23-26 December 2010 - Ellora Caves, Aurangabad, Mumbai

Ellora caves

Ellora (Marathi: वेरूळ) is an archaeological site, 30 km (19 mi) from the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra built by the Rashtrakuta (Kannada: ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕೂಟ) rulers. Well-known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site.^[1] Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills – being Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock-cut templesand monasteries, were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history.  from  Wikipedia

Cave 32

 This was the first cave/temple we entered.  It is so fabulous, and carved out of one huge rock, I wept.

Another cave

Cave 33

Cave 29

On the way back to Aurangabad, we stopped at a handloom factory, where I got shawls and scarves to take back to California.

 Somewhere en route back to Mumbai, we stopped (did not go in) at this palace.

Bibi-Ka-Maqbara

We stayed at Krishna's brother's in Aurangabad.  His son, Rahul, pictured here between Vijaya and Krishna, arranged this 'country' dinner for us.  It was really enjoyable.

Here we are with Shanti, Krishna's brother and our gracious host in Aurangabad

We ate a grain that was roasted in this fire

Rahul's son, Mohan, with Vijaya

Krishna, Ashok (another brother), and Rahul's wife Meetha

Shaking the green berries off the branches

Yumm!

This is another party there - a group of women having a time away

A men's group nearby

Our group