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TRIP UPDATE - 3 (December 17-21)
Ellora caves, Ajanta, Ujjain and Vadodara
December 17, 2006, Daulatabad, Khultabad and Ellora Caves
Our agenda for the bright Sunday morning day was to visit Daulatabad fort, Ellora Caves and Aurangzeb's tomb at Khultabad. We headed out of the city towards Ellora on the smooth black topped roads, flanked by dry arid scenery. Our first stop was at Daulatabad fort, sited about 20 km from Aurangabad. Originally known as Deogiri meaning hill of gods, the fort was held by Yadavas, Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas before the Delhi moghuls led by Mohammed Bin Tughlak took over, made it his capital and renamed it Daulatabad. This massivce and imposing fort built on an isolated pyramid-shaped natural mountain has two moats and is a combination of a ground fort and a hill fort and was almost impregneable. Like most ancient Indian forts Daulatabad also employed excellent network of rainwater harvesting for its drinking water needs and even filled the moat around the fort.
  
Daulatabad views and gateway to Khultabad
Our further journey took us through the fort gates of Daulatabad and on a 18 km smooth surfaced road which snaked around a tall mountain to reach Khultabad and further Ellora. The ride from Daulatabad to Khultabad was very thrilling when we raced uphill on the undulating road feeling as if we were on a race track and not on road. But slowed down and started enjoying the scenery once we reached the top of the hill. We stopped at Khultabad where the mortal remains of Moghul Emperor Aurangazeb are buried in a mosque. But the tomb is in a sad state of affairs, roads inside the walled city of Khultabad are non-existant, filth and squalor abounds everywhere. Inside the mosque one can see some amount of cleanliness and has some well decorated windows and pillars with attractive carvings. After a few minutes break at Khultabad we proceeded to Ellora and were enthralled by the majestic hillside on which the caves are located.
 
Khultabad - where Aurangzeb's tomb is present
There are 34 caves in all at Ellora and each cave is an attractive work of art and needs lots of time to admire and take in. We spent the whole day there and could see only about 24 of them properly. By evening I lost track of the number of times I was struck dumb by the sheer beauty and vastness of the caves and intricacy of sculptures inside. It is impressive to note that these caves are not natural but carved out of sheer rockfaces by continuous labour. Must have taken several man years of work to carve out such large and spacious chambers in sheer rock. Of the 34 caves, 12 are Buddhist, 5 Jain and 17 Hindu caves. The most important, beautiful and vast cave is cave no. 16 known as Kailash cave. The only cave for which a modest entrance fee of Rs.10 is charged. Apart from the Kailash, the Jaina caves display a high degree of artistry and relief. Each and every cave have breathtakingly beautiful sculptures and are designed to awe.
 
Ellora caves fantastic works of art
In a bid to explore all the caves we walked along the hillside to Cave No. 1 and proceeded chronologically towards the end. Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist caves and comprise of numerous Chaithyas and Viharas each enshrining a large, small or larger than life Buddha image seated in the serene Padmasana posture. Some of the caves are more than one storey tall and are connected by well designed stairways and passageways. Some of the Buddha images are seen flanked by two guards while others remain in solitary splendour. Most pillars in Buddhist caves are plain and squarish without any reliefs while very few of them have rounded and octogonal pillars.
  
Ellora caves awe inspiring artistry
The main cave in the Buddhist series is the Omkara cave is one which has been designed exclusivcely for acoustics and chanting the Om syllable makes the entire cave reverberate and has an ethereal effect on those inside. The cave enshrines a seated image of Buddha which is covered by a semi-circular stone wall on which are carved smaller Buddha images in various poses of meditation. The pillars in this cave are also well carved and finely smoothened.
We further went to the other caves and then at the 15th cave we noticed a marked difference in the workmanship and artistry. The Hindu caves start from here. The shrine is well marked out into separate portions and has a clear cut circumambulatory path, a sanctum and resting place. The pillars also display high quality relief images and the steps to the sanctum have elephant images flanking them, typical signs of all hindu temples.
  
Ellora caves Amazing vistas
From the cave 15 a flight of steps led out to the top of the hill and provided a birds-eye view of the cave-16. As I walked up and looked down into the Kailasha cave, I was stunned and rendered speechless by the beauty and vastness of the Kailash cave, the experience was akin to staring a tiger in the eye in the middle of the forest. Awe, respect, adoration combined together rendered me speechless. I just didn't want to move from that place and just stand there looking at the cavfe for ever. I remembered our conversation with Dr. Pandre when he had passed a casual remark. "You can see Kailash cave in two hours and be satisfied or study it for two weeks and still want more," he had said. I think I agree with the latter. Two weeks of sustained study might not be enough to take in the entire cave. A local guide was saying "People who can't go to Kailash can experience the same inside this cave's sanctum." I think I agree with him 100 percent. I was broken out of my trance by Kishore's persistent tugging at my sleeve. "Come on, we have lot more to see," he said. How I wish I could extend my stay at Aurangabad and spend some more days at Ellora... well some other time on some other trip maybe. But one should come here with at least 2-3 days allocated just for Ellora to see the caves properly.
  
Ellora caves: soul soothing beautycreated by man
The Kailash cave is the largest and most beautiful cave in Ellora. It has been carved in the shape of a large elephant drawn chariot out of a single rock. I was amazed by the rock cut temples in Mahabalipuram but I have no words to describe my awe when I saw this monolithic temple. I remembered one of my friends words "When great scientists and artists created their unique works, for that moment(s) they were one with the almighty and had attained self-realisation". It can be only through supernatural intervention that such beautiful works of art can be created, I think these sculptures and artists were very lucky to have realised god even as they created the caves. The entire Kailash cave is surrounded by a wide circumambulatory path and has several sub shrines on all sides. I feel that Kailash cave needs a full day to get a surface view and for detailed viewing it may take several days or several weeks upto the student.
  
Kailash cave sanctum and interiors
After the Kailash cave we realised that it was 3.00 pm and the caves closed at 5.30 sharp. We had less than 3 hrs to see the remaining 18 caves and we were yet to have something to eat since morning. We broke our exploration and after a quick lunch at the local canteen and headed to cave 34. The canteen owner had seen the article about our sojourn in the day's Punya Nagari newspaper and recognising us he immediately announced a 50 percent discount on our lunch bill. A touching gesture indeed, we were happy about this.
We wanted to follow the reverse chronological order and try to cover all the caves. But we weren't prepared for the wonders that the jain caves were. The Jain caves are sculptural wonders and display a superior level of intricacy, artistry and are definitely ranked among the best in the world. The Jaina caves not only contained sculptures but also ancient vegetable oil dye wall paintings. The main deity in cave 34 is a giant image of Bhagawan Adinatha founder of Jain sect and each pillar, wall, fresco has fantastically symmetrical, geometric patterns carved on the sheer rock. It is a wonder that thousands of years ago these sculptors had maintained such high quality which is difficult to achieve with today's state-of-the-art technological gizmos. It took us over an hour to see the cave 34 and since we were running out of time we reluctantly had a quick glance at the cavfes 30-33 and wondered at how many men and years would have elapsed before the caves were completed. It is definitely a labour of love and devotion that made men to carve sheer rock faces and create such masterpieces of art.
  
Jain series of caves perfection one should learn from
The next cluster of caves from 27-29 are the most beautiful of the Hindu caves in my opinion. One unique feature of this and the last cluster of caves is that all the caves are interconnected through stone passageways.
It is astounding to just imagine the skill of the architects and planners of these caves how they could have visualised the chambers, connecting passages and pillars by just looking at the blank rock. Cave 27 was particularly interestig with its vast hallway and attractive carvings. The entranceway flanked by two large life-like stone lion motifs is impressive. Behind the cave is a small semi-circular depression in the rock where a waterfall was gurgling down the hillside. The larger than life images in the cave are highly proportionate and seems as if the giant images have life. A stone ledge behind the waterfall led the way towards caves 24-26, not so grand as the previous cave. And by the time we finished this cluster the time was up and we had to retrace our steps to the parking and ride back to Aurangabad.
December 18, 2006, Aurangabad-Khandwa (via Ajanta)
We started from Aurangabad early and rode on the smooth road towards Ajanta. The plan was to visit Ajanta caves and proceed ahead to Khandwa where we were supposed to halt for the night. We were in for a disappointment at Ajanta where the authorities informed that the caves were closed on Monday. But after repeated entreaties we along with a few other tourists were allowed to visit the area where the caves are located. Being a world heritage site private vehicles are not allowed near the caves, we had to park our bikes about 4 km before and get into the MTDC's electric non-polluting bus to get to the caves.
  
Ajanta pictures on the road and at the site
All the 30 caves in Ajanta have been carved out of a single horse-shoe shaped rocky mountain and has a stream flowing in the centre. One can stand at one end and reach the other end of the horse she and see the thin stream of silver-like waterfall. Numerous wooden bridges have been constructed at vantage points to enable visitors to cross thestream and climb to the caves. Over 4,000 sq km of the surrounding hill sides havfe been declared protected forest and nobody is allowed to stay there beyond the opentime 9.30 am to 5.30 pm.
Ajanta caves are famous for the oil paintings which are well preserved even after several hundred years. According to people who have visited the caves one needs at least 2-3 days to get a surface glance of the caves. After seeing Ellora caves I can only agree with the statement becauase according to popular opinion Ajanta is more splendourous than Ellora. The forests around Ajanta caves abound in porcupines, foxes and mangooses. Visitors are beset by vendors of several different things, natural crystals, rock art, glass ware, jeweller, books, maps and what not. Everything seems to come out of vendors bag.
  
Ajanta pictures
After Ajanta we journeyed further upto Pahur where we turned off the main road onto a narrow village road towards Jamner and further out of Maharashtra into Madhya Pradesh. The narrow road wound through some of the most remote regions of the state and soon we arrived at a railway crossing which was closed pending arrival of the train. This is was the first manned level crossing we had encountered in our journey so far. We had trvelled over 1,500 km across 4 states to reach here only to be stopped at a level crossing. After the trains departed we forged ahead and reached the border town of Pal after which we crossed into Madhya Pradesh. I was surprised to see that roads in MP had improved phenomenally since my last visit in 2002. We got good pothole free roads almost upto Khandwa town. But as we entered Khandwa we noticed that there was no road at all and everywhere there was only dust.
  
Excellent roads in parts of Madhya Pradesh
We had to call Rotarian Subhash Bansal who had arranged our accommodation and by pure luck we landed up at the shop of another Bansal who immediately called up our contact and directed to Hotel Paliwal Palace in the heart of the city, where Rotary Khandwa had organised a small get together of members to interact with us about our mission and tour. The hotel was one of the posher hotels in the small commercial town and we were accommodated in a comfortable room. Soon Mr. Bansal came to meet us with other Rotarians of Khandwa and discussed at length about our tour and mission and said that he would arrange for our talk at an engineering college in the town. During the interaction the Rotarians present unanimously agreed that equal education is the need of the hour if India has to become a developed nation by 2020. "We must achieve this goal of Equal Educaton if we have to remain the world's largest democracy or else we face the grave danger of becoming the world's largest anarchy," remarked Rotarian Subhash Bansal an entrepreneur who is also involved in several service activities in the education sector. Tired and hungry we had our dinner and hit the sack.
December 19, 2006. Khandwa to Indore
Started the day early as we were waiting for Mr. Bansal to come and take us to the engineering college. But due to some examinations the event was cancelled and the entire Rotary community of Khandwa came to meet us at the hotel and conducted a small felicitation ceremony to felicitate us. Since there was nothing else to do we decided to head towards Indore (135 km) immediately.
 
Rotary Felicitation at Khandwa
We started off on the state highway and soon reached a massive Ghat region but luckily the road was wide and four laned and we could cruise along the ghat roads and enjoy the scenic beauty of the environs. We crossed the river Narmada on the banks of which the Omkareshwar (another Jyothir linga) temple is located about 17 km off the highway. But since we had to reach Indore before dark we forged ahead and reached Indore.
As we entered the town and stopped to call our Rotary hosts, we were accosted by the owner of the STD booth and neighbouring shopkeepers. They curiously enquired about our journey and mission and were highly appreciative of our venture. The PCO owner whose house also nearby immediately called his daughter and told her to prepare tea for us and insisted that we visit his house and have tea. After that we went into town to the hotel where Rotary Indore had arranged our accommodation. Here also we couldn't do any presentation because of lack of time.
December 20, 2006. Indore-Sardarpur (via Ujjain)
Started off from Indore at about 8.00 am towards the famous temple town of Ujjain, sited at the confluence of rivers Tapi and Narmada. We took over 4 hours to travel the meager distance of 65 km because of potholed roads and unruly truck traffic between Indore and Ujjain. The scenic vistas of rivers and countryside compensate for the bad roads.
On reaching Ujjain we made a beeline to the Mahakal temple (another Jyothir linga again) only to be deluged by a lot of touts, shopkeepers, self-styled priests and others offering us darshan, special pooja and et al. We rode out of the temple vicinity and stopped next to a makeshift flower stall and the kindly woman who was manning the stall with her daughter offered to look after our bikes while we went to the temple. When we asked her whether her daughter went to school she said "Yeh Panchvi thak padi hai. Iski Badi beti ka shadi ho gaya, isko school se nikal ke kam pe laga diya. Mera paanch pori (daughters) and ek pora (son) hai. Kya karu jeena mushkil hain." I thought in a state like Madhya Pradesh where female foeticide and infanticide is very high the fact that she gave birth to five daughters and brought up all of them is itself a great thing. But still the quest of a male heir to the family made her bear six children without realising the consequences, result of lack of education and it continues in her family because none of her five daughters have studied beyond class VII. We advised her to send her daughter back to school and let her study at least upto class X, wonder if she will heed our advise...
We went into the temple and were struck at the amount of commercialisation inside. Everyone is out to get your money and wants to sell you something. It was a tough task dodging them and completing viewing the ancient architecture and the main deity there. The main temple is sited in the middle of a vast complex of several shrines dedicated to different Mahadevs aka forms of Shiva. The main temple is a beautiful stone temple built and follows the Rashtrakuta style of architecture with intricately carved pillars and wall panels.
  
Madhya Pradesh vistas
After visiting the temple we called Rtn.Ghule a former general manager with State Bank of India and currently financial consultant. He treated us to a very good lunch at a fancy hotel in Ujjain and showed us a short way to reach Vadodara via Bandagar and Jabua border. "If you can't cross the Jhabua border by 5.00 pm stop where you are. That area known as Manchali Ghat is tribal belt is notorious for dacoits," advised Mr. Ghule before parting company at the highway. We forged ahead and the road from Ujjain upto Bandagar was good and smooth but the next 80 km stretch to Sardarpur was a nightmare. There was hardly any road, we rode on loose soil, sand and gravel for most part of road. Dust hung heavy in the air and whenever a big vehicle passed we had to take cover and stop for 10-15 mins for the dust to clear before resuming our ride. Finally at 6.30 pm we reached Sardarpur and Jhabua was still a good 65 km away. We decided to stay at the government Dak Bangla there and resume our journey the next day. An expensive proposition it proved to be at Rs.200 for one night.
  
Madhya Pradesh roads or are they???
The caretaker of the Dak Bangla informed that there was a big 'Mela' (fair) going on to commemorate the centenery of the Jain temple in Rajgarh and also have dinner there. Leaving our stuff and one bike we proceeded to the fair and it was a carnival out there. An array of shops were offering different kinds of home decor, cosmetics, rides, shows, food stalls etc were established there. Also on display was the death-defying motorcycle ring, a show of stunt riding for Rs.5 per head. We entered the ring and waited at the high pavilion for the show to start and soon three young riders entered the ring and one started the bike. The crowed was thrilled by the roar of the bike and soon the ride started riding up and down the ring defying gravity, it was amazing how he maintained his balance riding on a vertical slope which was perpendicular to the ground. Then another biker also kicked his bike to life and roared in tandem with the first biker. What was most unexpected was a Maruti 800 car joining the bikes on the vertical platform. What's more the riders and the car driver left hands and started riding around the vertical in close coordination in fact one biker and car driver even held hands and ran couple of rounds. Indeed amazing and death-defying stunts. The skill of the biker and car driver was truly amazing and we were truly impressed.
After the show was over we went and spoke to the riders. Rajiv Chauhan (19), the youngest of the bikers was candid: "Aap ko hamara khel dekh ke mazaa aya. Humein ithna kafi sir," he said. We gave him a Rs.100 note and told him to have a good dinner on us. Even as we spoke he revealed that he was doing this death-defying stunts since the past 5 years and was only class 5 pass, couldn't read and write too well. I wondered what his future would be if, God forbid, he meets with an accident on the ring.
I recalled when a group of similar motorcycle stuntmen from Singapore visited Bangalore every viewer had to fork out Rs.500 to view their show. Moreover the group wore high-tech motorcycle riding gear, helmets, gloves etc for protection while the group in Rajgarh didn't even wear helmets and there was absolutely no protection or safety precautions taken even as they performed stunts. The riders received a salary of around Rs.4,000 per month and for that they put their lives at stake on the ring, this can happen only in a nation like India. We ate some junk food at the mela and returned to the Dak Bangla.
December 21, 2006. Sardarpur to Vadodara
Started off from the Dak Bangla after paying a hefty room rent of Rs.200, the most expensive so far, and rode out towards Jhabua the border district of MP dominated by tribal population. The road from Sardarpur is quite bad and highly potholed as we were warned at the Dak Bangla. "Yahan se 60-70 km rasta bahut bekar hain, khadde hi khadde hain," said the caretaker. Our progress was quite slow and here I must say thanks to Cramster luggage because if not for them I don't know how many times we would have had to stop and refasten or re-adjust the luggages on our bike. I love the Cramster's Turtle tank bag specially, the bag didn't move an inch even when the bike bumped over the deepest pothole. I was scared what would happen but the magnets held fast and bag never moved. But the rope tied tent was coming loose quite often and I had to stop and re-tie them quite a few times before crossing Jhabua.
Just as we crossed Rajgarh and moved towards Jhabua we encountered a tribe of Banjaras with their herds of sheep and camels camping in an open field beside the road. We stopped to take pictures and even as we took one or two pics an old man attired in traditional Rajasthani turban and sporting a swashbuckling mushtache came running towards us followed by a bunch of kids. "Saab, acche photu kheechlo Unt ka. Jitna chahe kheechlo," said the man. "Main to nahi kheech raha hoon, mera dost photo le raha hain," I replied. "Saab kuch paise do, bachche ko Gola khilana hain," he said. So there was the catch, this guy wanted some money. "Chalo dukan chale, main bacchon ko gola khilata hoon," said I. He was adamant in demanding money. "Nahi saab, bachche jelabi khayange, aap mujhe paise do," he said. I thought no way and tried to reason with him but it was futile, he wanted only money, cold hard cash. We just ignored his further entreaties and kicked our bikes to life and moved away. These children who had come with the old man looked to be about 10-12 yr olds and it was shocking to know that they had never been to school. A silent shudder ran down my spine just thinking about how many such children might be on the road without any schooling, with no hope for a decent future and life. How they can sustain a herding and gathering nomadic lifestyle and how many will ultimately get disillusioned and turn to crime. Jhabua is an area known for highway bandits.
  
Madhya Pradesh vistas
Soon after the terrain changed and we entered the real 'Adivasi Ilaka' or the tribal belt of Jhabua district, the Manchali Ghat, a series of hills which is now declared protected forest. There is no forest as such, it is an endless stretch of grassland with sparse vegetation and tree cover. It was a great feeling to ride the winding road as it snaked through the ghat, no villages, no trees, no animals, absolutely no signs of modern civilisation, not even road signs and this is a National Highway. Thus is the state of roads in MP. I was expecting Jhabua town to be a shade better than the Sardarpur and Rajgarh but no... it was the same but a little larger town that is all. How disappointing.
After riding about 27 km from Jhabua town we arrived at the border that separates Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. There is nothing great, only a big board which says welcome to Gujarat, but what struck me was the quality of road on the other side of the board. Excellent international quality road, surface so smooth that it looked as good as the polished floors of any 5-star hotel and gleamed in the afternoon sun. Neatly painted to mark lanes, the road looked too good to believe. We had to rub our eyes in disbelief and then started riding towards Dahod the border town on Gujarat side.
The road quality phenomenally improved once we entered Gujarat and there was not a single pothole to be seen on the road. The countryside also changed from dry, barren grassland to neatly cultivated agricultural fields, gurgling streams between them and occasionally marble cliffs. Our progress became swifter and we crossed Dahod and reached Godhra, the venue of the 2002 train burning and the state-sponsored communal riots that followed, which resulted in Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat being declared terrorist in the US. At Godhara we visited the local TVS showroom and met up with its proprietor Pinakin Patel and had a long chat about our tour and the bikes in general.
 
Entering Gujarat and enjoying ultra smooth roads
Vadodara is only about 90 km from Godhara and I called up  Ashok Kharkhanis to inform him about our progress. The road now turned into a 4-lane toll road (no toll for bikes) and our progress we even quicker. We cruised at about 80-85 km ph and reached the outskirts of Vadodara at about 4.30 pm and called our host, who gave us detailed directions to a common location and informed us that he would be waiting for us there. We entered the city and it was a straight road which passed through two gates (Champaner and Ghandy gate) of the old city and its centre (Mandvi) before reaching the Bhavan's vidyalaya where Mr.Kharkhanis was waiting for us. It was over 5 years since I had met him and it was nice to see him after all these years. After we reached home we reminisced about our days in Ladakh volunteering for Operation Sadbhavana, launched by the Indian Army to win the hearts of the people (muslims) living close to the border areas and wondered what happened to all the projects that we and several other volunteers had painstakingly promoted and established. "I hope the schools are still functioning. The kids in those remote villages have nowhere else to go. If they don't get a decent education they will end up as porters and labourers," said Kharkhanis. I fully agree and I hope the army has not abandoned the operation.
Like most small towns Vadodara's city roads are narrow and choc-a-bloc with traffic and that too of the chaotic type. As we rode along I wanted to overtake an autorickshaw and honked expecting him to give way. Suddenly I saw a foot coming out on the right side and soon the auto turned right, I was shocked at the funny spectacle and later as we spoke to Ashok Kharkhanis, he explained that this was the usual way auto drivers gave turn signals. I had a hearty laugh at that.
After freshening up, Kharkhanis took us out and said that he would treat us to an authentic Gujarati dinner at Hotel Yuvaraj. I must say that our host definitely knows where the best food is available. The Gujarathi Thali was simply delicious and sumptuous, the variety and spread was something to be relished and the food never seemed to end, there were about 18 dishes to be savoured with roti, rice and khichdi. To top it there were two sweet dishes and a dessert too. It was the first time since we started the tour that we had a meal like this. Towards the end of the meal we were feeling stuffed and too full to move and after some more conversation over a cup of coffee (only Kishore and Kharkhanis) we moved back home and hit the sack for a restful night.
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