Around Aurangabad

We had one free day and lots of places to see. We could just see the beautiful paintings of Ajantha caves or visit Ellora caves, Daulatabad Fort, Aurangazeb’s tomb, Bibi Ka Makbara and maybe caves in Aurangabad. We decided to go for the latter. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Auspicious start
We decided to start by going to a couple of temples. Badra Maruti temple is one very famous shrine in that area. The specialty being that the idol of Hanuman was self formed (swayambu) and there are only two temples in India, where the idol of the monkey god is lying down. The next temple that we saw was Grishneswar – which is very famous as one of the 12 jyothirlingams of India. This age old Shiva temple has beautiful carvings on the outside and the inner sanctum has the Ling ______________________________________________________________________________________





























Cave No: 16, Ellora Caves has the most fascinating carvings one can find in a monolith rock in India. The carvings to look for are the Kailash temple, the two huge pillars with intricate carvings, the representation of all the chapters of the Ramayana, the statue of Lord Shiva putting his foot down on Ravana as a punishment for shaking Mt Kailash, while his consort Parvati clings on him with fear.













We saw almost all the caves from 1 – 16 and it took us more than three hours to do that. For those who are interested in exploring all the 32 caves it is recommended that they start early in the morning. From personal experience I would advise people to carry extra batteries or film rolls depending on the kind of camera they carry.

The first few caves are identical and have statues of Lord Buddha in them. Do visit cave no:10 to see the staute of Vishwakarma … also check out the carvings depicting all the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the nine carvings of Lord Buddha and a lot more. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Chronicles of Aurangazeb

According to my history teacher in school, of all the mughal emperors Aurangazeb was thoroughly misunderstood by history. His claim to the throne by killing his kin, his reversal of secular policies set by his predecessors, his ambition to expand his empire leading to a long fought battle against the Marathas were all actions which obviously wouldn’t have won him any congeniality contest. But history should give him credit for having led the Mughal army for innumerable conquests. Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb considered the royal treasury as a trust of the citizens of his empire and that it should not be used for his personal expenses. But his constant warfare drove his empire to the brink of bankruptcy as much as the personal profligacy of earlier emperors had done.


Khuldabad - Aurangzeb's personal piety is undeniable. He led an extremely simple and pious life. He followed Muslim precepts with his typical determination, and even memorized the Qur'an. He knitted haj caps and copied out the Qur'an throughout his life, and sold these works anonymously. He used the proceeds, and only these, to fund his modest resting place. "I came alone and I go as a stranger. I do not know who I am, nor what I have been doing," the dying old man confessed to his son in Feb 1707. "I have sinned terribly, and I do not know what punishment awaits me." Aurangazeb’s tomb in Khuldabad is a reflection how he wanted history to remember him. Unlike all his flamboyant ancestors, he rests in a humble open air grave, very close to the dargah of his spiritual guru Moinuddin Chisti.





Bibi Ka Maqbara is a monument dedicated to Aurangzeb’s wife. The surprisingly close resemblance of the monument earned it the nickname 'poor man’s Taj', in reference to the Taj Mahal. According to my people who have seen both – in terms of sheer grandeur and construction it comes no where close to the Taj, but for people like me who haven’t had the experience of the Taj, its poor copy wasn’t bad at all. Being there at twilight and having being able to shoot the inside of the dargah was good.



















While stepping out I realised that I lost my chip with the best of my ellora pictures along with it. …. And it was too late to search around the place. I was frantically looking around for it in my car. One more big reason why I would never forget this place. ____________________________________________________________________________________

Pictures of Daulatabad Fort

Chini Mahal

Durga Tope

View of Chand Minar and ariel shots of the Fort

Andheri (Subterrrain Passage)

Baradari

View from the top