Indian Heritage Caves Tour

Duration of Trip : 04 Nights / 05 Days
Key Places Covered : Mumbai - Aurangabad - Ajanta - Ellora - Mumbai.

Explore one of the world most outstanding specimens of Indian architecture during your tour to India - Ajanta and Ellora.

Astonishingly carved into hillside rock in the middle of nowhere are the Ajanta and Ellora caves. There are 34 caves at Ellora dating from between the 6th and 11th centuries AD, and 29 caves at Ajanta dating back to between the 2nd century BC and 6th century AD. The caves at Ajanta are all Buddhist consists of the masterpieces of Buddha, while the caves at Ellora are a mixture of Buddhist, Hindu and Jain.

The Ajanta and Ellora caves gracefully convey the aspects of nobility, grace and serenity reminiscent of Buddha himself and his teachings.
Famous for its unmatched architectural beauty, Ellora Caves have been designated as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Day 01 : Arrive Mumbai

Marine Drive, Mumbai

Arrive at the Mumbai airport or station; transfer to the hotel. Check in and relax for the evening or go for walk on marine drive, the gateway of India.

In the Hotel you will have a brief description of your tour and the representative will hand over your documents regarding the tour, Overnight in Hotel.

Day 02 : Mumbai - Aurangabad

In the morning, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Aurangabad, the gateway to the ancient caves of Ajanta and Ellora. Our re-presentative will pick up you from the airport and transfer you to the hotel.

Aurangabad, the small town of Maharashtra has been exclusively famous for the Ajanta and the Ellora caves. During the reign of Nizam Shah II, the foundation of the Aurangabad was laid. Aurangzeb who was the viceroy of the Deccan during the British rule coined the name 'Aurangabad'. Being in the Maharashtra, the city was always invaded by the Marathas. To protect it, the viceroy completely sheltered the city by adding walls to it. So, the reason behind the peculiar layout of the city was due to the attacks of the Marathas and the other invaders. Better known as the City of the Gates, you can't ignore the gates built throughout the city. Being made by the Malik Amber, Aurangabad had everything which was close to the architectural beauty. This very city is famous for the silk and cotton industries and you'd enjoy buying silk and cotton products from here. The Maurya rule also has some connection with this city and a little bit of city's buildings are influenced from their style of architecture. Being named after the Emperor Aurangzeb, Aurangabad still has the Mughal touch in it blending with the modern Aurangabad.

Overnight stay at the hotel is provided.

Day 03 : Aurangabad

After having the breakfast earlier in the morning, you have to leave for an excursion to view the amazing and striking Ajanta caves which are the main tourist attractions of the city.

Located near the Sahaydri Hills, Ajanta Caves is a little far from the Aurangabad but the luxurious and comfortable drive by the operator's automobiles doesn't leave you with any issues and the 100 km journey from Aurangabad to the Ajanta caves is completed in a little span of time. Located at a distance of 3 and a half kilometre from the village Ajantha, these provide a blissful view of the caves which are named after the village Ajantha only. An amazing fact is that these 29 caves out of the 30 are built on a horse-shoe shaped ravine. As dedicated to the Buddha, these caves are made just like other Buddhist monastery having viharas and chaityas. The viharas which are the monastic halls of residence have a special appearance and these huge halls are always accompanied with silence and harmony. The silence and harmony brings it closer to the spiritual world. Another amazing fact is that these Ajanta caves were discarded during 480 AD due to some serious issues. But luckily, the Europeans rediscovered the ancient masterpieces clubbed together in the Ajanta Caves. The support or rather the columns that support the ceiling of the caves has excellent art work depicting the work of those times. You must not have seen paintings on the ceilings but when you are visiting the Ajanta caves, you'd be delighted to see and cherish it. The pictorial art i.e. the paintings or the artwork in the sculptures are worth admiring.

After having a perfect experience of the Ajanta caves, one would love to relax and rethink over it again to make it one of the memorable experiences. So, you'd be taken to the hotel by the representatives of the Visit India Travel where an overnight stay will be provided.

Ellora Caves, Aurangabad

Day 04 : Aurangabad

After breakfast, sightseeing of places like the Ellora Caves, Daulatabad Fort and Aurangabad Caves is on the cards.

Ellora Caves : The Rashtrakuta rulers produced the architectural giant which is what now known as the Ajanta Caves. Only at a distance of 30 km from the Aurangabad city, these caves are mainly famous for the Buddhist monasteries and the temples that are superior in architectural beauty. 34 Cave temples and 12 Buddhist caves make the major part of the Ellora Caves. Dedicated to the Lord Shiva, these temples always have a crowd throughout the year who are the lovers of the Lord Shiva. In addition to the religious importance, the historical reasons and beauty worth admiring pulls the tourists from all over the world especially those who love admiring historical buildings. An entrance, courtyard, sanctorum, vestibule and a tower are the excellent part of each of the caves. Interestingly, all of them have been carved out of a single gigantic rock. Now, you can figure out the labour and work done by the people of those times. Dravidian Art is mainly determined by the sculpture and paintings of the caves. Dravidians were prominent in the South of India and had some of the hold in the Western Ghats of the India which influenced the sculptures and paintings to have a touch closer to the Dravidian art.

Scholars, archaeologists and many other historians took interest behind the mysteries of these caves and thus have given it a special place in the list of the UNESCO's world heritage sites.

Aurangabad Caves : Though people visit Aurangabad for the Ajanta and Ellora Caves, you can't ignore some other important monuments and buildings like the Aurangabad Caves. Carved out much early, these caves were ignored. The architectural layout and the sculptures has something associated with the mythologies and are always visited by the people who know it. Out of all the caves, the cave 7 and the cave 3 has been pointed out as the most interesting caves. The columns have an artwork which can't be ignored and should be admired even more. Jataka tales has always been associated with the Cave 3 as the architectural designs on the ceiling of the Cave 3 depict the stories related to the Jataka tales.

Daulatabad Fort : Only a single fort in the city where the caves are prominent, Daulatabad Fort is the rarest kind of monuments which could be found while wandering on the streets of the Aurangabad Fort. Lying a little outside the Aurangabad on a hill which is only 13 Kms away from it. The hill and the surrounding areas were a part of a city which was earlier known as the Daulatabad, a name given by the famous Muhammad Tughlaq. The passages in the fort are tricky and thus create fun while visiting it. The walls of the Fort are made of sandstone materials and the large courtyard just after the entrance constitute as some of the salient parts of the building. The winds pass frequently through the fort making a cool atmosphere inside it.

After visiting all the places of the Aurangabad, you'd be left to shop in the local markets where the cotton and silk are the famous products. The products of the local artisans are also worth looking at.

Day 05: Aurangabad-Mumbai

After the breakfast, you'd be taken to the airport by the representatives. From there, you have to depart for Mumbai.

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Client Speaks

Joco & Mike
03rd September 2009
On behalf of Gill and I this is to say a big thank you for a great vacation. rohit and the team in Delhi did a good job in managing the tour. The organisation and service was excellent and everything went without a hitch. I would like to make special mention of ricky...» Read more

Indian Heritage Caves Tour

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