Till the very end we could not decide which of those places we should choose. From one side, we heard opinions that Ajanta and Ellora are totally different, on the other side people said that for a random European person they are rather similar and it is enough to visit just one of them. They say you can find everything on the Internet but it seems it is not true. So we decided to visit both.
After arriving to both of the places you want to ask a question: “how is it possible???” Ajanta and Ellora are dozens of old Buddhist, Hindu and Jainism temples FORGED totally in solid rock. In one rock they forged rooms, sculptures, columns, ornaments and entrances to temple caves. In those temples which are finished every details is polished up. Part of the temples was not completed but is shows the process of their creation. The equipment that was used was only hammer, chisel and watered parts of wood. Do not even ask how is that possible because we have no idea. Astonishing is also the precision of its’ creators visible in beautiful ornaments and artistic technique visible on paintings. In our opinion it is something extraordinary, something that we have never seen before. Supposedly they started creation of every temple from the top. At the beginning rocks from the top were removed and then sides were prepared gradually in lower parts. At the end, everything was sculpted and painted. There are much more wall-paintings in Ajanta then in Ellora. Ajanta is older and have less ornaments and sculptures. The main difference is the fact that in Ajanta all the caves were cut in solid, black basalt placed on the slope of steep cliff. Ellora is placed on softer sandstone on a plateau. Both places in our opinion are full of magic and impressive. Although after our 2-day visit we decided that with budget and time limitations it would be enough to see only one of those places and it would give us similar excitement. Of course we recommend visiting both places if you have such possibilities!
