3/28 - 3/31
Took a train to Sholapur, met a friendly Sikh who was surprised to see foreigners in such a place and enthusiastically invited us to Nanden temple. We took a bus to Aurangabad anyway, arriving around midnight to have various awful or awfully expensive hotel rooms aggressively pushed at us. We eventually haggled a fancy room down to less than half the asking price.
Head shave on the street! Got lots of attention from passers-by, lots of painful nicks on my head and a great head massage that featured hard blows to the head and worrying crunching sounds from my neck.
The only real reasons to visit Aurangabad are the Daulatabad citadel and the nearby Ellora and not-so-nearby Ajanta caves, which are huge Baddhist, Hindu and Jain temple networks hewn out of mountain faces. First up was Ellora, with 33 'cave' temples, and one 'bloody amazing' temple.
First, the cave temples, from the very simple early Buddhist efforts:
To increasingly elaborate designs as the Buddhist and Hindu craftsmen tried to outdo each other:
It all culminates in the ridiculous Kailash temple. The thought that picks, wooden wedges and water could be used to dig out the negative space of the temple is mind-blowing. This was most clearly shown when we climbed up behind the temple and saw how much rock had been cut away.
We had a shockingly awful excuse for nan and a watery curry at the on-site cafe and I got into an argument with the owner and sick the next day, which soured the experience a little.
The India vs. Pakistan cricket match happened that day too, so everywhere was closed and there was much celebration in the evening, but we were too busy feeling ill to join in.
Head shave on the street! Got lots of attention from passers-by, lots of painful nicks on my head and a great head massage that featured hard blows to the head and worrying crunching sounds from my neck.
The only real reasons to visit Aurangabad are the Daulatabad citadel and the nearby Ellora and not-so-nearby Ajanta caves, which are huge Baddhist, Hindu and Jain temple networks hewn out of mountain faces. First up was Ellora, with 33 'cave' temples, and one 'bloody amazing' temple.
First, the cave temples, from the very simple early Buddhist efforts:
To increasingly elaborate designs as the Buddhist and Hindu craftsmen tried to outdo each other:
It all culminates in the ridiculous Kailash temple. The thought that picks, wooden wedges and water could be used to dig out the negative space of the temple is mind-blowing. This was most clearly shown when we climbed up behind the temple and saw how much rock had been cut away.
We had a shockingly awful excuse for nan and a watery curry at the on-site cafe and I got into an argument with the owner and sick the next day, which soured the experience a little.
The India vs. Pakistan cricket match happened that day too, so everywhere was closed and there was much celebration in the evening, but we were too busy feeling ill to join in.
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