This month's World Heritage Site

Ajanta and Ellora
India's handcrafted caves, by Toni Dabbs

A total of 29 Buddhist dwellings and sanctuaries have been hewn into the horseshoe shaped cliff at Ajanta.  Photo by Toni Dabbs

In 1819, British officers hunting tigers in the hills north of Aurangabad, India, came upon a horseshoe shaped cliff riddled with what they thought were caves. 

They decided to explore, climbing midway up the scarp, pushing aside vegetation that partially obscured entrances and scrambling over debris that littered the interiors. To their astonishment, they found that the "caves" were actually a series of ornately carved and painted rooms hewn from the solid rock.           

The British officers had rediscovered Ajanta.

Ajanta and nearby Ellora, both designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1983, are two of the most amazing archaeological sites in India. Although handcrafted caves are scattered throughout India's western state of Maharashtra, the complexes at Ajanta and Ellora, roughly 300 kilometers (480 miles) northeast of Mumbai (Bombay), are the most elaborate and varied examples known.           

Ajanta began as a religious enclave for Buddhist monks and scholars more than 2,000 years ago. It is believed that, originally, itinerant monks sought shelter in natural grottos during monsoons and began decorating them with religious motifs to help pass the rainy season. They used earlier wooden structures as models for their work.           

As the grottos were developed and expanded, they became permanent monasteries, housing perhaps 200 residents.           

Ajanta encompasses 29 rock-cut rooms created between 200 B.C. and 650 A.D. using rudimentary hand tools. Most are viharas (living quarters), while four are chaityas (temples).           

The artisans responsible for Ajanta did not just hack holes in the cliff, though. They carefully excavated, carving stairs, benches, screens, columns, sculptures, and other furnishings and decorations as they went, so that these elements remained attached to the resulting floors, ceilings and walls.           

They also painted patterns and pictures, employing pigments derived from natural, water soluble substances: kaolin chalk for white, lamp soot for black, glauconite for green, ochre for yellow and imported lapis lazuli for blue.           

Their achievements would seem incredible if executed under ideal circumstances, yet they worked only by the light of oil lamps and what little sunshine penetrated cave entrances.           

Masterful works 

Cave 19 at Ajanta features a cathedral-like ceiling and an elegantly carved entablature.   Photo by Toni Dabbs

One of their more elegant accomplishments is the cathedral-like Cave 19, a fifth century chaitya that was once painted throughout. It has a broad, richly carved entablature beneath a steeply vaulted ceiling supported by sturdy columns. Focal point is the stupa (shrine), with a standing Buddha in front and a three-tiered canopy overhead. An arched window above the entrance directs light onto the stupa.           

Cave 17 contains the greatest number of well preserved murals. Some are faded or fragmented, but others still display details in vibrant colors. Most depict jatakas (tales from the Buddha's life and teachings) in which the Buddha takes the form of an animal to illustrate certain virtues. The paintings portray such whimsical creatures as talking lions, flying horses and rain-making elephants as well as beautiful maidens, princes and warriors.           

The seventh-century abandonment of these masterpieces is a mystery. Perhaps the Buddhists suffered religious persecution. Or perhaps the isolation of the caves made it difficult for the monks to collect sufficient alms for survival.           

Some sources suggest that remnants of the Ajanta colony relocated to Ellora, a site closer to an important caravan route. There, another series of handcrafted caves chronologically begins where the Ajanta caves end.           

However, of the 34 caves chiseled into the sloping side of the low hill at Ellora, only 12 (dating from 600 to 800 A.D.) are Buddhist (one chaitya, the rest viharas). Seventeen are Hindu (600 to 900 A.D.), and five are Jain (800 to 1100 A.D.).           

As the dates indicate, some caves were fashioned simultaneously, maybe as a form of religious competition. At the time, Buddhism was declining in India and Hinduism regaining ground, so representatives of both were eager to impress potential followers.           

Although Ellora has more caves than Ajanta, the rooms generally are smaller and simpler. The exception is Cave 16, the gargantuan Kailasa Temple, considered the pinnacle of Indian rock-cut architecture.           

It is not a single room but a compound covering approximately twice the area of the Parthenon in Greece.

Unlike other caves at Ajanta and Ellora, it has a huge courtyard that is open to the sky, surrounded by a wall of galleries several stories high. Two crumbling life-size elephant sculptures guard the entrance.           

Within the courtyard is the massive multi-level temple, its pyramidal form replicating the real Mount Kailasa, the Himalayan peak said to be the home of the Hindu god Siva. It consists of a gateway, antechamber, assembly hall, sanctuary and tower. Virtually every surface is lavishly embellished with symbols and figures from the puranas (sacred Sanskrit poems).           

The temple is connected to the gallery wall by a bridge.           

The entire compound was cut from solid rock working from the top down, so scaffolding was not needed (although good planning certainly was). Its creation displaced an estimated 200,000 tons of rock. It is believed to have taken 7,000 laborers 150 years to complete the project.           

Today, both Ajanta and Ellora are maintained by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation. The sites are open daily from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., with guides available for hire. Visitors pay a small admission fee to enter the Ajanta site and extra to attendants for lighting cave details. Entry is free to all caves at Ellora except the Kailasa Temple.           

A good base from which to visit Ajanta and Ellora is Aurangabad, serviced daily by Indian Airlines and East West Airlines flights from Mumbai (Bombay). The city has a variety of accommodations, ranging from a youth hostel to five-star hotels.           

At least a three-night stay in Aurangabad is advised, because Ajanta (100 kilometers/62 miles northeast by road) requires a full-day excursion and Ellora (30 kilometers/18 miles northwest) a half-day.           

Aurangabad itself has several sights worth seeing and offers some notable shopping values. 

If you go: 

Climate: The best time to visit Ajanta and Ellora is from October through March, when temperatures vary between 12º C and 34º C (54º F and 93º F). Monsoons bring heavy rains from June to September, with temperatures reaching 39º C (102º F). 

Panchakki: This sanctuary in Aurangabad is named for the small onsite water mill, driven by mountain springs, which once ground grain for visiting pilgrims. In the 17th century, a Sufi saint was buried here, and a pleasant garden with a series of pools serves as his memorial.

Daulatabad: Midway between Aurangabad and Ellora, set atop a high hill and surrounded by thick walls with spiked gates, is one of the oldest existing forts in India. Considered impregnable when it was built during the 12th century, it features a deep moat and a spiral passage hewn from solid rock. 

Sri Grishneshwar Mandir: Just outside Ellora, in the village of Verul,  this 18th century temple houses one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines dedicated to Lord Siva and sacred to Hindus.  The temple was built by a Maratha princess. 

British Columbia travel writer Toni Dabbs is a regular contributor to The Cultured Traveler.