt any enemy attacks on it. There is a 70-metre high victory tower (Chand Minar - tower of the moon), which can be seen for miles around. When we were there, there were a number of school groups that were also visiting. It was scary to see how flippantly some of the guardians were taking safety as there were a number of steep falls. Thankfully there were no mishaps.
Ellora (30 kms from Aurangabad) is known for its spectacular rock cut cave temples. There are 34 caves in all (12 of these are Buddhist, 17 Hindu, and 5 Jain). These were built between 600-1000 AD. The Kailasa temple (Cave # 16) is the masterpiece of Ellora. It was built in the 8th century by the Rashtrakutas who succeeded the Chalukyas in the Deccan region. Construction of this temple was started in 760 AD by Krishna I.
What is stunning about this temple is that it is apparently the world’s largest monolithic sculpture. It was carved out of a rock cliff - work began at the cliff top and then the artisans worked their way down. The sheer scale of the temple will astound anyone – almost 400,000 tonnes of rock were scooped out of this cliff converted into a temple. Ridiculously awe-inspiring.
Unfortunately, the Kailasa temple makes the other temples look rather mediocre in comparison despite the fact that they are really beautiful. We especially liked Cave # 10, a chaitya with a beautiful ribbed dome. Many of the Buddhist temples were either chaityas or viharas. Only a bit of googling later on made me aware of the difference between the two - chaityas were enclosures that house a stupa whereas viharas were resting places for monks.
The next day we did a day-long trip to Ajanta (about 100 kms from Aurangabad). I don’t need to say much about Ajanta as so much ink has been spilt on the beauty of the architecture, sculptures, and paintings of Ajanta.
The Ajanta complex is, like Ellora, a set of 30 caves lined up against a horse-shoe shaped gorge on the bend of the river Waghore. These caves are, again like Ellora, numbered in consecutive order (not on the basis of chronological sequence). However these caves, dating back from 200BC to 650AD, are much older than those at Ellora. They lay ‘lost’ for centuries until they were discovered by a British hunting party in 1819. Many of the Ajanta caves were Chaityas, Viharas, or simple temples. Some of them have beautiful colonnade of pillars, some have lovely paintings, and some have stunning sculptures, and some have all of these.
Caves 1 and 17 have the most iconic images of Ajanta. In the former, one can see the paintings of Padmapani and Vajrapani (Boddhisatvas) and the latter has the ‘flying Apsara’. We all think they’re frescoes (painting done on a wet surface) but apparently they’re not – technically they’re tempera (don’t ask!).
In many caves, flash photography is not permitted so as to prevent any damage to the fragile paintings. So naturally, there were a few random offenders. One fellow, when told by the minder not to use flash photography, got into an argument with him questioning why flash should not be allowed. Usually, I shy away from confrontation but this time I joined the argument and had a rather heated discussion with that unreasonable fellow. He didn’t pipe down even when the minder told him that his camera would be confiscated.
Apart from the scale and beauty and workmanship of the Ajanta and Ellora caves what really pleased me about them was that there was no graffiti at all there. A pleasant change from the usual ‘bunty loves sweety’ nonsense one gets to see on monuments in India.
On my last day in Aurangabad, I made the 4 hour drive (one-way) to the village of Lonar 170 kms away. This place is famous for its meteorite crater. This crater, a perfect circle 2 kms in diameter, was made approximately 50,000 years ago when a meteorite struck the area. Now at the bottom of the crater there is a lake with green water in it. It was a bit fascinating to see this bit of cosmological history. What surprised me was that there were hardly any tourists there.
That ended our brief trip to Aurangabad, definitely one of the more sight- and history-laden towns I’ve been to.
