Today we kicked off by visiting Daulatabad Fort. This was constructed in 1187 AD when Deogiri, as it was then known, was the capital of the Hindu Kingdoms in Deccan. A century or so later it was captured by the Sultans of Delhi, and in 1338 the sultan moved the capital from Delhi to Deogiri (which he renamed Daulatabad). This involved route marching all the Delhi citizens west. Thousands died en route. He then changed his mind and marched them all back again…
Over time the fort was expanded and now has a 6 km circumference wall. It has numerous fortifications including cannon, several inner gate systems with zigzag alleys between them. There are anti-elephant ramming spikes on the gates.
It is the only one of its type in India and I’ve never come across such an impenetrable fortress to be fair.
There was a well (there was also a water system for the citadel itself) and the Chand Minar, built as a victory pillar.
Alongside it is an ancient Hindu temple comprising of a huge courtyard and inner area supported by 150 pillars.
We found the Mendha (ram) cannon. It is 5.5 m long has a ram’s head at one end.
So, once you’d dodged the various gates, zigzag alleys and guns you then had to cross the moat. Of course, if they'd left the draw bridge down it was easy, but otherwise it was a tough scale up near vertical walls.
The piece de resistance protecting the citadel is the enclosed stairwell. This runs for 45 m and needed a torch to navigate. Fortunately we'd read ahead and I had my petzl in my pocket. It has multiple carved hideaways along it and must have been awful to attack. If all else failed, the defenders would light a fire at the top and the smoke would be drawn down into the dark passageway.
The fortress is 183 m high and a decent hike up stairs. We ascended to the Mughal pavilion and enjoyed the views accompanied by a gaggle of school children who wanted pictures of us numerous times, before we descended to the entrance and our driver.
Next up were the Ellora Caves. These were built by three groups. Caves 1-12 are Buddhist, 13-29 Brahman and 30-34 Jainist.
We started at cave 1, it being the oldest. Cave 1 was quite plain and, as we had a whack of caves to inspect, we decided to start scoring them on style, durability, artistic flair. This one was 2/10.
Cave 3
Cave 5 is a viahra - a communal area - and is the largest of the Buddhist set at 35 x 17 m.
Cave 10 was a chaitya-hall - for sacred activities/temple - and scored 9/10 from us.
On the face of it, caves 11 and 12 looked like multi-storey car parks. I think the correct phrase is ‘austere’. Quite how anyone managed to design and carve these is beyond me, but they did.
Inside, they are even more impressive with massive column-supported rooms and Buddha carvings. Lots of them.
Onto the Brahman set, the carving changed from Buddhas to Hindu gods. Notably there were a lot of Shivas.
In cave 15 we came across Nandi, the bull.
Cave 16 is the jewel in Ellora’s crown. Not that we weren’t already deeply impressed, this one blew us away! This cave had been carved top down and is estimated to have taken over 100 years to create, removing over 3,000,000 cubic feet of rock. It is considered the greatest monolithic structure in the world (says the tourist guide book). It wasn’t hard to see why.
Somehow they had created a two storied free-standing Shiva temple in the 31 m deep pit. Throw in intricate carvings on pretty much every surface, a pillar and a couple of life size elephants (nowadays sans trunks) and it’s easy to see why this took a century or so to complete.
Remember this is all carved stone - and triple layered with a temple in the middle. Breathtaking.
Off to cave 17. Huge pillars in this one.
We had exhausted our enthusiasm for scoring caves by now and decided simply to continue in order. Despite the guide book advising us to skip some we decided that wasn’t our style so we at least stuck our head into each. It was funny, in a good way, travelling with Caitlin as I didn’t have to explain some of my quirks (eg needing to visit each one in turn) as, quelle suprise, she'd inherited that need too.
We continued visiting the Brahman group. Cave 21 was big on female figures who were very buxomous.
We were weary and hungry - but we ploughed on.
Cave 22 had a shrine containing Nandi. I loved that you could see his tail and butt as you approached the cave.
Cave 29 had three entrances, each guarded by a pair of lions. There was an agressive looking Shiva bent on destruction. And more huge pillars in a vast cave.
A few hundred metres up from this set were four Jain caves. Jainism was founded in the 6th Century BC, at the same time as Buddhism.
Cave 30 was beautifully adorned with lotus flowers, delicately carved pillars and a herd of elephants.
Cave 32 was just as amazing as cave 16. In some ways it was better as it was more intact - perhaps because it’s less accessible? Again, carved from the top down it had a 9 m column and impressive elephants, trunks included. Again, more breathtaking carving.
The usual Jain sculptures (they are always in the same pose) and a sleepy guard (they are too).
At last, but not least at all, cave 34 which we entered through cave 32.
By this time we were pooped. We’d been there 4 1/2 hours and hadn’t really eaten as the restaurant and cafes were all unexpectedly closed. We had water, and bought more, so we weren’t in danger of dehydration but we were certainly hungry. We hopped on an electric car which, for 30p each, whizzed us back to the start.
We had planned to visit a mausoleum next, that of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, but were too weary for that one. We did, however, manage to squeeze in a visit to Bibi-Ka-Maqbara, known as the mini Taj Mahal. On our way we spotted surveyors on the move: in case you can’t see it’s a levelling staff and upside down tripod.
Bibi-Ka-Maqbara is the mausoleum of Aurangzeb’s wife and modelled on the version at Agra.
It’s a beautiful building built of marble. But, unlike the Taj, has concrete not marble flooring.
We sat for photos although Caitlin was less keen. She’d been pestered off and on all day for photos, and 8 hours in was tired of being approached for yet another photo with someone’s wife/daughter or, less appealing, a handful of young men. We just decided that we’d reached the end of photos for the day and declined all further approaches.
We wandered around the site enjoying the elaborate decor.
You had to take off your shoes 'at your own risk' before entering the mausoleum.
She's down there somewhere I think (Aurangzeb’s wife, not Caitlin).
Photos in the sunlight.
Guess what? Once back at the hotel, showered and watered, we fell into the restaurant being too tired to think of anything more exciting. That was definitely a long day.
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