Returning to India to see the other Taj Mahal

[NSun]

Time for another trip report. I wanted to go to the US this year, but couldn't find J reward seats in the DSC offer, yet could find award space to India and Manila at different points in the year (the latter on Boxing Day) so got those instead. I booked Sydney to Bengaluru return and then decided the rest of the trip from there. This was my second time in India but my first time in the southern part of the country. I decided I wanted to visit Aurangabad which is home to the Ellora Caves and the Bibi Ka Maqbara and also stopped by Mumbai.

As always, we start in the Sydney F lounge. I had to get a seat up by the bar, but that meant I got served quicker. Got a strawberry smoothie and yogurt with extra honey.




Today's plane VH-EBP. My third time on this one, the last time being the flight home from India last year.



I already posted the food here, only thing worth reporting is the panna cottas - I had two of them.





Now the highlight of the flight was the CSM. I won't name her because she has a very common name but it was my third time flying with her. The first time was in mid-2019 when I flew A380 F for the first time Melbourne to Singapore. The second time was in early March 2020 right before the world shut down, in A380 J between Melbourne and Singapore. I boarded the flight asking 'Remember me?' and she did. She was based in Melbourne but transferred back to Sydney. I told her to say hi to the one other CSM I've flown with twice before, apparently they were good friends.

Flight time was just over 11 hours, we left 1.5 hours late and made up no time in the air. I was stunned landing at BLR Airport, the new terminal had opened less than a year ago. Weather wasn't that great though.

 

[NSun]

It took an hour and a half to get to my hotel, right in the city - I opted for the Holiday Inn. It cost just $20 so maybe I deserved it, although the traffic was horrendous. Sometimes slow traffic can be a blessing in disguise because you can truly appreciate the surroundings, but with bad weather and it getting darker earlier, not much to see. Oh, and it is nerve-wrecking on the roads with little respect for the lanes and so much use of horns, although no one seems to crash into each other. Anyway, some shots of the hotel.





Got this free plate of fruit. Not sure if it was because I was a Gold member or everyone gets it.



My hotel was near a racecourse and I saw a lot of horses practicing in the morning.







I got up about 3am to try and stay in Australian time, did some work and then went on a walk. The aim was to see Bengaluru Fort, which involved a long walk through suburbia first, then through the Chickpete shopping district.

 

[NSun]

Here it is, Bangalore Fort. Some attractions use the name Bangalore and this is one of them. It was first built in 1537 as a mud fort by Kempe Gowda I, who founded the city. It was made into a stone fort in the 1760s.



Then I navigated the markets, roads, tuk-tuks and street dogs to get through the markets. There seemed to be a lot of people selling flowers or flower necklaces for some reason. Compared to Delhi, there were a lot less people yelling at me trying to sell me stuff.









Last stop that morning was the Freedom Park, apparently so-called because it was the site of a former jail for political opponents during a 1970s uprising.

 

[NSun]

The next stop after Bengaluru was Aurangabad and I had anticipated spending a lot more time in Bengaluru with a direct flight in the evening. Unfortunately, my flight was cancelled and I was re-routed via Aurangabad - an adventure in itself. And that was before you account for the time it takes to get to the airport, even when the traffic is 'OK'.

I was in T1 this time which was not as modern as T2, but still did the job. You need to show ID and an itinerary to even enter the terminal. At the airport, security is gender-segregated, everyone gets scanned with a physical metal detector, and you need to take out all metal items. Not just laptops but even keys and adaptors.




The trip ended up being a bit quicker than expected so I sat down and had pizza.







All my intra-Indian flights were on low-cost carrier Indigo. I was an an A321 registered VT-ICN, less than a year old. It is a decent LCC. I was offered food because I had bought the right fare, the aircraft was new and the crew was friendly. I was quite amused at their introduction,' We are globe trotters, first-aiders, born leaders and home makers'. I snagged 4A on this flight.









It would've preferred it heated, but it was curry - much better than typical egg/salad sandwiches.

 

[NSun]

Some pics coming into Ahmedabad. One thing I missed (but did see with my own eyes) was a stadium named after Modi that has a capacity of 132,000 and Anthony Albanese visited in May last year.









This was where I had quite an adventure. I had a tight connection and had to go through security all over again because we got the back luck of the draw and got a remote gate with a bus. Fortunately security was not too busy, but boarded the connecting flight only a couple of minutes after clearing security. The second flight was on an ATR. Although they're a bit quieter than Dash 8s, I don't like them as much simply because boarding is from the back. Initially I was seated in 3D, but then took the invitation to sit in a bulkhead seat.





Bye Ahmedabad. I definitely want to visit for real someday.



And made it to Aurangabad.

 

[NSun]

I paid 150 rupees (~A$3) to get to the hotel in a tuk-tuk which I booked via Uber. But it sure was a long few minutes being harassed by touts who promised to beat Uber, but then figured out I had to exit the airport to meet the driver.



The hotel did the job for 2 nights, I appreciated a king-size bed, although it was a bit of a trek to the room, not because it was far from the lift, but because the lift was far from the lobby.







I woke up in the morning and went on a walk by myself prior to the big day ahead, where I was going to see the Ellora Caves, among other places.

 

[NSun]

At 7am, I was picked up from my hotel. I had hired a driver, but he just drove the car and didn't accompany me in. I paid about A$60, plus A$4 in a tip. The plan for today was Ellora then the Daulatabad Fort and the Bibi Ke Maqbara. It took about 45 minutes to drive to Ellora. On the way, I saw a good view of the fort, including one driving up the hill.






So now onto the Ellora Caves. They are the product of Buddhism, Brahmanism and Jainism, carvings of gods, goddesses and other figures in those faiths. There are a total of 32 caves and I saw all of them, but will only post the most prominant. My guide book said caves 5, 10, 15, 16, 21, 29 and 32 were the 'most noteable' and singled out a couple as 'not worth saying'.

The flagship is Cave 16 which is right as you enter the complex. They date from as far back as the 8th century CE and were carved out of the rockface. I had told my guide I'd only be an hour but he insisted to take as long as I needed and 1 hour wouldn't be enough. He was right as I spent 3.



And right as you enter, Cave 16. It is estimated 3,000,000 cubic feet of rock was quarried to build this and it took at least 100 years. I'll let the pictures do the talking as I took a lot. I would come back to this one later on after seeing the rest, although it was less crowded the first time I walked through it.









As you enter you come across the above carving. Then you turn left or right. I went right first.

 

[NSun]

 

[NSun]

I spent about an hour all up at Cave 16 between the two times I visited, once at the start and the other at the end. I then went on a walk towards Caves 1-15. Cave 15 has probably the longest steps of any cave to reach it. It is court-yard centred too and has several carvings of Shiva.













Cave 10 - described as a 'chaitya hall'. It is dedicated to Vishwarkarma.

 

[NSun]

The 'single digit caves' are all clustered together.





My guide book said Cave 5 was the largest.

 

[RooFlyer]

I saw Ellora on a Joanna Lumley show in 2017 and immediately planned to visit. Cave 16 is one of the wonders of the world, carved, as you noted from the outside in, a solid piece of rock.

 

[NSun]

I saw Ellora on a Joanna Lumley show in 2017 and immediately planned to visit. Cave 16 is one of the wonders of the world, carved, as you noted from the outside in, a solid piece of rock.

Yes, should be the eighth.

 

[NSun]

Then I made a U-turn and walked back to Cave 16, then onward to Caves 17-31. My guide book said the most notable were 21, 29 and 32.



So cave 21 has the figures of Ganga and Yamuna.











I forget which number this one was.



25 - it has a standing image of 'Sun God in a Rath (Chariot)'.





Caves 29-32 are a further walk, on the other side of a waterfall.

 

[NSun]

Cave 29 is 45.7 metres wide and 5.5m high. It is unique in having three separate entrances and everything being colossal.











Then another (shorter) walk to Caves 30-34.





Cave 32 is kind of like a Mini-Cave 16. It is designed to be an assembly hall, called Indra Sabha (Assembly Hall of Indra). All of the caves in the 30s are Jain-based. This faith was founded around the same time as Buddhism and is still a living faith despite not having as many adherents as Buddhism.

 

[NSun]

Then I walked back to the entrance, for one last look at Cave 16.













By the time I was done it was 11am, I'd spent 3 hours all up. In a word: AMAZING!

 

[OZDUCK]

I saw Ellora on a Joanna Lumley show in 2017 and immediately planned to visit. Cave 16 is one of the wonders of the world, carved, as you noted from the outside in, a solid piece of rock.

I had been trying to remember what show I had seen these caves on before - thank you. And of course thanks to Nsun for posting these great photos.

 

[NSun]

I'd taken so long that my driver was asleep in his car. Here's the road immediately outside the main gates.



Next stop was the Daulatabad Fort, which is 600 feet tall or 183m. Back in the 12th century, it was the capital of the Hindu Kingdoms on the Deccan and was called Deogiri, the Hill of the Gods. This fortress was commissioned at that time and built by Raja Bhillamraj of the Yadav Dynasty. The fort fell into the possession of the Sultans of Delhi in 1308 AD, and 30 years thereafter, the emperor ordered the capital to be moved there and renamed it Daulatabad (the City of Fortune). Everyone had to move, young and old, rich and poor...it was a disaster as thousands died. And that emperor repeated his act of madness ordering them all back to Delhi. Nonetheless, Daulatabad grew to rival Delhi and eventually broke away once again.

Took my an hour to walk to the top and then nearly an hour to walk back down again. This is just after entering and I walked gradually to the top.













Apparently once upon a time, there were crocodiles in this moat.

 

[NSun]

These are some pictures in that 'fort' at what I thought was the very top, but actually wasn't.











Higher still I went.



Now this is the top.

 

[NSun]

The next and final stop is the Bibi Ka Maqbara. The first thing you might notice is that it looks very similar to the Taj Mahal. And there is a link. It was commissioned by Azam Shah, the grandson of Shan Jahan, in memory of his mother. It has some similarities, including a grand gate through which you first spot the monument and that it is centred around gardens with fountains. But there are some differences. The bulk of the monument is made of plaster rather than marble, so you can see signs of ageing. Plus, it is not perfectly symmetrical. But it has some good differences, including having surrounding hills as a backdrop, that you can actually see the tomb and less tourists. This said, the few tourists that were there all wanted selfies with me.

 

[NSun]

Continued...

















Then back to the hotel and by this time it was about 3pm. I ordered room service - having some butter chicken. The plan for the next day was to catch a 6-hour train to Mumbai and it would be an interesting day.