The Ellora Caves are also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The comprise 34 caves - actually they are structures cut out of the rock. The caves were established between the 5th century and the 10th century. The first 12 caves are Buddhist, the next 17 are Hindu, and the final five are Jain.
We didn't visit all of the caves, but we did visit the major ones from each group.
We started with the Jain caves 30 and 32:
The major feature of the site is the Hindu Temple Kailasa (known less eloquently as Cave 16):
Cave 10 is a Buddhist cave known locally as the carpenters hut - this is because it includes "timber" roof beams carved into the roof:
The most fascinating thing about Ellora, however, was the number of local Indian tourists who wanted to take their picture with us. We were in no less than 20 or 30 different family group photos, which Joe and Xavier also getting including in a full class photo for one of the school groups!
This lovely family took our photo, managed to get a hard-copy printout, then tracked us down and gave it to use later that day !
After we left Ellora we headed back to town. We were hoping to visit the Bibi Ka Maqbara (sometimes known as the "Baby Taj"). Unfortunately there was some sort of road or monument closure which meant we could not get there.
So we ended up at the new McDonald's across from the airport. The major interests here were a brochure showing people how to use the drive-thru and the very catchy hashtag #MeandRonaldinAurangabad
Usual security and waiting around rigmarole at the airport we got back about 21:00 and headed our separate ways. We have moved to the other side of Mumbai so we got picked up by a hotel car.
Our new hotel is the Westin, and we got a room upgrade so that was a bonus!
Shower and sleep !
Location:Aurangabad (Maharashtra)
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