Aurangabad

Known as the ‘City of Gates’ Aurangabad is one of the popular places to visit in India. The large industrial city in West- Indian in the state of Maharashtra, serves as the Gateway to the World Heritage sites of the Ajanta and Ellora caves. Also, the city in itself, has a very rich heritage, since for a part of Aurangzeb's rule, Aurangabad was the seat of the Mughal dynasty. In fact, the town gets its name from the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb.

The charm of a holiday in Aurangabad comes from its historic sites, colourful culture and the thrilling experience. The Daulatabad Fort is one of the architectural wonders of the Mughal dynasty while sharing roots with its Mughal legacy, interestingly Bibi-ka-Maqbara is known as ‘Taj Mahal of the Deccan’. The Aurangabad Caves are interesting specimens of the old days, dating back to the 5-6th centuries, while a little overshadowed by the popular UNESCO world heritage sites of Ajanta and the Ellora Caves. Museums and weaving centres also hold appeal to the visitors.

Besides the tourist attractions of Aurangabad, it is definitely impossible to not pay a visit to the world-famous Ajanta and the Ellora Caves. The rock-cut Ajanta Caves lies about 107 km away. Shaped in the form of a gigantic horseshoe, the 30 caves lie snuggled amid the panoramic gorge. Undoubtedly, Ajanta finds mention among the finest examples of some of the earliest Buddhist architecture, cave paintings and sculptures. Dating back to the 2nd century BCE to 480 CE, these caves comprise Chaitya Halls, or shrines dedicated to Lord Buddha and Viharas or monasteries used by Buddhist monks for meditation and the study of Buddhist teachings. Adorning the walls and ceilings of the caves are paintings that illustrate incidents from the life of Buddha and various Buddhist divinities.

The next most popular tourist attraction are the Ellora Caves, 26 km north of Aurangabad. The site of cave temples and monasteries date back between the 5th and the 11th century A.D. Carved over a period of about 600 years, there are 34 caves. Ellora is one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple cave complexes in the world. The heritage site contains Buddhist Chaityas or halls of worship and Viharas or monasteries, in addition of Hindu and Jain temples. In the 2km excavation site dug from high basalt cliff is Dhumar Lena (cave 29), the earliest excavation while the most imposing is the magnificent Kailasa Temple (cave 16)- world’s largest monolithic structure.

• Getting to Aurangabad By Air

  Aurangabad airport, 11km from the city has domestic flight connectivity. It is connected to Delhi and Mumbai by regular flights of Air India, while TruJet flies from Hyderabad.

• Getting to Aurangabad By Rail

  Aurangabad is smoothly connected by Indian Railways, express trains connect Aurangabad with Mumbai. Interestingly, the Indian luxury train- Deccan Odyssey offers routes that cover the historic city.