The "Ajanta-Ellora" circuit, at last.

"Ajanta-Ellora" . That's  the common parlance . Like Ellora is Ajanta's surname. Like they are conjoined twins who can only exist together ! So enmeshed are the names  that in an Art Mela ,a set of  prints, showing the famous Padmapani, was labeled "Ajanta Ellora Prints" ! When the two World Heritage Sites are a good 100kms apart and Ellora has nothing to do with the painted Padmapani . 

Anyway , the 100 kms divide notwithstanding, no  visitor ( other than a researcher perhaps) really visits just one of them . That would almost be a sacrilege or cause for great regret. 

 Their historical "togetherness" can be explained away by the fact that both are rock cut wonders of great antiquity ,  cut into cliffs faces , preserving the best of ancient Indian art and aesthetics. And both are in  Aurangabad District of Maharashtra. While Ajanta Caves are Buddhist in theme,  Ellora has Buddhist, Jain and Hindu relics. 

The older caves are in Ajanta. 30 of them in a horse shoe shaped cliff , by the Waghora river. Dating from 2 BCE to 650CE.  It is not known what name the ancient Buddhist Monks who  used these rock cuts for prayer and retreat  had given for the site. The present name was given by the Europeans who were instrumental in discovering the wonders which lay forgotten for a millennium after being abandoned by its patrons . Ajinta was the name of the nearest village when John Smith, a British officer , stumbled upon them during a hunt gone wrong in 1819. 

Smith promptly scratched his name and date on a cave wall, to mark his visit  (in the present Cave No.10) . We can excuse his enthusiasm  in light of the fact that even before his "discovery", the caves had been used by local nomads for whom these caves had been , not Art Galleries, but rain shelters. The  soot from their  little fires did more harm to the frescoes than poor Smith's little graffiti , which is small and much higher up on the wall (because he had stood on a heap of rubble  when he scratched it ).... Visitors who try to leave such souvenirs of their visit today will be hauled off to jail , locked up for 3 months and fined Rs 5000. Since their discovery and conservation , successively by the Government of the Nizam of Hyderabad , the Archeological Survey of India and the relevant UNESCO departments, Ajanta Caves have earned immense fame as precious and delicate  objects of heritage , the pride of India , to be handled with care. 

The view  from afar is breathtaking . The caves  dotting  the cliff look like holes where swallows might perch . Down in the deep valley , runs the thin stream . Rest of the scenery is the blue of the sky and the green of the jungles.

Imagine the vision of those early Buddhists who chose this place as an ideal  retreat for meditation . Meditation did not mean closing eyes to beauty . The Monks knew that being surrounded by  lovely Art is not a distraction, but can  actually aid meditation. And their patrons seem to have been both wealthy and  daring. How else could they have envisioned scooping out the rock and sculpting  halls to resemble some dreamland or Mayaloka,  way back in 2 BCE ! 

The excavations of the caves  have been dated to two distinct phases . The first phase ended when Buddhism lost patronage due to the revival surge in  Hinduism. Rockcut activity resumed briefly when Harisena of Vakataka Dynasty took up the cause of Buddhism and commissioned work on Chaitya Grihas and Viharas here . But after his death  in  (477 CE), patronage ceased again and the caves were abandoned for good. For use of bats, wild animals and nomads. 

Imagine ! -how wonderful to be the first person to stumble upon a cavern in a jungle and stare at  what the poor light of a lantern picks out : a Buddha reclining here , a group of yakshas floating about there , a bejeweled princess reposing behind a veil of soot and a  rubble of broken stone, engraved jewel-like , scattered all over .........All children dream of "finding treasure"- on beach , in woods , under rocks.....

Such fantasies can persist too. And stories such as Smith's become personal favs. 

When a Place/Site becomes very famous , highly promoted , copiously written about , most visited , it does evoke Great Expectations  before a planned trip. You have read all that there is to read about it. You have seen all the best photographs of the artwork . And finally , there you stand before it ...

...and feel that nothing has prepared you for this ! 

Ajanta stuns. 

Not the very first visit , this one in early 2024.

 Eons ago , had waddled along the same rocky aisles , holding a parent's hand . Not the faintest  trace of memory remains of what was seen then  . Some years later , when re-arranging the bookshelves at home , had found sepia colored Picture Post Cards printed in England for The Archeological Department, H.E.H. The Nizam's Government Hyderabad-Deccan , And a "Guide to Ajanta Frescoes " (1927). With Preface by G.Yazdani , the celebrated archeologist who was one of the founders of Archeological Survey of India and a major force in conserving and documenting the Buddhist , Islamic, Jain and Hindu monuments under the Nizam's dominion . Most notably  Ajanta and Ellora. The Post Cards and the book belonged to Great Grandfather . Treasures ! 

In modern times , since Travel has become easy and people are willing to spend to see places ( even if only to splash pictures on Social Media or from Fear Of Missing Out), one sees huge crowds everywhere . Families drag along little kids to monuments that can make no sense the tots . Used to feel sorry for these kids once. Thoughts on that matter have changed now. Children definitely benefit from such exposure. 

That first trip to Ajanta - Ellora , of which there is no memory , must have in some way left some mark deep down in the subconscious. Some spark of wonder must have been kindled. The Post cards and The Book wrenched out , from deep below , that dormant spark, igniting  an excruciating desire  to visit  The Caves again. No, not "again". It would really be a First Visit, consciously . 

It  had to wait , though , for circumstances to facilitate realisation of the dream. 

Finally , in February 2024. 

And what a memorable experience it turned out to be ! Just forget the sweltering heat , the melee of crowds , the pestering vendors at the souk through which one has to walk to the Shuttle Bus.  The caves are cool and are big enough to make you feel that only you are standing there , gazing at the enormous Padmapani and Vajrapani ,  the languorous dark women in ikat-like prints , the Persians on the ceiling , the clusters of pink lotus , the blissed out Buddhas , seated or reclining , the massive pillars ........

Yes, Ajanta definitely stuns .

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And Ellora .....

Well, legend has it that the Architect , upon completion of  the Kailasa , stood back in wonder and exclaimed : " Was It I that Built This ?!"  

After a round up of  all the caves in Ellora , one can only rephrase  the same exclamation : 

" Was It Humans Who Built These ?" 

And no ,not subscribing to the "Aliens Built it" theory . Human hands did excavate these  Caves , strike by  chisel strike , day upon day , for years  .... Kailasa could have taken a century to complete ( it still has incomplete areas) - 3Million Cubic Feet of stone whittled away for the Rashtrakuta's magnificent vision , the world's biggest monolith , to be brought alive. What a vision ! What strenuous labor ! What a legacy ! There is nothing that human Will cannot achieve. 

Of the 100 rockcut caves dating from 600 to 1000 CE discovered in the Basalt cliffs of Charanandri Hills near Verul , only 34 are open to public. 

While, undobtedly, Kailasa is the magnum opus , the others are no less impressive , either in size , plan or finesse. One feels overwhelmed , worshipful and insignificant by turns,  facing  the magnificent panels , the vaulted halls and towering pillars. 

Entire workshops of artisans from different places must have worked here , both the pros and the students. As evidenced by the variations in workmanship : from superlative to passable . There is a Nataraja in Dumar Lena (Cave 29) that has even earned the unfortunate label "Ugliest sculpture in Ellora" ! But it was some human hand that wore itself out hewing this giant dancer out of the living rock too.....and all of them, skilled or unskilled,  have passed on , unnamed .  

"Dont hesitate to dream" say some modern motivational messages . The ancients certainly were not afraid of dreaming big . And, achieving big. 

Ellora astounds.