India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [151]
A place largely untouched by tourism is Lonar Crater—created some 50,000 years ago when a meteorite careered into the basalt rock. It has a diameter of 1,800m (5,904 ft.), making it the largest crater in the world. Filling the bottom of the crater is water in which Ram and Sita are believed to have bathed while they were exiled from Ayodhya; temple ruins lie at the water’s edge. Tranquil and remote, the crater is about 150km (93 miles) east of Aurangabad.
The Finest of Fabrics
Aurangabad is the only place in the world where Himroo art and Paithani weaving is still practiced, a millennia-old brocade-weaving craft that combines silk and cotton yarn into an almost satinlike fabric. Weavers spend around 2 to 3 months working on a single Paithani sari, even longer on more intricate and detailed designs. A custom-woven Paithani sari with gold-plated thread, featuring a design based on one of the Ajanta murals takes a year to produce and cost up to Rs 200,000. A beautiful Himroo shawl can cost anywhere from Rs 1,000 to Rs 25,000, depending on the workmanship. Pay a visit to the Aurangabad Himroo Art & Paithani Weaving & Training Centre (Jaffar Gate, Mondha Rd., Aurangabad) to shop or see weavers at work, or stop at Paithani Silk Weaving Centre, 54 P1 Town Center, behind Indian Booking Office, opposite M.G.M. College ( 0240/248-2811; daily 11am–8pm).
THE BUDDHIST CAVES OF AJANTA
106km (66 miles) NE of Aurangabad
During the 2nd century B.C., a long, curving swath of rock at a sharp hairpin bend in the Waghora River was chosen as the site for one of the most significant chapters in the creative history of Buddhism. Buddhist monks spent the next 700 years carving out prayer halls for worship (chaitya grihas) and monasteries (viharas) using little more than simple hand-held tools, natural pigments, and oil lamps and natural light reflected off bits of metal or pools of water. They decorated the caves with sculptures and magnificent murals that depict the life of the Buddha as well as everyday life.
The caves were abandoned rather abruptly after almost 9 centuries of activity and were only rediscovered in 1819 (by a British cavalryman out terrorizing wild boars). Time has taken its toll on many of the murals, and modern-day restoration projects have even contributed to the near-ruin of some of the work. Despite this, the paintings continue to enthrall, and it’s hard to imagine the patience and profound sense of spiritual duty and devotion that led to the creation of this, arguably the best Buddhist site in India.
It takes some time to explore all 29 caves (which are numbered from east to west), and the sensory overload can prove exhausting; try at least to see the eight described below. It’s a good idea to make your way to the last cave, then view the caves in reverse numerical order—in this way you won’t be running with the masses, and you won’t have a long walk back to the exit when you’re done.
Richly decorated with carved Buddha figures, Cave 26 is a chaitya hall featuring a stupa (dome-shaped shrine) on which an image of the Master seated in a pavilion appears. In the left-hand wall is a huge carved figure of the reclining Buddha—a depiction of the Mahaparinirvana, his final salvation from the cycle of life and death. Beneath him, his disciples mourn his passing; above, celestial beings rejoice. Featuring the greatest profusion of well-preserved paintings is Cave 17, where maidens float overhead, accompanied by celestial musicians, and the doorway is adorned with Buddhas, female guardians, river goddesses, lotus petals, and scrollwork. One celebrated mural here depicts Prince Simhala’s encounter with the man-eating ogresses of Ceylon, where he’d been shipwrecked.
Cave 16 has a lovely painting of Princess Sundari fainting upon hearing that her husband—the Buddha’s half-brother, Nanda—has decided to become a monk. Cave 10 is thought to be the oldest Ajanta temple, dating from around the 2nd century B.C. Dating from the 1st century B.C., Cave 9 is one of the earliest chaitya grihas, and is renowned for