Ajanta is a more dramatic setting than Ellora. Temples carved out of natural caves in the sheer cliff face of a hill, they are nearly invisible from most surrounding areas. The story is that they passed out of living memory and were 're-discovered' by an Englishman in the 19th or early 20th century. He was out hunting and saw the caves from a nearby hilltop.
You drive to the bottom of the hill and then pile into a bus that takes you close to the caves. Then you climb up several steep stairs to reach the caves and there are men with chairs to carry the less active tourists. Most of the caves are Buddhist temples or monasteries. The interior walls retain far more of the colourful painting than Ellora, hardly surprising since they are more shielded from the elements. Maybe this is why I have always associated Ajanta with paintings and Ellora with sculpture. But in fact Ajanta has just as much sculpture as Ellora and in a more tranquil, dramatic setting. The monastery caves are particularly interesting - the rectangular hall in the center with doors leading off into tiny bedrooms on two sides. Strange place to choose to live in, yet not unpleasant.
(One of the oldest from around 100 BC, I believe this is actually one of the few Jain temples there)
Sorting through our vast collection of pictures, I am quite disappointed not to have more pictures of Ajanta. It appears that our official photographer was either bored of caves or of taking pictures. So instead here's a look at the ubiquitous school trips.
Oh, funny story.... As I said in the previous post, Ajanta & Ellora are off the beaten path for foreign tourists. You meet a few but nothing compared to the crowds at the Taj Mahal. Also this is a fairly rural part of India and a lot of the other people we saw were from nearby villages.
All this to explain that most of them had never seen a white person before so David was quite a novelty. And since I was with him and wearing western clothes, some of them thought I was a "foreigner" too!
A group of girls in their late teens accosted me along the way and wanted to take my picture. I couldn't figure out how to clear up their misunderstanding and it seemed easiest to just comply. So I posed with a few of them. A man travelling with them was more perceptive. He looked at me suspiciously and asked me where I was from. "Mumbai" I explained with some relief. "Oh she's just a local" He tried to explain to the girls but they were already snapping away.
Afterwards a few of the girls came up to me and asked me my name.
"Mugdha". Ugh! not only was I Indian, I was a Maharashtrian just like them. So much for novelty! Just then David joined us.
"What is your name?" one of the girls demanded of him in English.
"David".
That was better. Perhaps this meeting wouldn't be a complete waste after all. Attention shifted from me to him.
"Where are you from?"
"United States"
blank stares all around
"America" I explained helpfully.
Ah, America.
"Tomorrow, we were seeing you walking there" the bold one spoke up, haltingly. "Yesterday" I corrected. The girls had evidently been doing the same tourist round we were.
"Oh you were at Daulatabad fort" David realised.
More blank stares.
"Daulatabad" I translated David's Marathi into Marathi.
"Yes! I was there and I am looking" another girl finally got up the courage to speak, looking delighted at her own boldness in speaking English to a stranger. David stared at her, waiting to hear the rest of what seemed to him an incomplete sentence. But this was too much for her and she collapsed into a fit of giggles, hiding her face in her dupatta.
Scintillating though the conversation was, I decided that David had had enough female attention for one day and so we left.
More pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/mugdha.bendre/Ajanta
