Mumbai, Ajanta - Ellora Caves Tour
Duration: 08 Nights / 09 Days
Places Covered: Mumbai - Aurangabad - Mumbai -
Goa - Mumbai - Delhi
Day
1 : Arrive Mumbai
Arrive at Mumbai airport or station. Transfer to hotel.
Check in and relax for the evening.
Mumbai's skyline is recognisable in advertisements and pictorial depictions
stating the country's technological and financial hub. It's an imposing skyline.
The contours are hazy but the residents don't seem to mind. They love this place
and this all-encompassing love is infectious.
What are the few nail-on-the-head characteristics of the city? A walk on marine
drive, the gateway of India, warden road, university buildings, fort, townhall,
Mumbai high court to name a few. The waves splashing against the embankment
establish an essence of Mumbai too, much in the same genre as the skyline. The
pub and bar scenario here is quite state of the art and ranges from the sophisticated
ones in the five stars to the hip and trendy ones in colaba and the suburbs.
Mumbai is also known as the Hollywood of India or Bollywood (from the names
Bombay and Hollywood) and is the biggest film industry of the world.
Overnight will be at Mumbai.
Day 2 : Mumbai – Aurangabad
Breakfast will be at hotel or onboard the aircraft.
Relax in the morning or visit the local market. Transfer to airport for flight
to Aurangabad.
Reach and check in at hotel.
The city of Aurangabad was founded in 1610, on the site of a village, Khirki
by Malik Ambar - the Prime Minister of Murtaza Nizam Shah II. When Fateh Khan,
Malik Ambar's son turned successor in 1626, he gave the city the name 'Fatehpur'.
Later in 1653, when Prince Aurangzeb became Viceroy of the Deccan, he made the
city his capital and called it Aurangabad. Aurangzeb added the walls that enclose
the central part of the city in 1686 in order to withstand attacks from the
Marathas. There are four principle gateways to the city - the Delhi Darwaza,
the Jalna Darwaza, the Paithan Darwaza and the Mecca Darwaza. Nine secondary
gateways also formed a part of the defensive system of this city.
Aurangabad district has always been a prominent region on the Deccan plateau.
Having been inhabited since the Stone Age, it has a long artistic and cultural
history - to which several dynasties have made major contributions over the
years. Maurya rule marked the arrival of Buddhism in Maharashtra.
Aurangabad today is a bustling city of Maharashtra with diverse big and small
industries, fine silken textiles, and exquisite hand woven brocades of silver
and gold fabrics, Himroo of world frame. To scholars and lovers of art and culture
the city is more familiar as the gateway to the ancient caves of Ajanta and
Ellora, both famous as treasure houses of Indian Art and Sculpture.
Overnight will be at Aurangabad.
Day 3 : Aurangabad
Breakfast
will be served at the hotel.
Proceed for a full day sightseeing with excursion to Ajanta Caves.
Ajanta caves: Nestling in an inner fold of the Sahyardi hills, 100 km
from Aurangabad in the shape of a mammoth horse- shoe, are the 30 rock-hewn
caves of Ajanta. The Caves date from the 2nd century BC. Discovered in 1819
by a group of British army officers, these startling achievements took around
600 years to create. Carved with little more than a hammer and chisel, Ajanta,
once the retreat of Buddhist monastic orders features several 'chaityas' (chapels)
and 'viharas' (monasteries). The exquisite wall and ceiling paintings, panels
and sculptures of Buddha's life are famous throughout the world as the earliest
and finest examples of Buddhist pictorial art.
Return to Aurangabad and overnight will be at Aurangabad.
Day 4 : Aurangabad
Breakfast will be at the hotel.
Proceed for a visit to the Ellora Caves, Daulatabad Fort and Aurangabad Caves.
Ellora Caves: Impressive in their own right is the rock-hewn temples
and monasteries of Ellora that lie just 30 km away from Aurangabad city. In
all, there are 34 cave temples, 12 Mahayana Buddhist caves (550-750 AD), 17
Hindu caves (600-875 AD) and 5 caves of the Jain faith (800-1000 AD) 22 more
caves, dedicated to Lord Shiva, were recently discovered. Kailas Temple (cave16),
the central attraction at Ellora, is the most remarkable. Chiseled by hand from
a single massive rock, it includes a gateway, pavilion, courtyard, vestibule,
sanctum, sanctorum and tower which bear testimony to the excellence of Dravidian
art. It is believed to have taken 7000 laborers, working in continuous shifts
and 150 years to build. Ever since the first European visitors in 18th Century,
Ellora has attracted chroniclers, antiquarians, scholars and in more recent
years, ever- increasing number of tourists.
Aurangabad Caves: The almost forgotten caves of Aurangabad lie just outside
the city. Excavated between the 2nd and 6th century AD, they reflect TANTRIC
influences in their iconography and architectural designs. In all there are
nine caves which are mainly viharas (monasteries).
The most interesting among these are
Caves 3 and 7. The former is supported
on 12 highly ornate columns and has sculptures depicting scenes from the legendary
'Jakata' tales. Cave 7 with its detailed figures of bejeweled women also has
a dominating sculpture of a 'Bodhisattva' praying for deliverance.
Daulatabad
Fort:Once known as 'Devgiri', this magnificent 12th century fortress stands
on a hill just 13 km. from Aurangabad. It was given the name Daulatabad, the
'city of fortune', by Muhammad Tughlaq, Sultan of Delhi. Initially a Yadav stronghold,
it passed through the hands of several dynasties in the Deccan.
One
of the world's best preserved fort of medieval times, surviving virtually unaltered,
Daulatabad yet displays the character that made it invincible.
This is a Fortress that was conquered only by treachery. A series of secret,
quizzical, subterranean passages lie coiled like a python amidst the fort. Here
flaring torches were thrust upon an unwary enemy. Or hot oil poured down his
path, as he deliberated in the labyrinth. Also the heat from a brazier was blown
into the passage by a process of suction suffocating the entire garrison within.
The Fort itself lies in the body of an isolated hill; the steep hill - sides
at the base falling so sharply to the moat that no hostile troops could scale
the height.
The moat, 40 ft. deep with mechanical drawbridges teemed with crocodiles. A
5-kilometer sturdy wall, artificial scarping and a complicated series of defenses
made Daulatabad impregnable. The 30-meter high Chand Minar (Tower) built much
later with 3 circular galleries had a defensive and religious role in the fortress.
0vernight will be at Aurangabad.
Day 5 : Aurangabad – Mumbai
Breakfast will be at hotel or onboard the aircraft.
Reach Mumbai and transfer to hotel. Proceed for an excursion to the ELEPHANTA
CAVES.
On your way back, proceed to see the interesting sites of Mumbai.
Overnight will be in Mumbai.
Day 6 : Mumbai - Goa
Breakfast will be at hotel. Transfer to airport for flight to Mumbai and then
connecting flight to Goa.
Reach and transfer to hotel.
Overnight will be in Goa.
Day 7 : Goa
Daily breakfasts will be in the hotel. Relax in the beach. Stay will be at Kenilworth
Beach Resort.
Day 8 : Goa - Mumbai
Breakfast will be at hotel.
Transfer to airport for flight to Mumbai. Reach and transfer to hotel.
MUMBAI - It is young, its lively and a confluence of varied cultural currents
and cross currents have given Mumbai a unique position of the most multi-ethnic
city of India. The capital city of Maharashtra State, formerly known as Bombay
lies in the southwestern part of India and
occupies a peninsular site originally composed of seven islets lying off the
Konkan Coast of western India.Oozing with the cocksure self-confidence of a
maverick moneymaker and "Bindass" (carefree) attitude, Mumbai is also
country's financial and commercial hub and has a principal port on the Arabian
Sea. Mumbai is the hub of Indian film industry, which has played a pivoted role
in the development of cinematography. "Bollywood", as it is called,
produces the second most number of pictures in the world every year, next only
to Hollywood, U.S.A. Mumbai claims to be the world's largest production centre
for films.
Relax in the afternoon and visit to the markets. Overnight will be in Mumbai.
Day 9 : Mumbai - Home
Breakfast will be at hotel.
Proceed for "Elephanta Caves" Tour in the seas. Return to the land
for a city tour.
Relax and freshen up.
Check out in the evening and proceed for a sea-food dinner. Transfer to airport
later in the evening for flight home (early morning of 8th November).
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