Visit to Ellora Caves
Ellora caves are a series of caves based on Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religion. This archaeological site is located around 29 km from the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. In total there are 34 caves. Cave 1 to 12 are Buddhist, cave 13 to 29 are Hindu and cave 30 to 34 are Jain. The ancient name of Ellora is Elapura or Verul.
Timings: Sunrise to sunset
Closed on Tuesday
Entry fees: Citizens of India and visitors of SAARC (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan) and BIMSTEC Countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar) – Rs. 10 per head. Others – Rs 250 or US $5
Children upto 15 years free
The caves are spread over an area of almost 2 kms. It would be awesome if one can walk to visit all the caves. However, if you are visiting with small children or with elderly persons this may be difficult. This region is typically dry and is hot during the day. However, you can hire an Auto for Rs 150 to 200. All autos will show you caves starting from cave # 16. I was told, caves # 1 to 15 need to be done on foot. My suggestion would be to ask your auto driver to show you all the other caves and drop you in front of cave # 16 on the way back. Cave # is the majestic of all the caves and I suggest you to see this leisure. Also, I found they do not show all the caves. They show only the important ones and say the other caves are empty. But if you are curious traveler, the empty cave also could be interesting.
We watched cave # 16 first and then we hired an auto. He showed us cave # 29, 20, 21, 30, 32. I knew I was not seeing it completely and decided to visit again. To see a monument of such magnitude, few hours are just not enough. To really enjoy ellora, one should come here with one day in hand. I found a beautiful work Elloracaves.org by Deepanjana and Arno who has done a comprehensive documentation of the Ellora cave temples.
To view more pictures, Travelingbeats Photo Gallery.