Places to Visit in Aurangabad

1) The Ajanta Caves:

·Ajanta is a two-hour comfortable journey by road. Spread around a horseshoe-shaped mountain range, there are 29 caves in all, carved from 2nd century BC onwards up to the 7th century AD. While few of them are chaitya-grihas (meditation halls), the rest are monasteries (resting places for the monks).

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These caves remained hidden from human eyes for some 1100 years and were accidentally discovered in 1819 AD during an expedition by British soldiers in nearby mountains. On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, while hunting the tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance of one of the caves temple (Cave No. 9) deep within the tangled undergrowth. Shortly after this discovery, the Ajanta Caves became renowned for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, historic artwork, and long-forgotten history. All paintings show heavy religious influence and center around Buddha, Bodhisattvas (enlightened beings), incidents from the life of Buddha, and the Jatakas (Buddhist literature).

2) The Ellora Caves:

The Ellora caves are located at a distance of 30 km from Aurangabad. There are 34 caves here and unlike Ajanta where only Buddhist caves are carved, at Ellora, three major religions i.e. Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism are represented- starting with the Buddhist caves, you move on to the Hindu caves and finally to Jain caves.

These caves were carved from the 6th century AD to the 12th century AD. Ellora is justly world-famous for the largest single monolithic excavation in the world, the great Kailasa (Cave 16).

3) The Daulatabad Fort:

Daulatabad Fortwhich is located right on top of the Daulatabad hill at a height of 600 feet and is a 45 minutes climb from the main parking area. But the fort impresses you immediately upon entrance with its high thick walls and a display of cannons in an aptly titled enclosure called, ‘topkhana’. The topkhanaleads into the climb to the top where the ruins of the Nizam Shahi palace are located.

The Daulatabad Fort had been a seat of power for over a thousand years and has seen numerous dynasties come and go. As one walks past the ruins, the realization creeps in that once these walls that stand so lonely today must have been witness to innumerable battles, blood must have been spattered endlessly and sultanates must have been destroyed.

The Chand Minaris the single most recognized structure of this fort which was once a stronghold of the Yadav dynasty in the 12th century AD but later passed on into the hands of the Turko-Afghan ruler, Ala-ud-din Khilji. Daulatabad, which was once a thriving city known as Deogiri, has also been the capital of Mohhannad-bin-Tughlaq in the mid 14th century AD.

The part which is more intresting is the dark passages that lead to the citadel. Built to confuse the invaders, the passages have many devious routes through which they’ll eventually be trapped or better still, killed either by falling off the cliff or into hot oil! These passages are collectively called ‘Andheri’.

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4) Bibi ka Maqbara:

After Daulatabad fort it will take 30 minutes drive to raech Bibi ka Maqbara from the Daulatabad Fort  This is immensely beautiful reproduction of the Taj was commissioned by the austere Mughal ruler Aurangzeb but built by his son Prince Azam Shah in memory of his mother Dilras Banu Begum in the late 17thcentury. But, in reality, the mausoleum is a sight to behold. It may not be bathed in the whitest marble but the complex carvings and the overall feel of the structure is enough to justify its moniker, Dakkhani Tajor Taj of the Deccan.