I planned the Aurangabad trip with my dear friend Vijaylakshmi.
8 Dec 2016
We started from Hyderabad via Devgiri Express at 12:30 pm. I had carried a few chapatis and curries, while she got some veg biryani. The train reached the station at 11:20 PM. The driver was waiting for us and dropped us to hotel Ravi Raj. We were allotted room no 106 in the first floor, it was quite spacious and decent hotel.
9 Dec 2016
We got ready by 9 AM, had breakfast in the hotel. The food was really good but the quantity was too much. We had Aloo paratha and Gobi paratha.
We started for Ajanta at 9:30 AM. It was 100 km from our hotel. On the way we stopped at a view point from where we could see Ajanta. It took us 15 more minutes to reach Ajanta. Cars are not allowed inside and we need to go by bus from the car parking.
After seeing the number of steps at the cave, we decided to go by doli. Each doli costed Rs. 1000. They took us near the caves. Mostly all the caves had Buddha statues. The paintings had worn out, which made me very sad. The driver told us that a huge amount was sent from abroad for renovation but nothing is being done at ground.
It took us nearly two hours to see the caves. Photography is allowed inside but without flash, and as it is very dark inside, the pictures were very dark and not clear.
On the way back nearly at 4pm we had lunch in a dhaba - jawar roti, masala baigan and phalli chutney, it was very tasty!
We reached our hotel nearly at 6PM and were very tired so we took rest. We ordered for soup at night.
10 Dec 2016
We got ready early morning, had grilled sandwich for breakfast, then started by 8:30AM.
First we visited Jyotirlinga. It is the 12th Jyotirlinga, Grishneshwar temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. Cell phones are not allowed inside.
From here, we went to Ellora, which was quite closeby. The driver dropped us near the gate.
The rock mountain was carved from top to bottom. In the caves, there were lord Shiva, Buddha and Mahavir Bhagwans carvings depicting Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In the entrance there were Lord Shiva's cave and then caves 11-13 were of Lord Buddha. To see Mahavir's cave we had to go by bus Rs.21 to and fro. The upper caves were complete and better than ground ones. Caves 30 to 34 was of Mahavir. Very close to Ellora cave, we had heard about Vrindavan hotel meals 150/- ok food was just average.
Next we went to Bhadra Maruti temple, it was very difficult to reach because some road repair work was going on. It was saturday and there was a lot of rush. In this temple, Lord Hanuman was in sleeping posture. Next, we went to Aurangazeb and his guru's tomb in Khuldabad. It is in a very small area.
In Aurangabad, Pythani Silk sarees are very famous. The driver took us to a weavers shop but I did not like any of those colors so dint end up purchasing anything. Next, he took us to Devgiri quilla, it has 740 steps, just like the Hyderabad Golconda fort. We were very tired, we just saw it from outside, did not dare to get in as we were quite tired.
Last visit was Panchakki, which was too good! It is a water-mill, designed to use the energy generated by flowing water from a nearby spring to turn the large grinding stones of the flour mill. The driver was telling us if we properly distributed the water, it will be enough for whole Aurangabad.
I forgot to mention, that after Elora, we had been to Bibi ka Maqbara. Aurangazeb had made it in his wife's memory. It was a replica of Taj Mahal. It had occupied a very very large area, but the fountains, lights, nothing were working.
We returned to our hotel at 7pm. On the way, we had tea and pakoras. We only had soup at night.
Night 10PM, the driver came to drop us to the railway station, we waited in the waiting rom. We caught the train on time and reached hyderabad at 12:30 PM.
- Geeta Chakravarthy
Also check out my other travel adventures at the link below:
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