Karwaan (A Ride to Aurangabad)

 

Lets head back to Diwali vacation trip to Aurangabad (which was a result of low budget Konkan trip)with me and three other idiots but seriously only four us know how much hassle it led to from booking the car at last moment to booking the hotel. At a point I thought we were going to call off the trip as not even a thing was planned, nothing but big respect to all of us for pulling that off.

So our journey starts with as usual one of us being super late as his alarm goes off and no one's there to drop him off . On our road trip with all the songs and melodious vibe we really had a great time except for the part of some bumpy roads. Enroute we stopped by one of our friends place for the occasion of Bhaubeej(Bhai Dooj) as it is the day sisters pray for a long and healthy life for their brothers with a tika ceremony.After all the rituals we again headed for our journey to Aurangabad.

And finally we reach The Ajanta Caves which are famous for the Buddhist monuments and known for murals, paintings and sculptures which are as old as 2nd century BCE and have defined Indian art over the time. The beauty and perfection of the domes and sculptures there is so remarkable and astonishing that they can never be challenged with modern world art.

entrance at Ajanta Caves

With a day full of travelling, wandering all around the city after midnight(god knows what we were searching for)and ofcourse visiting the famous caves we ended our first day.

Starting our second day with a visit to The Bibi Ka Maqbara was really refreshing . Bibi Ka Maqbara is a tomb which was commissioned in 1660 by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the memory of his wife Dilras Banu Begum as a symbol of Aurangzeb's 'conjugal fidelity'. Though the maintenance work was still on in certain areas but the beauty of it was completely intact to it. It's a symbol of what extent a person can go just to express his love for someone special.

Bibi ka Maqbara

Later on, we headed towards the unbeatable Daultabad Fort which allegedly is never won by any Emperor because of its steep location and structure .It was built by Yadava dynasty in 1187 and when Muhammad Tughlak took over, this citadel was named capital of Delhi Sultanate for a brief time. The training  grounds, the canons and hidden pathways instilled there are the proof why it is the unbeatable fort and why all the enemies always used end up sinking into the river which surrounded the fort from all sides. The instructor/guide told us why winning this place was so difficult as the enemies always followed the breeze and sunlight inside the palace and it always led them to sink in the river as the fort was structured with such a remarkable tactic.

Daultabad fort

On our way climbing up the fort we engaged with many locals and other visitors and we were quite astonished watching them easily climb in normal slippers as we started struggling after a few steps(obviously pandemic has ruined our physique).After tireless climbing we had very spare time, so we could either go to a nearby waterpark or The Ellora Caves .Thanks to one of our friend's relative who warned us regarding some complications about the kind of water that was used in the alleged waterpark so with a heavy heart we headed towards The Ellora Caves which have ancient monasteries, rock-cut sculptures and worship halls of various Buddhist Traditions and the most remarkable thing I noticed looking at the carvings is that they are carved from upside yes you read it right they are carved upside down for about 246 feet.

Ellora Caves

We had a really great time around there with a smooth breeze running down ourselves, it was pretty relaxing after a tireless day.

With this last visit we finally ended our so-called short trip and enroute heading back to our hometown Nashik we stopped by a place for having food but to our surprise they just had evening snacks and so we ordered Dosa's for all of us and god knows why one us came up with a plan about who finishes up maximum Pepsi's and we fools really found it cool and went on with it and to the date it is a mystery, of  how we managed to get back home safe, sound and most importantly healthy.

In these two days I realized that it is not the place that matters it is the people who matter and taking out some free time to know yourself is very necessary in today's world full of misery and competition.

 “When your world moves too fast and you lose yourself in the chaos, introduce yourself to each color of the sunset.” 

Happy Learnings!!

Nikhil Jagyasi