Ajanta Caves
The famous Ajanta caves are situated about 99-kms away from Aurangabad district in the state of Maharashtra. These caves are regarded as a world heritage site and were carved out from the 2nd century BC to 6th century AD. They are placed in a horseshoe shape about 3.5 m away from the village. The river Wagura, a mountain stream flows along the bottom of the ravine. This river falls from a height of 200 ft, thus making a series of waterfalls. The sound of the waterfalls can be heard in the caves also.



These caves have exotic paintings illustrating the life and incarnations of Buddha. The carvings and the paintings of the Ajanta caves tell us about the imagination and creativity of the artist. The carvings and the paintings in the caves depict the life stories of Lord Buddha. Along with this, several types of human and animal figures are also carved out of the rocks.

Ajanta Caves represents two basic types of Monastic Buddhist architecture the Chaitya or prayer hall (Cave Nos. 9,10,19,26 & 29) and Vihara or monastery (remaining 25 caves). These caves suggest a well-defined form of architecture, broadly resolving into two phases with a time gap of about 4 centuries from each other. The Hinayana Phase includes two Chaitya Halls, i.e., Cave Nos. 9&10 and 4 Viharas, i.e., Cave Nos. 8, 12, 13 & 15A. The Mahayana Phase includes 3 Chaitya Halls, i.e., cave nos. 19 & 26 and 29 and 11 exquisite viharas i.e., and cave nos. 1,2,4,6,7,11,15,17 and 20 to 24). The Ajanta sculptures of the Mahayana Phase establish a formal religious imagery while that of the Hinayana period are virtually devoid of carvings.

The themes are intensely religious in tone and concentrate on Buddha, Bodhisattvas, incidents from the life of Buddha and the Jatakas. The paintings are executed on a ground of mud-plaster in the tempera technique. Cave No. l is one of the finest monasteries and the interior paintings here, are among the best at Ajanta.



Reach Ajanta
By Air : The nearest airport from Ajanta caves is the Aurangabad domestic airport (99 kms). Aurangabad is directly linked to Delhi, Udaipur, Jaipur, and Mumbai.
By Rail : Aurangabad is directly linked to Mumbai and Pune by rail. Jalgaon, a railhead on the Central Railways line, is 59 kilometres from Ajanta. Two trains Tapovan Express and Devgiri Express depart daily from Mumbai to Aurangabad.
By Road : Ajanta Caves are connected to a network of excellent roadways with Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Shirdi, Nasik, Dhule, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Bijapur, and Aurangabad. One can easily get a bus ply for Ajanta from Aurangabad.