Mode of Transport: Train / Bus
Per head cost: 800 Rs
Journey Date: 23-January-2020
History of Ellora Caves
Ellora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, earlier known as the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, It is one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple cave complexes in the world, featuring Hindu, Buddhist and Jain monuments, and artwork, dating from the 600–1000 CE period. Cave 16, in particular, features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world, the Kailasha temple, a chariot-shaped monument dedicated to Lord Shiva.
There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills, 34 of which are open to the public. These consist of 12 caves of Buddhists from caves 1 to 12, 17 caves of Hindus from caves 13 to 29, and 5 caves of Jain from caves 30 to 34.
All of the Ellora monuments were built during the Hindu dynasties such as the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which constructed part of the Hindu and Buddhist caves, and the Yadava dynasty, which constructed a number of the Jain caves.
Travel Experience
We started the journey from Thane railway station by boarding Devgiri Express at 9:00 p.m.. It was a pre-planned journey hence we have made a reservation. we reached Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar at 04:00 a.m., had a cup of tea outside the railway station, and waited for a bus of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar CIDCO bus depot, at around 04:30 a.m. we boarded the bus and within 10 Mins reached CIDO bus depot. We enquired in the CIDCO bus depot for Ellora (Verul) bus. We boarded the bus for Ellora and got down at Verul village. *Note You have to get down at Ellora caves gate or junction. we started walking backward to Ellora caves with the help of Google Maps. It was around 6:00 a.m. and on the way, we saw an ancient temple on Lord Shiv named Ghrushneshwar Jyotirling we visited the temple did prayer, before entering the temple we kept our belongings like our wallet, waist-belt, cell phone, etc in the shop outside the temple.
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Unesco Board
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| Map of Ellora caves |
It was almost 6:30 AM we had breakfast in one of the nearest restaurant, near the junction and kept our bags so that we could explore all the caves freely without any luggage load. we took only a small handbag, water bottle and wallet with us *Note Be careful from monkeys at the entrance Don't keep the camera or any valueable thing in your hand. We paid the entrance fee of Rs. 40 and went through the security check, after entering through gate cave no. 16 Kailash Temple is in front of us.
There are total of 34 caves in the area, but cave number 16 is the biggest and oldest one. we started exploring the temple and spent around 3 hours. The construction was made by cutting a single rock from upside down and the detailing in the statues is incredible. *Note to explore and to know the meaning and detail of statues and wall encryption of cave number 16, it required 4 to 5 hrs.
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The entrance of cave no. 16
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Inside cave no. 16, Kailash Temple
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Shiva linga at Kailash Temple, Cave no. 16
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After exploring cave 16, we took a left and went to explore cave number 15 to 1. I have uploaded the map in the image section above for your reference. there is a two-story building and a three-story building in a single rock-cut. after spending 1 hour seeing the engineering marvel we again came to cave number 16 at around noon and waited for 30 minutes at the main entrance for the bus, to visit cave number 31 to 34. It takes a fare of Rs 20 for each person with a return journey and the bus frequency is every1 hour. during the wait time, we booked a train ticket for the next day for our return journey as we had a plan to visit Lonar Lake. I have already published a blog on Lonar Lake. *Note near the main entrance gate where we waited for the bus there, is a facility of washroom and toilets.
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Chota Kailash, Cave no. 30
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| Rameshwara, Cave no. 21 |
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