And the temple builder; he kept on carving...
Aurangabad is a village that has grown into a city which cannot yet
decide if it wants to be a village or a city.
The roads are incredibly bad (I now have this image of the
"wegdek" bus journey from Jaisalmer to Ajmer);
the traffic is just as chaotic and messy as anywhere else, but there are
also more luxurious shops, more rich Indians
and quite a few more private cars. One does not visit Aurangabad to see
Aurangabad, but to see the world famous
caves of Ellora and Ajanta. So was I.
The Ellora caves
After I had got off the train at 4:30am and had a lovely bit of extra
sleep at the station until 7:30am, I started
organising things (hotel, train tickets, breakfast) and afterwards I got on
the coach to the Ellora caves. Most special of
all is the Kailasa cave (number 16). This is cave is enormous; and it was
carved out of one piece of rock (from top to bottom).
It is very impressive. It is really hard to imagine that people have done
all this work with just one little hammer and
chisel.
It may explain why Indians are so fond of everything that involves
hammers and hitting. Has your car broken down?
Take a hammer and bang on it! What is the most popular musical instrument?
Yes, indeed - a drum kit. What do they do with
dogs, apes and all other unholy animals that roam the streets freely? Just
hit them with a stick. The metal industry is
forever blossoming over here. I think it is due to the fact that people like
to hit and hammer. Oh well, I'd better
stop this little interruption.
The caves also have many paintings, but these have almost faded. It's a
big shame. However, I think India has finally come
to understand that there is something like cultural heritage. With might and
main, people are working on refurbishments (I
really brace myself when I hear someone hammer in a cave or when I notice a
sign saying, 'Watch out; chemical conservation
process'). The donations come from the World Heritage Fund and tourists. The
locals pay 10 rupees per person; people like
me pay... 250 rupees. There have to be some differences, haven't there? And
then to think that the government has lowered the
admission prices by 50% since 1st October, for entry to the Tah Mahal (Agra)
used to be 20 USD and now it is only 10 USD.
I wonder what will be the result.
The Ajanta caves
The Ellora caves are situated at a 'local bus distance' (30 kilometres)
from Aurangebad, but as Ajanta is much further
away (at a distance of 120 kilometres) it seemed impossible to reach this by
coach. So, I went to the local tourist
information office and booked a luxurious tour. In a posh jeep (I was
allowed to sit at the front, in spite of the fact I
had taken a shower) and with 5 other fellow countrymen I crossed the highway
(World Heritage Fund sponsoring?) to Ajanta
at a high speed. I really enjoyed it. While we had to keep sellers of all
sorts at a distance, we explored the caves with
the help of a professional guide. It is really incredibly beautiful! I
personally find these caves more beautiful than those
of Ellora, but that is probably because they have been better preserved (the
Ajanta caves were only discovered in 1817,
while the Ellora caves had been known long before). These temples have been
carved from rocks. The paintings on the walls
are very artistic and it appears that a century or two B.C. and some seven
centuries later a high form of civilisation had
been established here. You can also see figures like the [meander]
returning. There are also images which closely resemble
Japanese sumo wrestlers. The world was already very small then!
After two days of having been dipped into culture from head to toe, it is
high time for... THE BEACH!!!!
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