Liz and I left Mumbai the same day Ally flew home, departingto a place called Aurangbad. The city itself isn’t much, mostly dust andautorickshaws, but it serves as a launching point from which visitors canexplore the famous caves of Ellora and Ajanta.
Both sets of caves, Ellora and Ajanta, are out in the middle of the country side, making me question 1) how someone ever found them and 2) why and how someone ever built them. The caves are an incredible human feat for a number of reasons. The Ellora Caves, famous for their architecture and sculpture, were carved between 400 and 100 AD, and are comprised of (from oldest to newer) Buddhist Monasteries, Hindu Temples, and Jain Temples. The most famous cave, cave number 16 or the Kailasha, is one of India's most famous monuments and the world's largest monolithic structure. It is estimated that the task of quarrying its 3 million cubic feet of rock occupied between one hundred and two hundred years, a statistic that is hard to wrap your head around even when standing in the midst of all its stone glory.
The next day we visited the Caves of Ajanta. The Ajanta Caves were excavated between 2nd century BC and 6th century AD, and discovered by accident in the early 1800s. Ajanta is famous for being the most perfect example of Indian wall paintings, such as the Bodhisattva Padmapani of cave one. Though the paintings have been worn by the centuries, you can still see glimpses of the vivid colors that once covered the Buddhist temple caves. The intricate designs that still cover some of the stone surfaces make you wish you could time transport back to see Ajanta in all of its glory.
Liz was very into comparing the two sets of caves. Here are her notes:
The two sets of caves have very different vibes: Ellora was so open that it required only natural sunlight. This gave it a much more ruinous feel, the fact that anyone can explore them on our own added to this. Ajanta was dramatically lit and the wall paintings roped off, giving it a more touristy but grandiose feel. The caves felt more intact because they were set so far in the mountain. They felt almost frozen in time and even the smell indicated a sense of grandeur. Because they were so dark, they had an other-worldly feel that made it easier for me to imagine their original extravagance, more so than at Ellora.
We were going to follow up our two days of cave exploration with a visit to a hilltop fort, but alas, early mornings and sightseeing take their toll. We had to rest up for more travel, too, a never ending task.
The next day we visited the Caves of Ajanta. The Ajanta Caves were excavated between 2nd century BC and 6th century AD, and discovered by accident in the early 1800s. Ajanta is famous for being the most perfect example of Indian wall paintings, such as the Bodhisattva Padmapani of cave one. Though the paintings have been worn by the centuries, you can still see glimpses of the vivid colors that once covered the Buddhist temple caves. The intricate designs that still cover some of the stone surfaces make you wish you could time transport back to see Ajanta in all of its glory.
Liz was very into comparing the two sets of caves. Here are her notes:
The two sets of caves have very different vibes: Ellora was so open that it required only natural sunlight. This gave it a much more ruinous feel, the fact that anyone can explore them on our own added to this. Ajanta was dramatically lit and the wall paintings roped off, giving it a more touristy but grandiose feel. The caves felt more intact because they were set so far in the mountain. They felt almost frozen in time and even the smell indicated a sense of grandeur. Because they were so dark, they had an other-worldly feel that made it easier for me to imagine their original extravagance, more so than at Ellora.
We were going to follow up our two days of cave exploration with a visit to a hilltop fort, but alas, early mornings and sightseeing take their toll. We had to rest up for more travel, too, a never ending task.
We had planned to go back to Mumbai to catch a train north,but changed our plans when we finally found a bus that went directly to Ahmedabad,where India’s two-day kite festival is especially celebrated. It was anovernight sleeper bus reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Knight Bus, with all of thenausea-inducing driving included. Youcatch some serious air when the road gets bumpy. However, it got us toAhmedabad early on the morning of January 14th, the first day of thefestival. We were lucky to be taken in by Anita and family, who we met throughLiz’s sister Setse, who attends and Indian boarding school with their daughterJuhi. Whew. Essentially, we got to stay with a lovely Indian-American familyand Setse during an incredible kite festival.
After breakfast we went up to the rooftop of their building,where our kite education began. The kites are all basically the same – small, paper– except that they come in a wide assortment of colors. Four holes are poked in the kite near thewooden rod running the length of the middle; we used an incense stick to dothis. Then the kite string is threaded through the holes in a very preciseprocess, since the knot has to be exactly in between both top and bottom forthe kite to fly successfully. Onceprepared, the kite is thrown up into the wind, and its strings are pulled onstrategically to get it flying. After it is in the air, it is incredible howfar these seemingly fragile paper and string creations can go. That is, if thesky is clear of other kites – my false belief that kite-flying was a peaceful activitywas quickly shattered after I arrived in Ahmedabad. The reality is that eachkite is looking to go into battle with other kites, the main objective being tocut them out of the sky. (This is possible because the colorful kite string isthreaded with small shards of glass.) During our session on the rooftop though,in the main part of the city, we were not threatened by many competitors.
The scene changed completely when we all took a car to theresidential district in the late afternoon. Here is where the kite festival really went down. We went upstairs to afriend’s rooftop, where the view completely took my breath away. The whole cityhad relocated to the rooftops; there was no building in sight with an empty terrace.On top of the crowds were the thousands of kites they were flying. There were so many kites, and the commotioncontinued as far as the horizon. My camera failed miserably at capturing thespecks of kites that dotted out the sky for miles upon miles. Paper kites clungto all the electric wires, littered the ground, fell through the sky in dozens.(With this quantity of kites, constant kite fights ensure that none will stayin the air for longer than a few minutes.) I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. On our rooftop, the womensat around talking to each other, kids ran around with brightly colored kitestring, one skilled grandmother hacked other kites out of the air, and anyonewas willing to take over the task of holding the spool for another kite flier.
I thought the festivities would cease when nighttime came. I’mfoolish – this is Indian festivals we’re talking about. The kite flying didstart to slow down when the sun disappeared, giving way to the setting off ofpaper lanterns. We saw one or two at first, witnessing their carefulpreparation and delicate send-off on terraces near us. Within ten minutes, thesky was full of them. As if that wasn’tmagical enough, fireworks started popping up over every rooftop. (Safety bedamned.) I had the best seat in the world, I felt, on the highest point in thecity, with an unobstructed 360 degree view of lanterns and fireworks lightingup the night sky.
We had a lovely night of sleep after a delectable Indian dinner, followed a relaxing day at the house. (The exceptions were leaving for ice cream and freshly squeezed sugar cane juice.) We went up to the roof again to kite fly, but the lack of wind prevented any real action and led to my kite getting stuck in a tree, next to 50 other ones. Our whirlwind welcome to Ahmedabad had a fast turn around to our next overnight bus, but the travel is worth it when you leave with memories like this in your head.
(More photos to come!)
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