By
Air
The nearest international
airport is Mumbai. The Aurangabad Airport (99 km from
Ajanta) receives daily flights by Indian Airlines
from Delhi, Mumbai, Udaipur and Jaipur.
By Train
Aurangabad, the nearest
train station, has direct trains from Mumbai and Pune.
From Mumbai, catch Devagiri Express or the Tapovan
Express. Another option would be to catch a train
to Jalgaon (60 km away), the nearest railhead on the
Central Railways Line. The Karnataka Express runs
daily between Delhi and Bangalore, stopping at Jalgaon
(travel time -16 hr 30 min).
By
Road
State run buses from
Mumbai, Pune, Shirdi, Nasik, Ahmednagar and Jalgaon
go to Aurangabad, 106 km from Ajanta. There are buses
from Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore and Bijapur as well.
Ajanta is about 65 km from Ellora.
October to March. Reasons
why: The best time to move around, as temperatures
don't exceed a 25 °C.
From the Airport
You could take a taxi
to Ajanta straightaway. Several morning buses also
run to Ajanta.
From the Bus station
Buses from Fardapur
(5 km from Ajanta Caves) go to Ajanta, Ellora, Aurangabad
(3 hrs away) and Jalgaon (1 hr away). You can even
catch a bus from the caves to Aurangabad. Check out
the bus timetable at the MTDC Travellers Lodge. It
may vary but usually the last bus back to Aurangabad
is at 5:45 pm and the last bus to Jalgaon is at 5:35
pm.
From the Railway station
Taxis ply the route
from the train station. Buses are available too. Several
buses also run from the railhead in Jalgaon.
In and around: Moving
around will not be any problem, what with insistent
taxi-wallahs and auto rickshaw drivers. The discovery
of Ajanta was, much in the manner of Khajuraho, a
matter of chance. In 1819 when a party of Britishers
took their tiger-hunting expedition to the Sahyadri
hills, they came up with an exciting find -- 30 Buddhist
caves carved into a horseshoe shaped rock-face. Huge
sculptures, frescoes, chaityas (prayer halls) and
viharas (dormitories) lay hidden under a thick overgrowth
of vegetation. Listed as a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO, the size of the caves assures that it must
have been sheltered more than 200 monks, painters,
sculptors and labourers who chiselled the caves. But
by the 7th century, the caves, seems to have gone
into hiding. Which is well enough as this saved them
from destruction by Muslim invaders.
Summers are hot with
a maximum temperature of 39 °C and a minimum of 24
°C. Winters are mildly cold and temperatures rarely
fall below 20 °C. The annual rainfall is about 555
mm.
