Ancient Ruins
So I have a lot to update on! First I need to talk about the past weekend, which was filled with a lot of touristy stuff. So on Saturday morning, the 8th, we woke up early so that we could leave for our destinations. Everything was going well, except it was freezing cold. It’s ridiculous how it can be so cold in the morning, and then the temperature hits the 80s within a few hours. But anyway, we got on our big jeep thing, but the seats were actually wet…so we had to wait for another car to come. That wasted like an hour.
We first went to the Ellora Caves in Aurangabad. Before going in, we had some lunch. We ate some delicious chapatti with paneer. Before eating though, we checked out the monkeys that were jumping around on the cars. At one point, Nadine and I were checking out a monkey that was on the opposite side of a fence. The monkey seemed to be mad, making faces at Nadine. And Nadine started scolding the monkey, saying, “No, no, you should respect your elders.” And then the monkey made a jump for us, and we ran for our lives. I was not planning on being killed by an angry monkey.
After lunch, we went to the Ellora Caves. On the same mountain were several Buddhist and Hindu temples. Right after the caves, we stopped by a silk factory. It was so incredible how people actually make silk, using large machines that must be extremely precise. We went to the factory’s store right next door. There I bought a really nice black and crimson sari for my mom. There was another sari that had the same design, but was in red and green, and I really really loved it. The two of them would cost like one hundred dollars, which is a very good deal. So I bought the other sari for myself.
Next, we went to the Bibi Ka Maqbara, also in Aurangabad. It’s basically the smaller version of the Taj Mahal. It was quite a sight! The Bibi was built by Prince Azam Shah, for his mother. The Prince’s father was Emperor Aurangzeb (Aurangabad’s named after him), who was the son of Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal’s creator. The artwork was very Persian, with intricate floral designs. Once we entered the tomb, we saw at the bottom of the rotunda the grave of the mother. It’s interesting to think how the prince built it to honor his mother, while now people come to see it as a remnant of a once great empire.
We left around sunset, and finally got to our hotel, which was not the best quality. The only good thing we had was a television with like a hundred channels. Sadly, there wasn’t anything good to watch. Before dinner at 8:30, I, Liz, Samira, Angela, and Tauhid went out to a store to get some shoes. My sandals fell apart while going to Ellora, and I had to change to flip flops while at the caves. New shoes were absolutely necessary.
The next day, we went to see the Ajunta caves, which were exclusively Buddhist. The caves were located high above in the mountains. After about three hours, and some lunch, we were on our way back to Jamkhed. We got back around 12:30 at night.
In school, we learned about the various groups that defined India’s history. It was very amazing to see the remains of these ancient peoples. When reading in a book, the history felt mythological, but after seeing the structures, it hit me that it was all very much real. It’s also unthinkable how people were able to create such large structures with not as advanced technology. The art was also so beautiful, ranking with that of the Renaissance artists.
