Aurangabad’s specialty
TRAVEL A cost-effective and enthralling
vacation to Aurangabad and its beautiful monuments.
Aparajitha Bukkapatanam
There
are many places of tourist attraction in India, which signify their own
significance and history from different perspectives. But Aurangabad stands out
in this particular list of tourist attractions, along with Ajanta and Ellora caves.
The Ajanta caves are mainly famous
for their beautiful paintings created by sand, vegetable dyes and other natural
materials of that time. The Ellora
caves on the other side play a major tourist attraction for the beautiful
architecture, sculptures and the huge statues of deities like Durga, Vishnu, Shiva and many more.
When it comes to Ajanta caves, the paintings signify the stories of the Buddha period, explaining various
stories of Jataka Tales, with diverse
stories of the previous incarnations of the Buddha
as Bodhisattva (a saintly being
destined to become the Buddha), opening a panorama of endless patterns, with
human beings, surrounded by various flora and fauna. The pattern of these
paintings is filled with rich beauty, expressiveness, radiant colours, fine
shading and idealized physical features. The paintings are basically of two
types namely the Hinayana paintings
with horizontal-linear composition and the Mahayana
paintings, which cover almost entire walls by subtle shading and background
foliage. The specialty of these paintings is mainly through its simplicity of
colours like red, blue, yellow ochre and lamp-black.
The Ellora caves on the other hand, are
famous for its architectural design and outstanding sculptures. The caves are mainly of Buddhist,
Hindu and the Jainism origins dedicated to Buddha,
Shiva and Mahavira. The
sculptures of these caves are mainly portrayed through animals like elephants,
lions and mainly the Gods of various origins like Buddhist, Hindu and the
Jainism. Each cave signifies the importance of their respective Gods, which can
be clearly demarcated into various positions all over the area. The Buddhist
caves contain mainly the Viharas
(monasteries) while the Hindu caves show a wide range of temples for Lord Shiva, Kalidasa and portray the narrative episodes of great Hindu epics
like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Jain caves show the
intricate images of Tirthankaras or
saints, embellished with exquisitely carved foliage and garland motifs.
Aurangabad is also famous for other
monuments like the Daulatabad Fort, Bibi ka Maqbara (the other version of Taj Mahal), which was a loving tribute
to Begum Rabia Durrani, by
Aurangzeb’s eldest son, Azam Shah. The city is also famous for its handicrafts,
Paithani saris, intricate silver craft of Bidriware
and the beautiful silk mushroo and
the himroo shawls. Aurangabad is
basically a major tourist attraction, for its cost-effectiveness and the beauty
of its monuments, is blessed with a worthwhile existence for centuries.
(eom)
Daulatabad fort
Ajanta caves
Ellora caves
Bibi Ka Maqbara
Daulatabad fort
Ajanta caves
Ellora caves
Bibi Ka Maqbara