Ajanta Caves

We walked around the site a few times, trying desperately to avoid the Indian package tourists and school kids.

Caves 1 and 2 had some pretty cool paintings depicting the life of the Buddha and numerous scenes from everyday life. The paintings were in varying stages of disrepair, with none being complete. This is not overly surprising given their age, and the fact that they used to let any Indian get their mits on the walls.

Cave 4 was a huge Vihara with 28 pillars around the outside. Each individual cave has amazing carvings.

This curious little contraption is "chemically treating the rock." We think it's administering morphine to dull the pain of 'earache' from the local tourists yelling in the caves.

Most caves had a shrine at the back and this one from cave 7 is particularly well preserved. The rock was roughly carved into shape, before a layer of cow dung, clay and rice husks were applied. This was then followed by lime to smooth the carvings ready for painting.

Cave 7 also had a whole wall of carved Buddhas. They are all carved by hand - pretty cool.

Caves 9 &10 were Chaityas, with elegantly carved facades.

Inside Cave 9 &10 were beautifully painted. This roof section is pretty well preserved.

This is Cave 11 so graciously marked by Jason's photography assistant Claire.

Public Enemy Number One! The public themselves! These school girls were more than a little attentive and it has to be said, a little rude. They got so bad that we had to have a word with their headmaster.

The funniest / seediest moment of the day is unfortunately un-photographed. We were walking along together, less than a metre apart, when the man coming the other way found that perving was not fulfilling enough, so he grabbed Claire's breast in a particularly awkward grope. By the time Jason realised what had happened (to intervene), Claire was already half-way through a good 5 blow leaflet slapping of the man's face. This guy just stood there unable to understand what he had done wrong and just kept saying, "sorry mam... sorry mam."

Caves 16 &17 were supposed to be the most amazing here. We saw bits of it, but a lot of the detail was lost on us Philistines.

This painting on the verandah roof was pretty cool.

Cave 19 is a well preserved Chiatya.

The half built remains of Cave 24 show the visitor the huge task of chiselling out these massive caves.

Cave 26 was another awesome Chiatya that had a huge reclining Buddha along one wall. We spent a long time in here, while a lot of tutting and clock watching was made by the staff. (It was near closing time).

After a few hours Claire had had enough. Jason pleaded for another 15 minutes and a couple more caves. He was sure we would be thrown out shortly as Indian civil servants aren't known for staying late.

Right on time, or more like ten minutes early, the mass exodus started. We had been made pretty unwelcome for the last half hour or so as these guys had their hearts set on going home. The good bit about leaving with this lot is that we didn't have to wait long for the bus to get back to main road.

On the way back we met an English literature PHD student who was without a doubt the nicest man in Aurangabad. Claire and the man exchanged favourite English authors, while Jason the self-appointed cultural ambassador of Luton was heard to say "Who?" a lot, and shake his head.