5. Aurangabad - history at its best

Visiting Aurangabad is like having all your history lessons in school coming alive. It is really amazing how a terrain (Sahyadri ranges) which is so difficult – rocky, dry and hot – could have inspired such a level of artistry. Apparently, the layered formation of the rocks due to volcanic activity down the ages is ideal for rock hewing and sculpting. 

The rocky Sahyadri terrain

Layered basaltic rock, soft when hewn and hardens with exposure

We made a short 4 days trip, from Pune, by car and that by our standard was a little rushed. It took us just over 4 hours to reach Aurangabad from Pune so the first day itself we visited the Ellora Caves.

ELLORA CAVES

The Ellora caves are about 30 km from Aurangabad. I had wanted all my life to see these caves because they are the only ones of their type in the world – ie a temple complex carved out of rocks.

 The Hindu Caves

Just so you know we actually went there!

The carved pillar outside Kailash Cave

Durga killing the Demon, 'Mahishasur Mardini'

Shiva-Parvati 'panigrahan' (wedding)

Ravana holding up Kailash Parvat with Shiva and Parvati on it 'Ravan ki khai'

The Kailasa (cave 16) is the pick of the lot. Hewn out of a single rock it is really a marvel to behold. It took about 100 years to make. 

Other important caves which one must cover are Vishwakarma (cave 10), Ramesvara (cave 21) and the Jain Group (caves 32 to 34) to see a representation of Budhist, Brahmanical and Jain art. 

The Budhist Caves

Buddha and his incarnations

Vishwakarma, 'The Carpenter'. The ribbed roof is an imitation of wooden beams.

Receiving the Buddha's benediction

We had a very good time guiding Dennis and Maggie through the tales and figures depicted in the caves and surprised ourselves with the extent of stuff we knew about all three religions without ever having taken much formal interest in any of the scriptures.  

DAULATABAD

Midway to the Ellora caves is Daulatabad, so on the way back we stopped to re-visit a page from our Indian history books. Mohammad bin Tughlaq the maverick ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, shifted his capital from Delhi to Devagiri in 1327, and renamed it Daulatabad. The central location of this place and the Fort, made it an ideal capital city but Tughlaq made the mistake of shifting the entire population as well. 

Daulatabad Fort

The 6m cannon made from 5 metals

In front of the 60m high 'Chand Minar' with a new found friend!

KHULDABAD

We also covered the old city of Khuldabad on the same evening and turned another page of our history books. Khuldabad, has a fortified wall with 7 gates around it, built by Aurangzeb. After making a difficult entry over a paved street we found the dargah of Shaikh Burhan ud din Garib Chishti. Khuldabad is also called the Valley of Saints because several Sufi saints resided here in the 14^th century and it is said that the graves of 1500 sufi saints are located here. The dargah of Zar Zari Zar Baksh, Burhan-ud-din and Zain-ud-din are here. The graves of Aurangzeb and his general Qamar-ud-din Khan and that of Asaf Jah I, the first Nizam of Hyderabad are also in this town. 

Aurangzeb's grave

As in life so in death Aurangzeb embraced simplicity. We have always believed him to have been a ruthless, religious fanatic and seeing his simple grave I realised that he took his religious tenets in letter and not so much in spirit (so important to retain your rationality).  Aurangzeb knitted and sold skull caps and copies of the Quran to collect money for his burial space, during the last years of his life. The Nizam added a marble porch and arch on the request of Lord Curzon in 1760. The tombs of Aurangzebs second son, Azam Shah, his wife and daughter are also in the same enclosure.

In a shrine near the Dargah of Shaikh Burhan-ud-din, a sufi saint who studied under Nizamuddin Auliya, are preserved some hair of the Prophet's beard. The Khadim or caretaker of the Dargah told us that once a year a gown worn by the Prophet, and kept within the dargah, was displayed for the general public.

The gown worn by the Prophet is kept inside this room

BIBI KA MAQBARA

On the second day we started our sightseeing with the Bibi ka Maqbara which is also called Dakhin ka Taj in the local language, with absolute justification. If you saw the picture below in a hurry you would think it is the Taj Mahal.

'Dakkhin ka Taj'

Rabia Durrani's Tomb

Inside the mausoleum

It was built during the reign of Aurangzeb, but probably by his son, Azam Shah, in memory of his mother, Rabia Durrani, whose tomb lies in the center of the mausoleum. As per the “Twarikh Namah” of Ghulam Mustafa, the cost of its construction was Rupees 6,68,203 – 7 annas. This majestic and exquisite structure can be seen from a height, from any part of the city. A mosque in the vicinity was later built during the rule of the Nizam Sikandar Jahan, it is said, as a penance for ordering the removal of the structure and taking it to Hyderabad.

 

THE AURANGABAD CAVES

Two kilometres from the Bibi ka Maqbara, on a hill, are the Aurangabad Caves. They appear to be similar to the Ajanta caves with striking similarities.

A view of the Aurangabad Caves

 

AJANTA CAVES

On the last day we visited the Ajanta caves - saving the best for the last, or so we thought.

The Ajanta caves are a 105 km from Aurangabad. They date back from 200 BC to AD 650, predating the Ellora caves. There are 30 Buddhist caves cut in a horse shoe shaped gorge on the Waghore river. 5 of the caves are chaityas (prayer hall) and 25 are viharas (residences of monks). Since 1983 they have been a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some restoration activity is taking place. Frankly I was a little disappointed seeing the Ajanta caves because the walls are almost bereft of all paintings. The remnants of the paint can be seen on the statues. One can only imagine and wonder at the magnificence of these caves at one point of time.

These caves survived all these years because they were abandoned after the reign of Harishena in 480 BC and the decline of Buddhism in India, and the jungle engulfed them. Till on 28^th April 1819, a British officer, John Smith, accidently discovered the entrance to a cave (no 10). 

The caves in a horse shoe formation

The paints completely worn off

The reclining Buddha

Buddha and disciples in lamplight

Restoration exhibits

The pigments used in the paintings are minerals available locally except Lapis lazuli, which was imported. Here is a picture of that stone my sister bought for keepsake.

Lapis lazuli

The ASI has shut down 4 of the Ajanta caves as their condition is severely deteriorated. The monuments are being replicated at an expense of Rs 90 crores with a loan from Japan, 3kms from the original one. I feel that will give the tourists a better idea for as of now the walls are practically blank.                                                      

By the afternoon we had had enough of history and the sapping heat so we just relaxed (read played cards) the rest of the day. Early, the next day we started back for the cooler climes of Pune, promising ourselves another trip to see the remaining places.