The construction of Ajanta Caves can be divided into 2 phases, the first being around the 2nd century AD and the second during the period of the Vakatakas and the Guptas. The construction of Ellora Caves is between the 5th and 11th century AD. Listed as the World Heritage Site, you would love the tour of the Ajanta Ellora Caves.
Location of Ajanta Ellora
For tour packages for Ajanta Ellora, you will have to make the base at district of Aurangabad in the state of Maharashtra. While the Ajanta Caves are at a distance of 100 km, the Ellora Caves are 26 km from Aurangabad. With the decline of Buddhism in India, the Ajanta Caves went into oblivion hidden under the thick forest growth. A British hunting party discovered Ajanta Caves by chance in 1819 AD. On tour package to Ajanta, study the caves hewned out of horseshoe shaped granite cliff on the inner side of a 20 m long valley of the Waghora River. Find out on tour package to Ellora that the caves were hewned out of a perpendicular cliff in a linear pattern.
Things to Do in Ajanta Ellora
Tour packages to Ajanta Ellora is an enriching experience where you get to know how such massive caves were carved out of the rocks when the equipments were not so developed and sophisticated at that time as they are now. The tour of Ajanta comprises of a visit to 30 caves out of which Cave No. 9, 10, 19, 26 and 29 are chaitya caves and the rest are the viharas or the monasteries. What make the tour packages for Ajanta popular are the murals on the walls of the caves. Some very fine masterpieces of art can be found in the caves of Ajanta, which generally tell about the incidents associated with the life of Lord Buddha. Tour packages for Ellora are famous because they are an example of religious harmony and co-existence, as Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves are next to each other. Take tour of the Cave Nos. 1 to 12 are Buddhist, 13 to 29 are Brahmanical and 30 to 34 are Jain Caves. One must make a tour of the Vishwakarma Cave, Do Tal, Teen Tal, Kailash Temple and Chhota Kailash.
