trip summary in fragments. aurangabad -paithan - daulatabad - ellora – lonar – ajanta

aurangabad caves

aurangabad is a sleepy town with a nice enough inner city. the best view we had of it from the aurangabad caves carved into the brown hills overlooking the city. the other time we ventured int these hills is on our long climb in daulatabad fort.

daulatabad fort

in the inner city the ‘biwi ka maqbara’ is a poorer cousin of the taj mahal and far more than a monument as even local families throng to it to play games in the sunken fountains or on the gardens all around the building. in fact that was one thing that i found interesting on this trip. there were far more local tourists and visitors from the lower and lower middle classes than i had ever seen before.

biwi ka maqbara

every class has a different relationship to history and conducts oneself accordingly. we go there expecting to be awed like we are supposed to be awed by the presence of the ancient. we walk around in silence, speak only in whispers and expect to be moved by the age of the building, by the craftsmanship of the filigree. we wear clothes that emphasize that relationship- casual in a self conscious kind of way. this relationship is even more emphasized when the tourist is a foreigner or an nri. the foreigners wear tatters for they are emphatically deglamourized in front of the monument. or is it their way of ‘fitting in’ (?). the nri wears the garb of the tourist but can’t let go of the incessant urge to be clean. so his shorts are ironed and the t-shirt tucked in. i think we lay somewhere in between these two. while all of the above approach the monument as single individuals, the local tourists approach it as a collective spectacle. the clothes are the sunday best. chiffons and sequins glitter under the burkhas, the jeans are stylishly acid washed and the shirts multicolored. the engagement with the building is vocal as much as visual. while we walk around in expectant silence around us screams and shouts of pleasure and excitement rise, much to our irritation.

shopping complex in aurangabad

the newer parts of aurangabad are banal like most new towns are, but the roads were wide and empty. ‘manmandir’ the hotel we lived in was a clean japanese influenced three storeyed building catering to all the needs of a tourist like a ac dormitory, a bus stop, and a tourist station serving the most god-awful poha in the morning.

manmandir hotel

i don’t think the bad food was problem isolated in the hotel though. the search for a decent meal was one of the themes of the trip. there was not a single place where there was even an edible meal possible- and we tried it all. the udupi, the bar and restaurant, the local joints, room service, the mtdc restaurant (which was by far the best). finally we had to settle for a five star in the city which gave us the tepid bland fare so predictable in such places. marathwada needs cooking classes.

dam on the godavari at paithan

monkeys on the car at ellora

kailash temple

most of the holiday was spent driving in and out of the city to the tourist hot spots for mukuls shoot. paithan is a small little town to the south famous for its weaving centers of which we saw nothing and the dam on the godavari where we sat for a few minutes. ajanta and ellora i had been to twice before and though the enormity of kailash temple as impressive this time, i was even more struck by the beauty of ajanta.

ajanta

the sleeping buddha

the buddha is the only religious figure that is capable of giving me the goosebumps- and that too only the ones sculpted and painted at ajanta. i am wary of religious claptrap in general but the calm smile on his face as he sleeps or as he stands way taller than you in multiples carved in smooth stone, serene and gentle sent shivers up my spine. the location helps of course. nestled in a valley of green rock and trees, a river flowing at the base, and the sudden sharp perfect geometries of the caves carved into the craggy flanks of the mountains.

the tourist center where we had to park the car was terrible though. a delhi haat shopping complex with shop keepers heckling you to buy more things you just do not need.

buldhana tea stall

the drive to lonar and back through buldana took us through rural maharashtra glistening in the few weeks past the monsoon. in between the dusty diesel scented towns were fields of golden bajra and sunflower. families huddled on speeding motorcycles and entire troupes of nomads in a line of bullock carts.

from aurangabad to lonar via jalna

lonar is famous for a lake formed by a meteor when it crashed into the earth 50,000 years back. the only hotel in town is an mtdc resort on the edge of the crater. we arrived there late in the evening to stand on the hill and look down as the sun set behind the hills around the lake. the next morning we walked down the steep slopes to the green mineral rich water and sat at the remains of the temples on the waters edge.

lonar

to drive to aurangabad was tiring but rewarding. the landscape was beautiful at this time of the year. the fields were rust and gold and the sky a pristine blue with white clouds.

aurangabad to mumbai