The caves of Ellora.

March 17^th

Tock…

The heat was getting more and more unbearable every passing day. It was draining us. On top of this neither of us felt too good on a daily basis. But we had things to do We had decided to visit the world heritage sites of Ellora and Ajanta. These sites were within a half a day of each other. They both were said to contain fantastically well preserved temples encompassing temples dedicated to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Janism. We decided to split the visits into two days. First up was Ellora. We took a local bus from the city public bus terminal. This turned out to be a great source of hilarity to the local people on it as I guess most Europeans don’t use public transport. The bus journey was pretty uneventful apart from the game of chicken our driver decided to play with another bus, coming from the opposite direction, as we both headed under a huge, ancient, gate. Luckily we won. The other bus smashed into the side of the gate shattering most of the windows and completely destroying the front one. I was pretty glad, not to mention surprised, when we reached Ellora alive.

The caves themselves were magnificent. They were divided into sections in terms of religious orientation, then age. Firstly was the ancient, and very simple Buddhist caves and monastries. These were nothing more than hacked out rooms with very basic stupas and inscriptions. Then came the much more elaborate Hindu caves. Some of these were vast underground areas with huge pillars, adorned with stone guardians and filled with carvings of Krishna, Kali, Ganesh, Shiva, and Vishnu. Inside many of these cavernous temples were enclaves full of bats. Dozens of them were perched in the cool stone corridors behind the altars. M is an absolute bat fanatic and we spent a good hour photographing them.

At the top of the site were the Jainist caves. These were by far the most ornate and visually impressive of the site. Many of the original art work still remained and the stupas were situated in the courtyards with prayer wheels still in place, enabling the worshipper to chant the immortal mantra Ohm Mani Padme Hume as they circumambulated clockwise around them. Upstairs in the cool stone rooms, the enigmatic and eternal icon of the Bodshvittas sat, resplendent in enlightenment.

The highlight of the day, however, was the Kailasanatha Temple. It was close to the entrance where puzzles of Langurs frolicked, acting the fools for tourists, leaping from the trees and posing for the cameras.

The temple had been completely carved out of the side of the bedrock in the valley wall. It was an amazing feat of engineering and not unlike the Jordan Nabatean city of Petra. Two giant stone bulls guard the entrance. Inside, there is a huge shrine to Lord Shiva, in dancing form. The carvings here are influenced by several different eras and was covered with carvings of Kali and Ganesh on the lower floors. On the upper floors was a temple dedicated to Vishnu and the icons of the God adorned every pillar. The place was a marvel. There was also a huge bee hive that, for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why but, I had a burning desire to chuck stones at. There was also a entourage of young guys who all wanted to have their picture taken with Merryl on their mobile phones. I imagine Merryl is now on dozens of mobile phones in some Indian town as the local boys ‘English girlfriend’. This turned out to be quite common practice in India.

We decided, funnily enough, to take alternate transport back to Aurangabad. We opted for a shared jeep as it was the same price. The jeep was designed to take about 12 people. 3 in the front seat including the driver. 3 in the back seat, and another 6 in the back seat. At the point we got in there were 4 people on each bench in the front, and 8 people in the back. Merryl and I were squashed in the front back seat, with two other people. There was a guy hanging off the front running board on the left of the vehicle. They put another 8 people in the back. I could not believe what I was seeing. Every time I looked behind me all I could see was a wall of hands and eyes. Halfway along the road back the driver pulled over. I thought people were going to get off, then I realised there was a family sitting on the side of the road. 7 of them, a mother and her children. I kept thinking no. No-no-no-no-no. This isn’t possible. I heard the door open at the back. Lots of shuffling and weight displacement went on. The door shut and we drove off. My mind was going around with the same thought - over 30 people are in this jeep.. 30 people… in this jeep… 30 people.. I thought it best to ignore it.

We got back to town feeling a little sore . We immediately ordered a taxi for the next morning to take us to Ajanta then to the airport. It seemed the sanest option. Then it was back the hotel as we were exhausted. It wasn’t until dinner I realised it was St Patrick’s day. I quickly nipped out to by some wine to celebrate. Happy St Patrick’s day!! We were in bed by 10pm.