South India Overland

Aurangabad
(30 Jan / 1 Feb 1997)

		The Budhist rock temples of Ajanta were built and occupied between 200 BC and 700 AD.
		These remarkable structures were carved from the near verticle sides of a semi-circular ravine.

The excellent preservation is largely explained by the site being lost for hundreds of years.

A group of British soldiers rediscovered the site in 1819 whilst hunting tigers in the thick vegetation which covered the place at that time.

This panorama is from two pictures combined (can you spot the join) and shows some of the many rock temples which can be seen at the site.

The Hindu temple of Kailash at Ellora is the worlds largest monolithic structure and took over 100 years to complete.

Four generations of craftsmen and architects carved this place out of stone.

These pictures are not very good (it was just the wrong time of day) but the people you can see at ground level give some idea of the scale.

It is estimated that over a quarter million tons of stone chippings had to be removed from the site.

There are over 30 rock temples here including Budhist (on the left), Hindu and Jain.

The temples were made between 500 and 1100 AD.

We headed back to Aurangabad in the late afternoon.

Arriving back just in time to see the sun set from the Moghul tomb of Bibi-Ka-Maqbara built in the style of the Taj Mahal.

One last long journey to go. Heading west we stop at Nasik for lunch before twisting and turning our way down the Ghats to the smog of Bombay.

During the morning we pass many cattle drawn carriages heading for market to sell off the fruits of their land.

These rural scenes will soon come to an end as we make our way into Bombay.

And yes that is more cow pats drying out in the sun.

Dinner was excellent, a buffet lunch of the highest quality in the grounds of a hotel.

Apart from two people who had done this journey before and chose to fly back to Bombay this is our group as a whole after lunch.

Madras, Mahabalipuram, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Periyar, Cochin, Ooty, Mysore, Goa, Hampi, Bijapur, Bombay.

If you have any comments or suggestions about these pages then drop us a line.

If you are interested in South Indian Food then why not visit Sue's Recipe Server, our other Web site.

North India & Nepal is the record of our overland journey from Delhi to Kathmandu during January 1998.

Exploring Vietnam is the record of a journey through Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and beyond during March and April of 1999.

		The excellent preservation is largely explained by the site being lost for hundreds of years.
		A group of British soldiers rediscovered the site in 1819 whilst hunting tigers in the thick vegetation which covered the place at that time.

		The Hindu temple of Kailash at Ellora is the worlds largest monolithic structure and took over 100 years to complete.
		Four generations of craftsmen and architects carved this place out of stone.

		These pictures are not very good (it was just the wrong time of day) but the people you can see at ground level give some idea of the scale.
		It is estimated that over a quarter million tons of stone chippings had to be removed from the site.

		There are over 30 rock temples here including Budhist (on the left), Hindu and Jain.
		The temples were made between 500 and 1100 AD.

		We headed back to Aurangabad in the late afternoon.
		Arriving back just in time to see the sun set from the Moghul tomb of Bibi-Ka-Maqbara built in the style of the Taj Mahal.

		These rural scenes will soon come to an end as we make our way into Bombay.
		And yes that is more cow pats drying out in the sun.

Dinner was excellent, a buffet lunch of the highest quality in the grounds of a hotel.
Apart from two people who had done this journey before and chose to fly back to Bombay this is our group as a whole after lunch.