I was going through the pictures of the Ajanta Ellora caves that I had taken earlier this year and thought of posting a few here.
Located near the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra (India), the famous Ajanta and Ellora are cave shrines cut out of rock, by hand, and rank amongst some of the most outstanding specimens of ancient Indian architectural heritage. The 34 caves at Ellora and the 29 caves at Ajanta, remained shrouded in obscurity for over a millennium, till John Smith, a British Army Officer, accidentally stumbled upon them while on a hunting expedition in 1819. Ajanta has been designated as a World Heritage Site, to be preserved as an artistic legacy that will come to inspire and enrich the lives of generations to come.
The Ajanta Caves mostly have paintings that depict the story of Buddism spanning from 200 B.C to 650 A.D. Many of the caves house panels depicting stories from the Jatakas, a rich mine of tales of the several incarnations of the Buddha. Images of nymphs and princesses amongst others, are also elaborately portrayed.
The Ellora Caves are the finest specimens of cave - temple architecture. They house elaborate facades and exquisitely adorned interiors.
There is so much to see in every little part of this world renouned heritage that pictures are not suffice to aptly describe it's beauty. That it was all cut out of rock by mere chisels and hammers speaks volumes on the artmanship of those who undertook this behemoth task. It's said that the entire structure was completed by several generations with the newer generation taking it up from where the older one left. There are some caves which have been left unsculpted. It was inhabited by people of that age, and then abruptly abandoned. With so much attention to detail and every stone, nook and cranny telling a different story, a few visits cannot do justice to this place.
23 people were gracious enough to leave comments:
hey
long time.... i have been off blog world quite some time.. guess jus developed cold feet......
the caves are marvelous...so magical... feels like an era off Ramayana or Mahabharatha.... we r privileged to have such heritage....
lovely pics.. its really gud you put them up for others to have a glance at :)
The architecture is stunning....and I enjoy looking at your photos. Imagine something being that old and still looking incredibly lovely. Thank you for sharing.
Smiles,
Jackie
Think of the imagination it took to even think to attempt something of that nature...Such a beautiful thing to have seen...So many amazing creations in our world.
Smile and take care Stillness.
Stillness, how lovely and wonderous your pictures and descriptions are in this post. I really enjoyed seeing and learning about this beautiful place. Thank you for sharing my friend....Hugs
And what did you feel when you visited the caves? :)
I'm listening :)
I have relatives around that place and all the plans to visit the caves have bombed. This peice of yours eggs me on to not miss it this time.
Fine choices of the pics and great desciptions.
NUPS: Long time indeed! Cold feet associated with the impending wedding? ;-D Can't be blogging :)
They are beyond marvelous! To imagine that people spent all their lives sculpting is bewildering. With no illumination but natural sunlight, and no modern tools, to come up with something so humongous and exquisitely beautiful is awe inspiring. We sure are rich in terms of our cultural heritage :)
ETHEREAL LILY: Thank you so very much. I'm glad you liked these pictures :)
JACKIE: It sure was stunning and out of this world. The figures are more often than not taller than any human can possibly be and the attention to detail is mind boggling! It is extremely ornate. Stuff that is impossible to be repeated these days. They all depict tales of yore. The pictures on the ceilings of Ajanta caves speak volumes. Every square inch says something :) I am glad I could give you an insight into our world renouned heritage :)
WANDA: In total agreement with you. The enormity of it all stumped me. There are caves where even natural sunlight can't reach. The paintings are extremely sensitive to light and hence some caves are illuminated by extremely dim lighting, which just adds to the aura of the place. The ornate structures and carvings I found there are something I haven't seen elsewhere here. Nestled on a hill far away, is something so beautiful that draws people from all over the world. You're right Wanda, there is so much beauty all around. All that is required is a discerning eye :)
BERNIE: Thank you so much for having gone through the link and reading more about this treasure. I am so happy I could share this with all of you :)
STILL THINKING: Serenity. All pervading calm and spiritual happiness. Like nothing else matters. Like nothing else exists :) It's difficult to be troubled over there. Didn't feel like leaving that place even though walking the stretch all day exhausted me COMPLETELY :)
BROWN PHANTOM: Oh you have to go there!! That is something you can't miss living so close. Infact plan several visits, because rushing through all the caves and taking tones of pictures doesn't do justice to that place. Thank you for the kind words of appreciation. I am thrilled ! :-D
Your photos were beautiful, I can only imagine what it was like actually being there! Historical architecture is fascinating to me. Even an abandoned old house can bring me such pleasure trying to imagine all of the people and things from the past that walked those floors! Hi Stillness, I am visiting you from Bernie's blog. I love your postings!
Stillness....In answer to your question on my blog about clicking on photos to make them larger, here's what I do. I send the photo that I am going to put on my blog to myself in an e-mail(right clicking on the photo and choosing: e-mail to:.... I then choose the size medium which happens to be 1024 by 768. I open my own e-mail with my photo in it and save it on my computer (wherever it is that you like to go to access your photos.) If you post a photo much larger than that, it will put it on the blog, but it won't open it because blogspot only allows a certain size, and if it's too big, it won't 're-open'. I hope this makes sense. This may save you some room, too.....because larger photos that you upload take up more space that you are eventually using.
Have a beautiful day. I'm thinking of you.
Smiles from Jackie
P.S. If this isn't clear because I didn't explain it well, don't hesitate to comment again on my blog....or here on yours because I read yours daily...and I'll try and explain it differently.
:-))
DIANA: Thank you so very much for stopping by :) And a heartfelt thanks for the appreciation too :) I can totally imagine. When you walk into a place like this, you can actually imagine history coming alive. It's magically enchanting :)
JACKIE: I get what you're saying. Blogspot can only accept a specific size. You scale it down by emailing it to yourself. I think those imaging softwares can also do the same. Shall try it myself someday, when I get a little better at photography (so the picture does not blur when blown up). Thank you so very much for the tip and thanks for visiting me regularly too :) Take care :)
It's a pleasure to visit you, Stillness. I look forward to coming back.
Smiles from Jackie
you out of ideas?
Still thinking : ain't you asked the question with Khahuraho in mind.. :P
Lovely pics and thanks for the General Knowledge lesson :D hehehe... I felt like I was back in class, you'd given it that perfect reader like feel ...
But it was nice to know some more about the caves .... :) Such creativity , such beauty , all hidden in the recesses of time to be rediscovered over and over again ... Wow !!
JACKIE: Thanks a bunch :)
SCATTERED THOUGHTS: no actually this is for Still Thinking I am ready to give Rs. 101 in supari for the gentleman above. Is the suparification work still on?
ADISHA: Thanks Adisha. I had to do a lil bit of R&D (read copy paste) so I don't get the facts wrong :D ;-)
Hi Stillness.....It's Monday afternoon here as I type. I hope that you continue to enjoy taking photographs and sharing them with us. I love to look at them.
Have a lovely week.
Smiles,
Jackie
Wow! ST. I can't believe this, you're absolutely right! Somehow, I did think those temples/caves when I wrote the comment but Ms. Speaks didn't get it and I shut my mouth! :D
And as usual, I knew she knew better than me! :)
Gawd! Everybody has starting to get me in blogville in some way or the other, I need to stop being so expressive :p
*PEACE* Please smile all :)
Still Thinking - oh come on.. being a saint, ms. speaks is, you cant expect her to understand this kind of jokes of yours! I am not surprised at all :)) and yeah.. I am grinning ear to ear :D
JACKIE: I will for sure, as and when I have something worth showing off!
STILL THINKING: Alright, count Rs.101 for yourself as well. I'm facing a word crunch
SCATTERED THOUGHTS: Would you mind having this funny conversation of yours with Ms. Thinking elsewhere? Thank you so much!
Getting a 'supari' from a friend :(
Hey Bhagwan! yeh kya ho raha hai! :)
Sorry for fonting your space.
and I thought we are independent citizen of independent country with a right to speak..
So Still Thinking where are you hiding now :D
STILL THINKING: Will Manekchand Supari do? Since you don't font your space, I can't deny you the right of fonting this space. Go on.
Dost ...dost...naa...rahaa...
SCATTERED THOUGHTS: Yea..I kind of forgot that clause in our constitution. Short term memory loss. Still thinking is still where she was, still doing what she was doing, still thinking what she was thinking. Any more questions that I can answer on her behalf?
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