Passage To India - Touring

Aurangabad

    Tuesday evening we took the train to Aurangabad and checked into the Taj Residency hotel. This is a beautiful hotel and we were tempted to just spend a day relaxing at the hotel but our main purpose in coming to Aurangabad was to visit the caves of Ellora and Ajanta.



Temple at Ellora



    The term "caves" is actually a misnomer. In the 2nd century B.C. until the 14th century A.D. monks lived and worked at these sites (and many others throughout India) creating temples and living spaces for themselves, workers and travelers along the Silk Road. The earliest monks were Buddhist but they were joined by Jain and Hindu monks.



Decoration at Ajanta



The Ajanta caves were created first and then work moved to Ellora. The work was mostly funded by Indian royalty but also by dontations from wealthy patrons. In the 1300s when the Mughals moved into India bringing Islam, the funding stopped and work ceased. Since Ellora was more accessable it continued to be used for residences and hotels and thus suffered erosion, damage, looting and vandalism. Ajanta, which is more remote, was soon covered by the jungle and largely forgotten. In the early 1800s the British discovered Ajanta and excavated it. The carvings at Ajanta are in better condition and many examples of the wall decoration remain. It helps you get a glimpse of how colorful the temples must have been. At Ellora there is very little decoration left but the temples are larger and the carving more intricate.

    At Ellora some of the temples were carved from the top down (like the one at right) and some from the front back. (Note the wide walkways added by the British to make it easier for the tourists and I do appreciate that.) Its amazing how they could get the columns lined up and rooms square. The tour guide said the Buddhist monks were highly educated and very good at mathmatics but remember this was as long as 1300 years ago!

     This was a residence for the monks but they would also house workers and travelers. Artists would hear about Ellora from people traveling the Silk Road and would come here to find work. Some of the artists came from China, Europe and Africa so you can see those influences in the carvings. The rooms were small and the beds were carved out of rock (and not very comfortable; I hope they had sleeping pads).

   The most outstanding feature at Ellora is the Kailasanatha Temple which was carved from the top down and is the largest carved temple in the world. It measures 164' long by 108' wide and 95' tall at the apex. (So even though I heard that it was larger than any European churches that is not the case. St. Peter's Bascillca in Rome is 448 feet high at the top of the dome which is the tallest dome in the world.) The intricate carvings on this temple are impressive and even more so because of when it was built (8th century A.D.) and how it was carved from the top down out of solid rock.

   This view shows the elephant statues that support the main temple and continue around all sides. It also shows the solid rock from which the temple was carved with rudimentary tools (no dynamite, no jack hammers). This place makes Mount Rushmore look like child's play!

 This carving tells a story of how one of the god's wives was stolen by a demon god and monkey gods were used to help get her back. I think it looks like decorations in Egyptian pyramids.

   The photo on the left shows one of the two elephants that guard the entrance to the temple. The photo on the right is a carving on the side of the temple (I forget if it is a god or just a dancing girl). You can still see some of the decoration that once covered all the walls of the temple. It must have been an amazing sight!

  

    Ajanta was built between 200 B.C. and 700 A.D. at which time work moved to Ellora. Ajanta is built into a crescent shaped hill that follows a bend in the river so it was a dead end for travelers.

You only went there if that was your destination. That isolated location protected the caves so they are in better condition than the caves at Ellora. All the caves at Ajanta are Buddhist. 

   The highlights of Ajanta are the wall paintings and decoration that can still be seen. It is mindboggling that it is 2200-1300 years old and still here.

 

    Another of Ajanta's treasures is the 23 foot long reclining Buddha.

There was a large group of Buddhist monks visiting Ajanta on the same day as us. (They had come to Aurangabad on the same train as we did.) They went into each temple and chanted which gave a lovely atmosphere to the temples. The monks were both male and female and were happy to take a photo with Mike.

I thought this was a

very ecumenical sight.

=====

On the way to Ellora we stopped at Daulatabad Fort. This fort was built in the 14th century on the site of an earlier fortification, Devagiri. The defenses were so ingenious that everyone was afraid to attack it so it never saw any fighting. It is the best preserved medieval fort in the world. One of defenses will sound familiar to Indiana Jones fans: access to the fort is via a long slopped alley way that was lined with buildings on either side. If an enemy force approched, they could roll large boulders down the alley and knock them back.

    The fort could only be entered via a long, dark and narrow corridor that twisted and turned as it ascended the 600 foot hill upon which the fort was constructed. The corridor had false doors that would lead to a dead end or would open to a shear drop into a crocidile infested moat. As we walked through the corridor behind our guide holding a torch we could hear squeaking but we couldn't see anything. Mike took some pictures of the ceiling not knowing what he was aiming at. OK, I knew the squeaking was probably bats but I had no idea there were so many (I did have a hat on thank goodness).

   The other things they planned to do should anyone dare to attack the fort included dropping boiling oil or water on them from ports in the ceiling, setting fires to fill the tunnel with smoke and positioning soilders by the windows to chop off the head of anyone who looked out to see where they were.



A young woman at a temple in the fort



At 210', the second tallest minar in India.



=====

   Back in Aurangabad we visited Bibi-Ka-Maqbara also known as the Baby Taj. It was built by the grandson of Shah Jahan, the man who built the Taj Mahal.  It is patterned after the Taj Mahal but is about 1/3 the size and is built of alabaster covered with clam shell and milk plaster. It needs some repairs but it has been difficult to find a mixture that works as well as the original.

    We also went to a factory that makes himroo and pashmini shawls and clothing. They use 19th century looms from England and wool, silk and cotton thread from Kashmir. The designs are very labor intensive and it can take as much as six months to make a sari. A sari like that would be for a very special occasion like a wedding.

Hyderabad

    From Aurangabad we flew to Hyderabad to visit our friends Mahesh and Shravani. Mahesh used to work with me at UPS and they lived in Louisville for a couple of years. After leaving UPS he decided to move back to India. They are expecting their first baby in February. They live on the top floor of a 5-story apartment building. Mahesh works nearby and rides his motorbike to work. He also has a car, a Maruti Suzuki Ritz.

   On Friday night they took us to a lake where there are many restaurants and entertainment options. We went to a restaurant that is themed on Indian movies and was decorated with movie posters and life size action figures.

     On Saturday we went to the Salar Jung Museum. Unfortunately they did not allow cameras inside as there were several interesting exhibits I would have liked to photograph. One of their treasures is the Italian staute, the Veiled Rebecca. The veil is so finely carved you can see the woman's face under it. You can see it on the museum's web page, http://www.salarjungmuseum.in/.

That night we went to the Sound and Light show at Fort Golconda. You listen to an audio recording telling the history of the fort using actors to portray the people who lived in the fort. Dramatic lighting is used to bring the voices to life as if people were still living in the fort. It was a very entertaining show.

     On Sunday we attempted to go to a beautiful temple but it was closed for lunch. The science museum was across the street and had a sweeping view of the government center and the city. There was a public park next to the museum that displayed temple sculptures that are centuries old. I was amazed that they would trust placing the sculptures in such an open place (that would not work in the U.S.).

   When we got back to the apartment Mahesh took Mike for a ride on his motorbike.

    After Shravani cooked for us and we watched a cricket match on TV we went to a shopping mall and then to the movie theatre to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The movie was in English and it felt pretty similar to being in a movie theater back home except you could order food to be delivered to your seat - sweet!

Delhi



Lotus Temple, Delhi

   On Monday, Nov. 29 we flew to Delhi, the last stop on our tour. We had two days before we boarded our train tour, Palace On Wheels. The first day we hired a car and driver and went about on our own. The second day we had a car, driver and tour guide from Palace Tours (included with the Palace On Wheels tour). Our first stop was the Lotus Temple, a Buddhist temple. The interior was very simple (no photography and no talking allowed).

Delhi is the original or old part of the city. The British built New Delhi where all the government buildings are located. This is the capital of India. The President's Palace and the legislature buildings are located on the Raj Path, a long boulevard with parks along both sides, similar to the national mall in Washington D.C.

Unlike our White House, though, the President's Palace is not open for tours; only the monkeys are free to go in. 

    We also visited the Imperial Hotel, a magnificent classic hotel. Even though we were not staying there, they were so nice to us. They let Mike sit in the vintage car.

The hotel was decorated with portraits of Maharajas and other Indian dignitaries as well as Indian art and craft objects. The bar had a wonderful wrap-around mural depitcing the Indian landscape and scenes from India's past.

This is the Birla Mandir, a Hindu temple. Another place where cameras were not allowed inside. Too bad because it was very colorful and unusual. They had a nice gift shop where we bought Christmas ornaments with intricate decorations on them (okay, they didn't call them Christmas ornaments but they had hangers on them).

This is Humayun's Tomb which pre-dates the Taj Mahal. It was built in the 16th century and was the first garden tomb (that it, set in a garden-like setting). It was probably an inspiration for the Taj Mahal (as Agra is only a short distance away). It's built from red sandstone and marble, a beautiful combination. Humayun died after falling down the stairs in his palace. 

The Qutub Minar is a victory monument and, at 273 feet, the tallest minar in India and the tallest brick minaret in the world. It was built in the 12th century. The tower is a tapered masterpiece of alternating round and pointed columns. It's amazing how they were able to create the perfect round shapes and the perfectly mitered edges. The minar is part of a complex of palaces and temples, most of which are in ruins.