making the most of the one-year multi-entry India visa

I had another organised tour booked in India, to try for something else on my bucket list - seeing a tiger in the wild!!  But before that, I had a spare week - enough time to see the UNESCO-listed Ajanta and Ellora Caves.

So I started in Aurangabad, the nearest city to these caves, where my hostel seemed to have no international travellers staying, but plenty of friendly Indians, who persuaded me to join forces with them so that we could pool resources to hire a large taxi for the day rather than wasting time with buses to get to the rather distant Ajanta.  Probably worthwhile, as there are some thirty Buddhist caves excavated around a horseshoe-shaped river gorge, full of wall and ceiling paintings, and statues - we even hired a site guide, who did point out some corners that I would otherwise have missed (and gave us great information on the history ... information which I'm afraid went in one ear and out the other).

So I agreed to also spend the next day with a couple of these guys, to visit Ellora Caves and, on the way, Grishneshwar Temple.  This latter is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus, as one of only twelve Jyotirlingas (whatever that means...), and attracts long lines of devotees.  We must have queued for two hours, barefoot as required, and finally got to the inner sanctum (where men must be bare-chested).  No photos allowed, but to be honest there was nothing that cried out to be photographed.  It turned out that both of my companions were searching ... for what exactly I don't know, but this place was part of that search - and my approach to life seemed to inspire them so our conversation did not cease.

Anyway, we did eventually make it to Ellora Caves but frankly we were quite tired by then, and a fairly intensive downpour didn't serve to energise us so we only visited a few of the caves.  This included the best one, however, the Kailash Temple (cave 16), which was quite spectacular, even in the rain!

Then the next day we went to see Daulatabad Fort, a massive hill fort which according to Google's AI summary covers some 94 hectares, and "features complex defenses like deep moats, sheer cliffs, and labyrinthine tunnels, making it one of India's most formidable medieval strongholds."  It is an amazing place, well worth the fairly considerable effort required to climb up, through and around it.  None of my photos capture its extent, but this shows part of the outer wall, the Chand Minar (that looks like a minaret), and parts of the fortress on the sides and top of the hill behind.

After the fort, I continued to the city of Nagpur (where I was meeting my tour group), still accompanied by one of the two Indian guys.  Thanks to him I got to visit the Deekshabhoomi monument to Dr Ambedkar, who chaired the committee that drafted the Indian Constitution but who is as well-known for his rejection of Hinduism and conversion to Buddhism.  He was born in the Dalit (untouchables) caste, and as such was not even allowed to sit inside a classroom at school (nor to drink from public water supplies), but he still managed to get a PhD, a successful legal career, and then become a government minister.  His public rejection of Hinduism and conversion to Buddhism, in Nagpur, was accompanied by the conversion of some 500,000 of his supporters.  I'd never heard of this man before, but am glad to know of him now.

Then, finally, I met up with my tour group for a week of searching for tigers!


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